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The Beginner's Guide to SEO

Chapter 6

Turn up the volume.

You've created content that people are searching for, that answers their questions, and that search engines can understand, but those qualities alone don't mean it'll rank. To outrank the rest of the sites with those qualities, you have to establish authority. That can be accomplished by earning links from authoritative websites, building your brand, and nurturing an audience who will help amplify your content.

Google has confirmed that links and quality content (which we covered back in Chapter 4) are two of the three most important ranking factors for SEO. Trustworthy sites tend to link to other trustworthy sites, and spammy sites tend to link to other spammy sites.

But what is a link, exactly? How do you go about earning them from other websites? Let's start with the basics.

What are links?

Inbound links, also known as backlinks or external links, are HTML hyperlinks that point from one website to another. They're the currency of the Internet, as they act a lot like real-life reputation. If you went on vacation and asked three people (all completely unrelated to one another) what the best coffee shop in town was, and they all said, "Cuppa Joe on Main Street," you would feel confident that Cuppa Joe is indeed the best coffee place in town. Links do that for search engines.

What's that word mean?

There's a lot to remember when it comes to the wide world of link building. Check out more definitions for this section in the SEO glossary.

Since the late 1990s, search engines have treated links as votes for popularity and importance on the web.

Internal links, or links that connect internal pages of the same domain, work very similarly for your website. A high amount of internal links pointing to a particular page on your site will provide a signal to Google that the page is important, so long as it's done naturally and not in a spammy way.

The engines themselves have refined the way they view links, now using algorithms to evaluate sites and pages based on the links they find. But what's in those algorithms? How do the engines evaluate all those links? It all starts with the concept of E-A-T.

You are what you E-A-T

Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines put a great deal of importance on the concept of E-A-T - an acronym for expert, authoritative, and trustworthy. Sites that don't display these characteristics tend to be seen as lower-quality in the eyes of the engines, while those that do are subsequently rewarded. E-A-T is becoming more and more important as search evolves and increases the importance of solving for user intent.

Creating a site that's considered expert, authoritative, and trustworthy should be your guiding light as you practice SEO. Not only will it simply result in a better site, but it's future-proof. After all, providing great value to searchers is what Google itself is trying to do.

What is user intent?

"User intent" refers to the driving reason behind a searcher's query. A search for "puppy" doesn't have a strong intent - are they looking for pictures? Facts about breeds? Care information? On the other hand, a search for "puppy training in Seattle, WA" has a very strong intent: this user wants to train their puppy, they're probably looking for help in Seattle, and they may wish to sign up for a class. Try to craft content that satisfies your searchers' intent.

E-A-T and links to your site

The more popular and important a site is, the more weight the links from that site carry. A site like Wikipedia, for example, has thousands of diverse sites linking to it. This indicates it provides lots of expertise, has cultivated authority, and is trusted among those other sites.

To earn trust and authority with search engines, you'll need links from websites that display the qualities of E-A-T. These don't have to be Wikipedia-level sites, but they should provide searchers with credible, trustworthy content.

Moz has proprietary metrics to help you determine how authoritative a site is: Domain Authority, Page Authority, and Spam Score. In general, you'll want links from sites with a higher Domain Authority than your sites.

Followed vs. nofollowed links

Remember how links act as votes? The rel=nofollow attribute (pronounced as two words, "no follow") allows you to link to a resource while removing your "vote" for search engine purposes.

Just like it sounds, "nofollow" tells search engines not to follow the link. Some engines still follow them simply to discover new pages, but these links don't pass link equity (the "votes of popularity" we talked about above), so they can be useful in situations where a page is either linking to an untrustworthy source or was paid for or created by the owner of the destination page (making it an unnatural link).

Say, for example, you write a post about link building practices, and want to call out an example of poor, spammy link building. You could link to the offending site without signaling to Google that you trust it.

Standard links (ones that haven't had nofollow added) look like this:

<a href="">I love Moz</a>

Nofollow link markup looks like this:

<a href="" rel="nofollow">I love Moz</a>

If follow links pass all the link equity, shouldn't that mean you want only follow links?

