How to Launch A Skincare (Beauty) Brand in 2025 transcript

hey welcome back to my channel if you're new here I'm Kenna I'm a cosmetic chemist and Beauty brand strategist helping Beauty Founders launch and scale their businesses to six seven and even eight figures today I'm walking you through my beauty brand blueprint ebook which is a step-by-step guide on how to start a skincare brand in 2025 I created this as a free resource because I know firsthand how overwhelming it is to launch a beauty brand between formulation branding marketing pricing and legal compliance it's so easy to feel lost this guide breaks it down into clear actionable steps and in this video I'll be walking you through the entire ebook almost as if you were reading it but in a way that's easy to follow and to digest and by the end of this video you will know how to start a beauty brand the right way if you want to follow along I have the PDF ebook down in the description there's a link where you can download it and it also has space for writing notes and activities let's let's get into it starting off with finding your target audience and your Niche the first mistake I see a lot of Founders making is trying to sell to everybody and when you try to sell to everybody you end up relating to nobody the most successful skincare brands do not try to appeal to the masses instead they Define a clear Niche and understand their ideal customer your Niche is a specific segment of the beauty industry that your products are going to serve it can be defined by various things and we'll go through a few examples so it could be skincare concerns does your target audience struggle with acne or sensitivity eczema hyperpigmentation signs of aging it can also be defined by the ingredients that you use so are you using Innovative biotech in your formulations are they all natural are they fragrance-free do they have clinically proven active it could be defined by sustainability values like zero waste packaging refillable products and carbon neutral business practices and then it can also be defined by things like lifestyle needs travel friendly skincare minimalist routines high performance skincare for athletes these are all just a bunch of examples of a specific Niche that you can focus down on into and if you can nail your Niche and become really really targeted everything else becomes a lot easier your formulations your branding your messaging now equally important to finding your Niche is defining your target audience your target audience is who you are selling to understanding your ideal customer helps you tailor your products and marketing strategies effectively knowing who you're selling to helps you empathize with your audience and resonate with their unique needs and desires so to find your target audience there's six steps that you can take one you need to conduct research so this can be looking at beauty industry Publications for Trends both past and present you can look at Google Trend words you can ask people questions this is one that's often overlooked but really really valuable go out there and ask people what their issues are with their skin or what are they looking for in a product or what product do they wish they had that doesn't exists you need to define the demographics of your target audience their age their location their income level their education background their gender identity three you need to understand their psychographics so their lifestyle their values what are their interests and hobbies are they into yoga are they doing Jiu-Jitsu you get the point then you want to analyze shopping Behavior avors so what entices them to make a purchase is it because a friend recommended a product is it because an influencer recommended a product is it because a celebrity recommended a product what channels are they shopping through is it e-commerce is it retail in person is it through Eve retailers like Sephora and Ulta and then you want to create personas for your target audience so give them a name give them a picture give them a little bio really make it clear in your mind who is going to be who you are selling to and who is going to be interested in your product then you want to really validate this and refine it and this is something that happens over time a lot of Founders have an idea in their head of who's going to be their target audience when they first launch and that can change and evolve and it's good if you can change and evolve with it if you're creating a minimalist skincare line for busy moms in their 30s and 40s some pain points might be not enough time for a 10-step skincare routine Skin showing signs of stress fatigue aging and wanting clean and effective formulas that do what they say they're going to do and not waste their money once you understand your audience's problems your brand your product becomes the solution so now you know your target audience it's time to identify and analyze your competition number one Define your goals and your scope we need to know what kind of metrics we're looking for when we're going to go analyze our competition so what are you comparing offerings price point marketing audience distri distribution so now we know kind of what we wanted to find how are you going to find your competitors well you probably can look around your bathroom look around your makeup bag and find a lot of competitors generally we create brands that are similar honestly to what we like to use ourselves so look in your own home first then you can go online and look at some e- retailers like Sephora or Ulta use online searches industry reports social media I'm confident that you'll be able to find lots of competitors for your brand what I do suggest is making