The Riches You Can Find in Niches
Making sense of beauty industry trends can be daunting if you’re an aspiring skincare entrepreneur.
How do you interpret the daily flow of opinion on social media? Isn’t trend forecasting just finger in the wind anyway?
There's also the lingering worry that by the time you’ve grasped the next big beauty industry trend, consumers will have moved on.
I recently chatted with Gemma at Formula Botanica for their Green Beauty Conversations podcast. We talked about the riches that can be achieved from niches when you know how to empathise with your customers and talk to them rather than just sell.
We tackled two example market niches – anti-ageing and male grooming – that are frequently misunderstood and yet present a range of opportunities to new beauty entrepreneurs.
You can listen to it below.In the episode, you’ll hear about beauty industry trends in 2018 and issues such as:
Why maturer women care far less about the term ‘anti-ageing’ or any of its recent replacements than brands might think
Why traditional beauty industry segments such as ‘male grooming’ or ‘women 50+’ aren’t homogenous groups
What older women really want for their skin, and why wrinkles aren’t their sole focus
Why men have been notoriously difficult to market to and how and why this final frontier in the beauty industry might be overcome
The rise and impact of gender-neutral skincare and how it is upsetting stereotypical consumer profiling and habits
Some of the key takeouts include:
When building your cosmetic product range, think first about how your products resolve customers’ skincare issues rather than solely in terms of how they address age or gender-related issues
The male grooming market is growing slowly but is set to rise. It is likely to be driven more by gender-neutral products than those focused on promoting the usual marketing images of masculinity. Note that for decades retailers have typically considered men’s self care products as being just deodorant and after shave
Women over 50 have considerable financial clout and are living life to the full, perhaps changing careers and also launching businesses in their empty-nester years; but don’t assume 50 year olds have the same needs as 65 year olds. Mature skincare is a nuanced market
Your product story, your brand’s authenticity and your awareness of issues such as sustainability are important to consumers who are far more critical and informed than 30 years ago
Have a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. It would also be great if you'd share the podcast using the buttons below.