Not necessarily. Think about all the legitimate places you can create links to your own website: a Facebook profile, a Yelp page, a Twitter account, etc. These are all natural places to add links to your website, but they shouldn't count as votes for your website. (Setting up a Twitter profile with a link to your site isn't a vote from Twitter that they like your site.)

It's natural for your site to have a balance between nofollowed and followed backlinks in its link profile (more on link profiles below). A nofollow link might not pass authority, but it could send valuable traffic to your site and even lead to future followed links.

Use the MozBar extension for Google Chrome to highlight links on any page to find out whether they're nofollow or follow without ever having to view the source code!

Your link profile

Your link profile is an overall assessment of all the inbound links your site has earned: the total number of links, their quality (or spamminess), their diversity (is one site linking to you hundreds of times, or are hundreds of sites linking to you once?), and more. The state of your link profile helps search engines understand how your site relates to other sites on the Internet. There are various SEO tools that allow you to analyze your link profile and begin to understand its overall makeup.

How can I see which inbound links point to my website?

Visit Moz Link Explorer and type in your site's URL. You'll be able to see how many and which websites are linking back to you.

What are the qualities of a healthy link profile?

When people began to learn about the power of links, they began manipulating them for their benefit. They'd find ways to gain artificial links just to increase their search engine rankings. While these dangerous tactics can sometimes work, they are against Google's terms of service and can get a website deindexed (removal of web pages or entire domains from search results). You should always try to maintain a healthy link profile.

A healthy link profile is one that indicates to search engines that you're earning your links and authority fairly. Just like you shouldn't lie, cheat, or steal, you should strive to ensure your link profile is honest and earned via good, old-fashioned hard work.

Links are earned or editorially placed

Editorial links are links added naturally by sites and pages that want to link to your website.

The foundation of acquiring earned links is almost always through creating high-quality content that people genuinely wish to reference. This is where creating 10X content (a way of describing extremely high-quality content) is essential! If you can provide the best and most interesting resource on the web, people will naturally link to it.

Naturally earned links require no specific action from you, other than the creation of worthy content and the ability to create awareness about it.

Earned mentions are often unlinked!

When websites are referring to your brand or a specific piece of content you've published, they will often mention it without linking to it. To find these earned mentions, use Moz's Fresh Web Explorer. You can then reach out to those publishers to see if they'll update those mentions with links.

Links are relevant and from topically similar websites

Links from websites within a topic-specific community are generally better than links from websites that aren't relevant to your site. If your website sells dog houses, a link from the Society of Dog Breeders matters much more than one from the Roller Skating Association. Additionally, links from topically irrelevant sources can send confusing signals to search engines regarding what your page is about.

Linking domains don't have to match the topic of your page exactly, but they should be related. Avoid pursuing backlinks from sources that are completely off-topic; there are far better uses of your time.

Anchor text is descriptive and relevant, without being spammy

Anchor text helps tell Google what the topic of your page is about. If dozens of links point to a page with a variation of a word or phrase, the page has a higher likelihood of ranking well for those types of phrases. However, proceed with caution! Too many backlinks with the same anchor text could indicate to the search engines that you're trying to manipulate your site's ranking in search results.

Consider this. You ask ten separate friends at separate times how their day was going, and they each responded with the same phrase:

"Great! I started my day by walking my dog, Peanut, and then had a picante beef Top Ramen for lunch."

That's strange, and you'd be quite suspicious of your friends. The same goes for Google. Describing the content of the target page with the anchor text helps them understand what the page is about, but the same description over and over from multiple sources starts to look suspicious. Aim for relevance; avoid spam.

Use the "Anchor Text" report in Moz's Link Explorer to see what anchor text other websites are using to link to your content.