sure that they're really aligned in many ways with what you want to be doing so hair care with hair care um kind of target audience with target audience right we want to find competitors that make sense and it's also good to consider kind of the level that they're at so if you're an indie Beauty brand founder maybe take a look at ND Beauty and not like L'Oreal you know then you're going to gather the information so get all the price points you know what are they doing on social media what is their unique selling proposition both on a brand standpoint but also on a product messaging standpoint how do they promote new launches is it primarily online are they using influencers are they doing a lot of PR are they doing paid media these are all things that you want to know and identify then you're going to do a SWAT analysis so this is identifying strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats about your competitor and then you should also do it about yourself if you need more guidance on a SWAT analysis just Google SWAT analysis and you'll be able to find like little templates and things that tell you how to do it in depth and just remember competitor analysis is not about copying it's about taking what's already out there looking for opportunities improving upon it and making something of your own the most important thing that you want to do is set your brand apart you do not want to be a copycat and by understanding the strengths and the weaknesses of your competitors you can position brand uniquely and not just to compete but to really stand out and set yourself apart now that you've defined your Niche and your target audience it's time to build your Brand's identity the part of your business that makes a long lasting impression on all of those who come across it your branding is what draws customers in and helps them connect with your brand emotionally and it's not just about a pretty logo it's about trust recognition and storytelling building a strong brand identity ensures lasting customer recognition to craft a strong brand identity create a memorable logo that aligns with the essence of your product choose a fitting color palette select fonts that are easy to read and conveys your Brand's tone and maintain a consistent visual style across website packaging social media email marketing for example blue and white are often used in dermatologist back Brands because they evoke kind of a clinical setting and also trust meanwhile deep greens and natural tones are used in brands that are all natural or have sustain ability values consistency is key if your Instagram website and packaging all have the same Vibe then your customer will easily recognize them and it'll have that cohesion that builds a strong brand identity on the other hand inconsistent branding is really bad so it gives off kind of distrust people don't know if it's yours and this is like mismatch fonts and colors and misuse of logo this makes it harder to be credible and build long-term brand recognition I beautiful brand identity is really important but at the end of the day it's only as strong as the product that you sell if your skincare products don't deliver or if the quality is bad on your makeup or if you're ruining people's hair customers won't come back let's talk about product R&D the area that I love being a chemist and how to create high quality products that people trust and fall in love with and buy over and over and over again so once you know what product you want your product to solve it's time to move into the formul ulation stage but I definitely recommend doing that ground work first so that you don't waste money and time on creating a product that nobody wants nobody needs and doesn't align with your brand if you're not a chemist I do not recommend diying your product formulation this can be dangerous this is not the way to go about it instead work with a professional cosmetic chemist or a reliable manufacturer to develop high quality and compliant products so formulation typically takes anywhere from 6 to 18 months so it is a long process and it's something that needs that amount of time to make sure that the products are stable effective and safe it can be a lot of trial and error depending on the complexity of the product but it is so worth it and I will make another video like deep diving into different type of formulations and kind of the formulation process stability testing all of that fun stuff but we'll we'll save that for another time one thing that I will always emphasize is ingredient Synergy and over formulation sometimes we want to put so many things into one single product and it ends up being a little bit too much for people to handle too really expensive and just not necessary so it's good to work with someone that really can tell you yes these work together oh no at that point we are now over formulating and we don't need to add anything else and this is why formulation expertise is so valuable and non-negotiable so once you have your formula now let's talk about packaging this is how you present your products to the world and is very very important it's not just about Aesthetics it's also about functionality stability branding and compliance so let's talk about how to choose the right packaging and label your products correctly your packaging is your Brand's first physical touch point with your customers so it should really Captivate and communicate your Brand's values colors fonts logos all of that so when you're choosing packaging for your brand here's some things you might want to consider does it reflect your Brand's Aesthetics does it reflect your Brand's values so eco-friendly refillable or luxury like glass and kind of metallic