Beauty company turns social followers into brand ambassadors

Glossier’s successful, customer-centric social media strategy relies heavily on resharing user-generated content

Spotted: American beauty brand Glossier has harnessed the power of user-generated content as part of a successful social media marketing strategy. By reposting images, videos and product takes from their social media followers and offering other incentives like free product giveaways to brand loyalists, it has created an army of what are known as “Glossier Girls.”

Part of the strategy includes encouraging the use of specific hashtags. Followers are also enticed by the possibility of earning exclusive discounts and receiving test products to try for free by mentioning the brand in their social media posts. For one recent launch, Glossier avoided dealing with any influencers and gave a new product away to 500 of their most engaged customers.

Glossier also treats its interactions with users on social media with care, when other brands limit their interactions to answering customer service queries. There’s a conscious effort to take product feedback seriously and actually use it to shape product development, which fosters further brand loyalty. 

“Customer is at the heart of product development, customer is at the heart of strategy and customer is at the heart of the sale,” Glossier’s president and chief operating officer Henry Davis told Marketing Week.