Links send qualified traffic to your site

Link building should never be solely about search engine rankings. Esteemed SEO and link building thought leader Eric Ward used to say that you should build your links as though Google might disappear tomorrow. In essence, you should focus on acquiring links that will bring qualified traffic to your website - another reason why it's important to acquire links from relevant websites whose audience would find value in your site, as well.

Use the "Referral Traffic" report in Google Analytics to evaluate websites that are currently sending you traffic. How can you continue to build relationships with similar types of websites?

Link building don'ts & things to avoid

Spammy link profiles are just that: full of links built in unnatural, sneaky, or otherwise low-quality ways. Practices like buying links or engaging in a link exchange might seem like the easy way out, but doing so is dangerous and could put all of your hard work at risk. Google penalizes sites with spammy link profiles, so don't give in to temptation.

A guiding principle for your link building efforts is to never try to manipulate a site's ranking in search results.

But isn't that the entire goal of SEO? To increase a site's ranking in search results? And herein lies the confusion. Google wants you to earn links, not build them, but the line between the two is often blurry. To avoid penalties for unnatural links (known as "link spam"), Google has made clear what should be avoided.

⃠ Purchased links

Google and Bing both seek to discount the influence of paid links in their organic search results. While a search engine can't know which links were earned vs. paid for from viewing the link itself, there are clues it uses to detect patterns that indicate foul play. Websites caught buying or selling followed links risk severe penalties that will severely drop their rankings. (By the way, exchanging goods or services for a link is also a form of payment and qualifies as buying links.)

⃠ Link exchanges / reciprocal linking

If you've ever received a "you link to me and I'll link to you" email from someone you have no affiliation with, you've been targeted for a link exchange. Google's quality guidelines caution against "excessive" link exchange and similar partner programs conducted exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, so there is some indication that this type of exchange on a smaller scale might not trigger any link spam alarms.

It is acceptable, and even valuable, to link to people you work with, partner with, or have some other affiliation with and have them link back to you.

It's the exchange of links at mass scale with unaffiliated sites that can warrant penalties.

⃠ Low-quality directory links

These used to be a popular source of manipulation. A large number of pay-for-placement web directories exist to serve this market and pass themselves off as legitimate, with varying degrees of success. These types of sites tend to look very similar, with large lists of websites and their descriptions (typically, the site's critical keyword is used as the anchor text to link back to the submittor's site).

There are many more manipulative link building tactics that search engines have identified. In most cases, they have found algorithmic methods for reducing their impact. As new spam systems emerge, engineers will continue to fight them with targeted algorithms, human reviews, and the collection of spam reports from webmasters and SEOs. By and large, it isn't worth finding ways around them.

How to build high-quality backlinks

Link building comes in many shapes and sizes, but one thing is always true: link campaigns should always match your unique goals. With that said, there are some popular methods that tend to work well for most campaigns. This is not an exhaustive list, so visit Moz's blog posts on link building for more detail on this topic.

Find customer and partner links

If you have partners you work with regularly, or loyal customers that love your brand, there are ways to earn links from them with relative ease. You might send out partnership badges (graphic icons that signify mutual respect), or offer to write up testimonials of their products. Both of those offer things they can display on their website along with links back to you.

Publish a blog

This content and link building strategy is so popular and valuable that it's one of the few recommended personally by the engineers at Google. Blogs have the unique ability to contribute fresh material on a consistent basis, generate conversations across the web, and earn listings and links from other blogs.

Careful, though - you should avoid low-quality guest posting just for the sake of link building. Google has advised against this and your energy is better spent elsewhere.

Create unique resources

Creating unique, high-quality resources is no easy task, but it's well worth the effort. High quality content that is promoted in the right ways can be widely shared. It can help to create pieces that have the following traits:

Creating a resource like this is a great way to attract a lot of links with one page. You could also create a highly-specific resource - without as broad of an appeal - that targeted a handful of websites. You might see a higher rate of success, but that approach isn't as scalable.

Users who see this kind of unique content often want to share it with friends, and bloggers/tech-savvy webmasters who see it will often do so through links. These high-quality, editorially earned votes are invaluable to building trust, authority, and rankings potential.