finishes what do you want your unboxing experience to be like familiarize yourself with your country's rules and regulations because they all do vary by country if you want to sell internationally you need to be compliant in all the regions that you want to sell and so you need to follow the right ingredient listing formats claims warning labels to stay compliant and outside of the way it looks you also want to consider the functionality and ease of use for your customer there's nothing worse than a pump that stops working halfway through the bottle or a product that's too thick for like a dropper and it came in a dropper or something that's too thin for a pump and it squirts everywhere so you want to make sure that your formulation actually suits the type of packaging that you're going to be using in the beauty brand ebook I have links all the different countries regulations for Canada US UK and EU if you need other ones you can send me an email and we'll send you the right links okay onto marketing you can have the best skincare product in the world but if nobody knows about it you will not make any sales and nobody will get the benefits of it I am going to do a deep dive on like another video All About marketing because I could literally talk about this for hours and this is what I help my scaling clients to do is to really optimize their marketing efforts to get results but here's a few things to keep in mind you need to create a strong social media strategy that is just what it is in 2025 you want research the different platforms and understand how they differ Instagram is not the same as Tik Tok is not the same as YouTube and I'm sure you know that but think about that from the brand perspective as well you want to stay up to-date on current trends utilizing a mix of employee generated content or founder generated content with user generated content or ugc you want to make sure that you're responding to messages comments it's basically like the modern form of customer service and people do expect a response from Brand and you want to create really strategic Partnerships with creators and influencers that align with your brand values and is going to amplify your messaging you have to have to have to have email marketing this is one of the most intimate places you can have people's attention now on the internet we are competing for attention when we are marketing and if you can get into someone's inbox the likelihood of them seeing that is a lot higher than if they're just scrolling on social media the number one mistake that I see with Brands when they're first starting on social media is only talking about their products ingredients or benefits and only posting product shots like nobody really cares if they don't know anything else about your brand you need to convey the storytelling the pain points the why behind your products to create more compelling content and you need to show how it's going to fit into a customer's lifestyle and make their life better marketing helps bring your brand to life attracting the right customers and building a loyal Community but getting eyes on your brand is only half the bottle the other half is making sure that your business is actually profitable and that's where product pricing comes in many new Beauty Founders either undervalue their products and struggle to make a profit or they overprice without a clear value proposition and struggle to make sales and pricing is not about just picking a number out of the sky and and rolling with it it should be based on your cost like overhead and cost of goods sold marketing costs and also perceived value and Market position ing which you should kind of have a clear understanding from from your competitive analysis let me know in the comments if you want me to do a deeper dive on product pricing and how I approach it there's some fun math that we can do in there that kind of goes into the technicalities of it it's going to be too long for this video so pricing your product strategically ensures that your business is profitable but profitability means nothing if your brand is not legally protected the beauty industry is highly regulated contrary to popular belief compliance is not optional from the FDA guidelines non-disclosure agreements LLC formations and trademark applications there are legal steps that you need to take every single step along the way to really avoid costly mistakes and trust me they can be costly and this is one area that I do not recommend you try to navigate on your own I suggest that you do consult with a qualified regulatory professional or expert to really ensure that your products are legally compliant that you are meeting the regulations legislation and compliance needs for all of the regions that you plan on selling in okay so that's a walk through the entire Beauty brand blueprint I hope this video didn't scare or overwhelm you cuz I know that it's a lot of information to take in don't let it intimidate you every successful Beauty brand started exactly where you are right now at the beginning so let me know in the comments if you have any questions about any of the topics that I discussed and I can address them in a future video and in the meantime click the link in the description to get your own copy of the beauty brand blueprint so that you can go through everything at your own pace creating your brand does not happen overnight it is a marathon not a Sprint but if you stay consistent and take it step by step you will get there and I can't wait to see what you build if you enjoyed this video and got some value out of it give it a thumbs up make sure you are subscribed for more Beauty brand strategy content and I will see you in the next one