Industry News: The Social Media Secrets of Gen Z' s Favorite Hair Care Brands (Part 1)

Lobie's founder and CEO, Anastasia MacKay, is frequently featured on the brand's Instagram channel, showcasing to the online community each step of Lobie's development and brand journey, further fostering trust and loyalty within the consumer market.(Lobie)

Based on consumer behavior from recent years, it's clear that marketing anything to Gen Z comes with a social-first strategy, and that's especially apparent within the hair care sector. From TikTok Shop for tools and products to Instagram Live for styling tutorials, social media can lead to a gold mine for e-commerce. To learn more about best practices, tips and strategies, Lisa Doyle from GCI Magazine spoke with leaders from Gen Z's favorite hair care brands. Here's what she learned: hair care brands that cater to Gen Z have launched into the market with great success by turning their social media strategy into both an art and a science—tailoring their content for each platform, staying authentic to their brand story and always remaining on top of market trends. Let's get into the details.

· Market data point: According to a recent report from Circana, hair carea is the only category with most of its sales coming from e-commerce, experiencing double-digit growth. Circana reports the two fastest-growing areas of the category are styling and treatments—two areas that perform well on social media platforms and appeal to Gen Z audiences.

Perfecting Each Platform

"Since day one, Instagram has been Divi's top-performing platform," says Jen Hsiao, chief marketing officer, Divi.(Divi)

According to the hair care brands Lisa spoke to, recognizing how your fanbase uses each social media platform is key, as well as tailoring the content you create for each platform accordingly.

Good Hair Day's (GHD) chief marketing officer, Montse Passolas, says, "The importance is to understand how content needs to be deliberately created for the way the platform consumes content and the viewer interacts with it. One size does not fit all anymore; there is no point in repurposing the same content across all platforms. It needs to be bespoke to try to guarantee effectiveness."

The two most important platforms to focus on when marketing to Gen Z consumers are, of course, Instagram and TikTok.

Jamiee Lupton, founder of Being, a new Gen Z-targeted hair care brand, explains, "We use Being's Instagram channel to educate consumers about our offering in an accessible, easily digestible way, collaborate with creators to tell our brand story through trusted voices, and offer snippets into behind-the-scenes brand moments to foster community and authenticity. Our TikTok content is less curated, and focused on highlighting a more off-the-cuff, creative side of our brand through trending challenges, tutorials and user-generated content."

Divi, a brand that focuses on bolstering scalp and hair health, also uses both platforms strategically in tandem.

"Since day one, Instagram has been Divi's top-performing platform, and it's where a large part of our community interactions, influencer partnerships, and major social moments currently take place," says Jen Hsiao, chief marketing officer, Divi. "We've seen significant gains not only in organic metrics, but we've also significantly scaled our influencer partnerships with a 200% increase in ROI year over year. We also see tremendous potential in TikTok, particularly in TikTok Shop. We've leaned into growing a very strong TikTok Shop affiliate program, and have been able to achieve triple-digit growth on our shop's GMV month over month."

Storytelling on Social

Good Hair Day's (GHD) chief marketing officer, Montse Passolas, says, "The importance is to understand how content needs to be deliberately created for the way the platform consumes content and the viewer interacts with it."

Social media presents unique opportunities for storytelling and interaction. Brands that maximize these opportunities for connection inevitably strengthen loyalty among consumers. One rising hair care brand, Lobie, utilizes both of these methods in its social media marketing strategy.

Lobie's founder and CEO, Anastasia MacKay, is frequently featured on the brand's Instagram channel, showcasing to the online community each step of Lobie's development and brand journey, further fostering trust and loyalty within the consumer market.

"Additionally," says MacKay, "we collaborate with influencers and experts who align with our brand values to amplify our message and reach a wider audience. This multifaceted approach allows us to connect with our followers on a deeper level, making them feel like an integral part of the Lobie family."

The Divi brand was founded by fashion and lifestyle influencer Dani Austin, who started the brand to destigmatize hair thinning after experiencing it herself.

"Social storytelling is intrinsic to our brand's DNA," says Hsiao. "There are many facets to the Divi brand that make it special and beloved–including the strong scientific efficacy of our products, the emotional resonance we have with our community, and the fun moments that bring levity and joy to the otherwise serious topic of scalp and hair health."

In August 2024, in honor of National Hair Loss Awareness Month, the brand launched a campaign called "Every Hair Story Is Individual," featuring nine customers who shared deeply personal stories of hair loss (see: Gen Z Hair Brand Social Media Campaigns: First Person for more).

Hsiao adds, "At Divi, our customers are the heart of our brand, and giving back to the Divi community is our top priority. We want our customers to feel special, and we want to create content that shows them they are not alone in their hair journey."

At GHD, user-generated content is paramount.

"Organically, we want to encourage our communities to tell our story through their eyes," says Passolas. "The power of user-generated content opens a multitude of ways of showcasing our brand through a wider group of people, all capturing their versions with their styles and making it relatable to their communities, more attainable and even attractive."

Agility & Adapting

Jamiee Lupton, founder of Being, a new Gen Z-targeted hair care brand, explains, "We use Being's Instagram channel to educate consumers about our offering in an accessible, easily digestible way, collaborate with creators to tell our brand story through trusted voices, and offer snippets into behind-the-scenes brand moments to foster community and authenticity."(Being)

In the quickly evolving social media landscape, a brand must ascertain which trends are worth incorporating into the strategy. Often, the determining factor is whether a trend aligns best with the heart of your brand.

At Being, Lupton says, "Our team's ability to easily—and immediately—jump onto trends stems from the deep knowledge we have of our audience, owed to the fact we innately understand the target demographic of our consumer. Our own Gen Z team is chronically online and possesses an instinctive understanding of the most relevant trends for our brand, as well as the ways we can adapt the trend or trending audience and align it with our brand/product."

"We actively monitor emerging trends," says Hsiao, "utilizing a mix of data analytics and social listening to identify what's resonating with our audience. From there, we quickly ideate and implement strategies that align with these trends, ensuring our content and campaigns are both timely and relevant. This approach allows us to engage with our audience authentically, keeping Divi at the forefront of the conversation in the scalp and hair health space."

Working closely with affiliated stylists has helped GHD's social team remain at the forefront of social trends.

"The teams around the world and particularly in the United States are amazing at transforming trends into consumable pieces of content," says Passolas. "We are locally set up with digital studios and a pool of talented hair stylists and content creators, that work in tandem with our digital and social media teams to identify trending terms or social calendar events that drive search, so we can maintain our brand relevant to the 'always-on' model that we live in today. Is it intense? Yes, but the teams are totally switched on and it has become part of the everyday marketing role. I am privileged to see how we have built a GHD model where the teams collaborate constructively around the world and exchange ideas and content."

To be continued.

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This article references insights from "The Social Media Secrets of Gen Z's Favorite Hair Care Brands," published by GCI Magazine on November 4, 2024