Build resource pages

Resource pages are a great way to build links. However, to find them you'll want to know some advanced Google operators to make discovering them a bit easier.

For example, if you were doing link building for a company that made pots and pans, you could search for:

cooking intitle:"resources"

...and see which pages might be good link targets.

This can also give you great ideas for content creation - just think about which types of resources you could create that these pages would all like to reference and link to.

Get involved in your local community

For a local business (one that meets its customers in person), community outreach can result in some of the most valuable and influential links.

Engage in sponsorships and scholarships

Host or participate in community events, seminars, workshops, and organizations

Donate to worthy local causes and join local business associations

Post jobs and offer internships

Promote loyalty programs

Run a local competition

Develop real-world relationships with related local businesses to discover how you can team up to improve the health of your local economy

All of these smart and authentic strategies provide good local link opportunities.

Use advanced search operators in Google

From content research to plagiarism checks to technical audits and beyond, using advanced Google search operators can power up your SEO research.

Link building for local SEO

Building linked unstructured citations - references to a business' contact information on a non-directory platform, like a blog or a news site - is important for moving the ranking needle for local SEO. It's also a great way to earn valuable links when you're marketing a local business. Learn more in our guide:

Refurbish top content

You likely already know which of your site's content earns the most traffic, converts the most customers, or retains visitors for the longest amount of time.

Take that content and refurbish it for other platforms (Slideshare, YouTube, Instagram, Quora, etc.) to expand your acquisition funnel beyond Google.

You can also dust off, update, and simply republish older content on the same platform. If you discover that a few trusted industry websites all linked to a popular resource that's gone stale, update it and let those industry websites know - you may just earn a good link.

You can also do this with images. Reach out to websites that are using your images and not citing you or linking back to you and ask if they'd mind including a link.

Be newsworthy

Earning the attention of the press, bloggers, and news media is an effective, time-honored way to earn links. Sometimes this is as simple as giving something away for free, releasing a great new product, or stating something controversial. Since so much of SEO is about creating a digital representation of your brand in the real world, to succeed in SEO, you have to be a great brand.

Be personal and genuine

The most common mistake new SEOs make when trying to build links is not taking the time to craft a custom, personal, and valuable initial outreach email. You know as well as anyone how annoying spammy emails can be, so make sure yours doesn't make people roll their eyes.

Your goal for an initial outreach email is simply to get a response. These tips can help:

Make it personal by mentioning something the person is working on, where they went to school, their dog, etc.

Provide value. Let them know about a broken link on their website or a page that isn't working on mobile.

Keep it short.

Ask one simple question (typically not for a link; you'll likely want to build a rapport first).

Earning links is resource-intensive, so measure your success to prove value

Metrics for link building should match up with the site's overall KPIs. These might be sales, email subscriptions, page views, etc. You should also evaluate Domain Authority and/or Page Authority scores, the ranking of desired keywords, and the amount of traffic to your content. We'll talk more about measuring the success of your SEO campaigns in Chapter 7.

Measuring and improving your link efforts

So far, we've gone over the importance of earning quality links to your site over time, as well as some common tactics for doing so. Now, we'll cover ways to measure the returns on your link building investment and strategies for sustaining quality backlink growth over time.

Total number of links

The most direct way to measure your link building efforts is by tracking the growth of total links to your site or page. Moz's Link Explorer is a great tool for doing that. For example, say you recently published a blog post that received a lot of attention and you want to track total links that resource earned.

Pop the URL into Link Explorer...

And then select "linking domains" from the "metrics over time" section to see month-over-month link growth.

You could also do this with a root domain, subdomain, or a specific page.

A note on link cleanup

Some SEOs not only need to build good links, but need to get rid of bad ones as well. If you're performing link cleanup while simultaneously building good links, just keep in mind that a stagnating or declining "linking domains over time" graph is completely normal. You might also want to check out Link Explorer's "Discovered and Lost" tool to keep track of exactly which links you've gained and lost.

