Rapidly expanding a cosmetics brand into 2 new markets

About the brand

Derma-Luxe is a cosmetic brand that specializes in developing high-quality, pharmaceutically approved products made from mostly natural ingredients to help its customers achieve specific beauty goals.

The brand initially focused on developing products for eyelashes, but later expanded its product line to include a variety of other cosmetic products for eyebrow, hair, and beard care.

And they didn't stop there. They continued to expand their offering to include skin care products, launching a sub-brand Active Luxe that soon found its way to customers' hearts.

When Derma-Luxe approached us, we were absolutely thrilled to work with such a dynamic and innovative brand that always stays on top of the ever-changing needs of their customers. During our initial performance analysis, we identified significant potential to expand Derma-Luxe's paid advertising efforts and increase sales in two key markets. 

“To achieve our goals, we wanted to collaborate with an agency that had previous experience in advertising cosmetic products. Working with Bighead Lab, we were pleased with the overall approach, their promptness and communication. We had clearly defined goals and a roadmap that we stuck to, and together we achieved the results we wanted. - Dragana Koštomaj, CEO of Derma-Luxe

The challenge

In 2021, Derma-Luxe approached us with a unique challenge. Although they had an established revenue stream through their offline partnerships with specialized stores, beauty salons, doctors and pharmacists, they were struggling to reach their costumers directly through their website.

Their offline sales channels were successful in attracting the right partners and building brand recognition, but the lack of a solid online presence meantthey were missing out on a significant portion of the market. The brand recognized the need to expand its paid advertising efforts and improve its overall digital marketing strategy—and that’s where our team came in.

“The whole collaboration and workflow were brought to a higher level, which was reflected in the results. The work was done very professionally. Together with Bighead Lab we covered multiple channels and focused on improving the website and SEO. - Dragana Koštomaj, CEO of Derma-Luxe

We worked closely with Derma-Luxe to understand the benefits of their products and their target audience, identify their pain points, and create a customized plan to increase their online revenue. For the first months, we focused on the local market and then tried to replicate our success in the similar market, Croatia.

“Our goal was to educate people about our products and let them know that they are not just a current cosmetic hit, but high quality and proven effective products that have been clinically tested by a Slovenian doctor. We wanted to extend the advertising and brand recognition to more social channels and follow advertising trends in terms of the design of the ads themselves.”  - Dragana Koštomaj, CEO of Derma-Luxe

The process

1. ‍Finding succes on the local market

We began by setting up a Facebook funnel and developing specific ad content for each stage of the funnel (top, middle and bottom of the funnel and post-purchase), using a mix of static and video content. Initially, we focused on the best-selling products for women and refined the messaging to better resonate with the target audience. 

Then we proceeded to testing products for men which turned out very profitable, as well as products that had high potential but hadn't been heavily promoted through ads before. After identifying the most effective ad creatives for each stage, we moved to the scaling phase and increased campaign budgets. 

In addition to Facebook ads, we secured top places on Google with search campaigns. Our ongoing analysis of the campaign performance helped us quickly make adjustments and optimize the strategy to ensure long-term success.

2. ‍Expanding product offerings to reach new customers

Our team worked with the brand's internal marketing team to develop an effective strategy new product launch strategy. We crafted a pre-launch plan to generate leads and a launch plan with a special offer. This plan included a mix of Facebook/Instagram ads, Google Display ads, and influencer partnerships to help expans the brands’ reach.

We helped the brand find the right influencers and create authentic content that highlighted the key features and benefits of the new products. By combining paid advertising with influencer partnerships, we were able to generate a lot of interest in the new product line.‍

3. ‍Taking ad creatives to next level

In our growth efforts, we needed a lot of visuals, so we organized a video shoot. As a final result, we got a series of videos for various placements, explaning why the products are different from the competition, the development process behind them, and how the products work. We also shot a variety of series of shorter videos, addressing most customers’ most common questions an concerns, and invited a popular influencer from the beauty segment to join us on set and share her experience with the product.

4. Setting up email automation

In addition to our advertising activities, we also set up email automation to help them build a community. To begin, we developed an email automation strategy, created a series of email flows, and tailored them to the different stages of the customer journey. Some of the flows we set up were welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, re-engagement emails, and post-purchase follow-ups.

Next steps for the brand

“We are focusing on new markets, we have started to work actively on the Hungarian and Serbian markets, but our biggest challenge is to continue to successfully develop the Croatian market. We have also developed a new cosmetic brand Active Luxe, under which we sell personalised skincare products and skincare products in our regular offer.” - Dragana Koštomaj, CEO of Derma-Luxe