If you didn't see the number of backlinks come in that you were aiming for, all hope is not lost! Each link building campaign is something you can learn from. If you want to improve the total links you earn for your next campaign, consider these questions:

Did you create content that was 10x better than anything else out there?

It's possible that the reason your link building efforts fell flat is that your content wasn't substantially more valuable than anything else like it. Take a look back at the pages ranking for that term you're targeting and see if there's anything else you could do to improve.

Did you promote your content? How?

Promotion is perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of link building, but letting people know about your content and convincing them to link to you is what's really going to move the needle. For great tips on content promotion, visit Chapter 7 of our Beginner's Guide to Content Marketing.

How many links do you actually need?

Consider how many backlinks you might actually need to rank for the keyword you were targeting. In Keyword Explorer's "SERP Analysis" report, you can view the pages that are ranking for the term you're targeting, as well as how many backlinks those URLs have. This will give you a good benchmark for determining how many links you actually need in order to compete and which websites might be a good link target.

What was the quality of the links you received?

One link from a very authoritative source is more valuable than ten from low-quality sites, so keep in mind that quantity isn't everything. When targeting sites for backlinks, you can prioritize by how authoritative they are using Domain Authority and Page Authority metrics.

Beyond links: How awareness, amplification, and sentiment impact authority

A lot of the methods you'd use to build links will also indirectly build your brand. In fact, you can view link building as a great way to increase awareness of your brand, the topics on which you're an authority, and the products or services you offer.

Once your target audience is familiar with you and you have valuable content to share, let your audience know about it! Sharing your content on social platforms will not only make your audience aware of your content, but it can also encourage them to amplify that awareness to their own networks, thereby extending your own reach.

Are social shares the same as links? No. But shares to the right people can result in links. Social shares can also promote an increase in traffic and new visitors to your website, which can grow brand awareness, and with a growth in brand awareness can come a growth in trust and links. The connection between social signals and rankings seems indirect, but even indirect correlations can be helpful for informing strategy.

Trustworthiness goes a long way

For search engines, trust is largely determined by the quality and quantity of the links your domain has earned, but that's not to say that there aren't other factors at play that can influence your site's authority. Think about all the different ways you come to trust a brand:

Awareness (you know they exist)

Helpfulness (they provide answers to your questions)

Integrity (they do what they say they will)

Quality (their product or service provides value, possibly more than others you've tried)

Continued value (they continue to provide value even after you've gotten what you needed)

Voice (they communicate in unique, memorable ways)

Sentiment (others have good things to say about their experience with the brand)

That last point is what we're going to focus on here. Reviews of your brand, its products, or its services can make or break a business.

In your effort to establish authority from reviews, follow these review rules of thumb:

Never pay any individual or agency to create a fake positive review for your business or a fake negative review of a competitor.

Don't review your own business or the businesses of your competitors. Don't have your staff do so, either.

Never offer incentives of any kind in exchange for reviews.

All reviews must be left directly by customers in their own accounts; never post reviews on behalf of a customer or employ an agency to do so.

Don't set up a review station/kiosk in your place of business; many reviews stemming from the same IP can be viewed as spam.

Read the guidelines of each review platform where you're hoping to earn reviews.

Be aware that review spam is a problem that's taken on global proportions, and that violation of governmental truth-in-advertising guidelines has led to legal prosecution and heavy fines. It's just too dangerous to be worth it. Playing by the rules and offering exceptional customer experiences is the winning combination for building both trust and authority over time.

Authority is built when brands are doing great things in the real-world, making customers happy, creating and sharing great content, and earning links from reputable sources.

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Link Building | The Beginner's Guide to SEO

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The Beginner's Guide to SEO Chapter 6 Turn up the volume. You've created content that people are searching for, that answers their questions, and that search engines can understand, but those qualities alone don't mean it'll rank. To outrank the rest of the sites with those qualities, you have to establish authority.

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What Is Link Building & Why Is It Important?

Whether you're brand new to link building or have been doing it for a while, we're sure you'll find something useful in this guide. The landscape of SEO and link building is always changing, and today, the importance of building high-quality links has never been higher. The need to understand and implement high-quality campaigns is essential if you're going to compete and thrive online, and that isn't going to change any time soon. This guide is designed to get you going quickly and in the right direction. There is a lot to take in, but we've broken everything up into easy-to-digest chapters and have included lots of examples along the way. We hope you enjoy The Beginner's Guide to Link Building!

Definition of link building

Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. A hyperlink (usually just called a link) is a way for users to navigate between pages on the internet. Search engines use links to crawl the web; they will crawl the links between the individual pages on your website, and they will crawl the links between entire websites. There are many techniques for building links, and while they vary in difficulty, SEOs tend to agree that link building is one of the hardest parts of their jobs. Many SEOs spend the majority of their time trying to do it well. For that reason, if you can master the art of building high-quality links, it can truly put you ahead of both other SEOs and your competition.

Why is link building important for SEO?

The anatomy of a hyperlink

In order to understand the importance of link building, it's important to first understand the basics of how a link is created, how the search engines see links, and what they can interpret from them.

1. Start of link tag: Called an anchor tag (hence the "a"), this opens the link tag and tells search engines that a link to something else is about to follow.

2. Link referral location: The "href" stands for "hyperlink referral," and the text inside the quotation marks indicates the URL to which the link is pointing. This doesn't always have to be a web page; it could be the address of an image or a file to download. Occasionally, you'll see something other than a URL, beginning with a # sign. These are local links, which take you to a different section of the page you're already on.

3. Visible/anchor text of link: This is the little bit of text that users see on the page, and on which they need to click if they want to open the link. The text is usually formatted in some way to make it stand out from the text that surrounds it, often with blue color and/or underlining, signaling to users that it is a clickable link.

4. Closure of link tag: This signals the end of the link tag to the search engines.

What links mean for search engines

There are two fundamental ways that the search engines use links:

1. To discover new web pages

2. To help determine how well a page should rank in their results

Once search engines have crawled pages on the web, they can extract the content of those pages and add it to their indexes. In this way, they can decide if they feel a page is of sufficient quality to be ranked well for relevant keywords (Google created a short video to explain that process). When they are deciding this, the search engines do not just look at the content of the page; they also look at the number of links pointing to that page from external websites and the quality of those external websites. Generally speaking, the more high-quality websites that link to you, the more likely you are to rank well in search results.

Links as a ranking factor are what allowed Google to start to dominate the search engine market back in the late 1990s. One of Google's founders, Larry Page, invented PageRank, which Google used to measure the quality of a page based in part on the number of links pointing to it. This metric was then used as part of the overall ranking algorithm and became a strong signal because it was a very good way of determining the quality of a page.

It was so effective because it was based upon the idea that a link could be seen as a vote of confidence about a page, i.e., it wouldn't get links if it didn't deserve to. The theory is that when someone links to another website, they are effectively saying it is a good resource. Otherwise, they wouldn't link to it, much in the same way that you wouldn't send a friend to a bad restaurant.

However, SEOs soon discovered how to manipulate PageRank and search results for chosen keywords. Google started actively trying to find ways to discover websites which were manipulating search results, and began rolling out regular updates which were specifically aimed at filtering out websites that didn't deserve to rank.

This has also led to Google starting to discount a number of link building techniques that were previously deemed fine, for example, submitting your website to web directories and getting a link in return. This was a technique that Google actually recommended at one point, but it became abused and overused by SEOs, so Google stopped passing as much value from that sort of links.

More recently, Google has actively penalized the rankings of websites who have attempted such overuse of these techniques-often referred to as over-optimisation-in their link building. Google's regular Penguin updates are one such example. Knowing which link building techniques to avoid and stay within Google's guidelines is an important subject that we'll discuss later in this guide.

We don't know the full algorithm that Google uses to determine its search results-that's the company's "secret sauce." Despite that fact, the general consensus among the SEO community (according to the 2015 Moz search ranking factors survey) is that links still play a big role in that algorithm. They represent the largest two slices of the pie chart below.

Weighting of thematic clusters of ranking factors in Google

It is generally accepted that if all other factors are equal, the volume and quality of links pointing to a page will make the difference between rankings. Having said that, with recent moves from Google, including the release of Penguin updates and its push of Google+, there is speculation that the impact of links is being reduced and replaced with social signals such as tweets or +1s.

For now, though, there is little doubt that if you get high-quality links to your website, it will help you rank better and get more traffic (we'll talk more about what makes a "good-quality" link in Chapter 2). We've mentioned "high-quality" a few times, now, and there's a good reason: The focus on quality is increasing as Google becomes ever more sophisticated at filtering out low-quality links. This directly impacts SEOs, as they need to make sure the link building techniques they choose focus primarily on that quality.

What you need to know about nofollow

There is an attribute that can sometimes be applied to links called the "nofollow" attribute. If added, you will not notice any difference if you're a user. But, if you look at the code of the link, it will look slightly different:

Note the addition of rel="nofollow". This tells Google not to pass any PageRank across this link to the target URL. Effectively, you're telling Google not to trust this link and to discount it from consideration. Therefore, it should not help the target URL to rank any better.

The main reason a site might use nofollow relates to scenarios in which that site lacks total control over the links that are added to its pages. In other words, they don't want to show Google a vote of confidence when they don't know whether or not they actually are confident. This is more common than you'd expect; here are a few examples:

Blog comments

Forum posts

Guest book comments

Editable Wiki pages (e.g. Wikipedia)

Yahoo! Answers

Guest post signatures

Users can freely add links to each of these places, and because of their size, it isn't really practical to moderate every single one of those links. So, in order to deter link spammers from taking advantage of a site's PageRank, the site will often choose to apply the nofollow attribute to all links posted by other users.

Another use for the nofollow attribute is for advertisers to use on links that have been paid for. So, if you buy an advertising banner on a website which links to you, Google says that the nofollow attribute should be added so that they know not to pass any PageRank across that link. The idea here is that you shouldn't benefit in the organic results by buying advertisements that include links on other websites.

More recently, Google has expanded this concept to included optimized links in press releases, article directories, and advertorials. These are all examples where the use of nofollow is entirely appropriate.

In terms of your work, you should know that links that have the nofollow attribute applied will probably not help your organic search rankings as directly as followed links. That isn't to say they're not worthwhile. After all, typical users don't notice whether a link is nofollowed or not, and may actually click through and visit your website even if it is. That is, after all, the point of buying advertisements online. That being said, for the purposes of link building, you want most of your links to be followed and therefore counted by Google. Looking for a way to indentify followed versus nofollowed links on a website? You can use the MozBar to highlight these links on any site.

How can link building benefit my business?

As we've discussed, links are a very important signal that the search engines use to determine rankings. So, we know that increasing the number of high-quality links pointing at your website can significantly increase your chances of ranking well.

There are other benefits to link building, though, that may be less immediately obvious yet still worthy of consideration.

Building relationships

Link building can often involve outreach to other relevant websites and blogs in your industry. This outreach frequently relates to the promotion of something that you've just created, such as a piece of content or an infographic. A common goal of outreach is to get a link, but there is much more to it than just this: Outreach can help you build long-term relationships with key influencers in your industry, and these relationships can mean that your business becomes highly regarded and trusted. This in itself is valuable, even if we forget link building for a moment, because we are creating genuine evangelists and advocates for our business.

Sending referral traffic

We've talked about the impact of links on your rankings, but what about the impact of links on referral traffic? A good link from a highly-visited website can lead to an increase in traffic, too. If it is a relevant website, chances are that the traffic is also relevant and may lead to an increase in sales, as well. Again, in this situation the value of a link isn't just about SEO-it's about customers. A great example of this in action was this guest post written by Michael Ellsberg on Tim Ferriss' blog. He also wrote a case study on Forbes explaining just how valuable this guest post was to him. "There's a big difference between being exposed to a large audience," he says, "and being exposed to a comparatively smaller (but still large) audience which is ridiculously passionate." In other words, the avid followers of a single blog were far more likely to take the advice of the blogger than (for example) viewers were to pay attention to the anchor on CNN, even if the latter group outnumbered the former.

Brand building

Good link building can help build your brand and establish you as an authority in your niche. There are some link building techniques, such as content creation, which can show people the expertise of your company, and this can go a long way toward building your brand. For example, if you create a piece of content based upon industry data and publish it, you have a chance of becoming well known for it in your industry. When you do outreach and try to get links to the content, you are showing your expertise and asking other people in your industry to help spread the word and show others the same.

An important note on link building vs link "earning"

Or, the importance of having webpages worth linking to.

Before building links, you need something of value to build links to. Often it's the homepage of your website. More often than not, though, you build links to specialized resources such as a blog post, tool, research study or graphic. Sometimes these assets exist long before you begin your link building campaign. Other times, you create these resources specifically with the goal of building links in mind.

This introduces the concepts of link earning and "deserving to rank." All link building campaigns must start with something worth linking to. It's very difficult to build links to low-value webpages, but when you begin with something truly valuable that people find useful or share-worthy, link building is a much easier endeavor.

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What Is Link Building & Why Is It Important? - Beginner's Guide to Link Building

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Whether you're brand new to link building or have been doing it for a while, we're sure you'll find something useful in this guide. The landscape of SEO and link building is always changing, and today, the importance of building high-quality links has never been higher.

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What Is Link Building? A Definition

Link building, simply put, is the process of getting other websites to link back to your website. All marketers and business owners should be interested in building links to drive referral traffic and increase their site's authority.

Why build links? Google's algorithms are complex and always evolving, but backlinks remain an important factor in how every search engine determines which sites rank for which keywords. Building links is one of the many tactics used in search engine optimization ( SEO) because links are a signal to Google that your site is a quality resource worthy of citation. Therefore, sites with more backlinks tend to earn higher rankings.

There's a right way and a wrong way, however, to build links to your site. If you care about the long-term viability of your site and business, you should only engage in natural linkbuilding, meaning, the process of earning links rather than buying them or otherwise achieving them through manipulative tactics (sometimes known as black-hat SEO, a practice that can get your site essentially banned from the search results).

That said, natural, organic link building is a difficult, time-consuming process. Not all links are created equal: A link from an authoratative website like the Wall Street Journal will have a greater impact on your rankings on the SERP than a link from a small or newly built website, but high-quality links are harder to come by.

This guide will teach you how to build quality links that improve your organic rankings without violating Google guidelines.

Remember, link building is imperative in achieving high organic search rankings.

Why Link Building Is Important for SEO

Link building is important because it is a major factor in how Google ranks web pages. Google notes that:

"In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages."

Imagine that we own a site promoting wind turbine equipment that we sell. We're competing with another wind turbine equipment manufacturer. One of the ranking factors Google will look at in determining how to rank our respective pages is link popularity.

While the above example provides a general visual understanding of why link building is important, it's very basic. It omits key factors such as:

The trust and authority of the linking pages.

The SEO and content optimization of the respective sites.

The anchor text of the incoming links.

For a more in-depth explanation of how PageRank is calculated, read through these resources:

The most important concept to understand is that, as Google says, you're more likely to have your content rank higher for keywords you're targeting if you can get external websites to link to your pages.

Simple Link Building Strategies: How To Get Other Sites to Link to You

There are a number of link building strategies used to get external websites to link to yours:

Content Creation & Promotion - Create compelling, unique, high-quality content that people will naturally want to reference and link to, and tell people about it. You have to spread the word before you can expect anyone to find your content and link to it!

Reviews & Mentions - Put your product, service, or site in front of influencers in your industry, such as popular bloggers or people with a large social media following.

Links from Friends & Partners - Ask people you know and people you work with to link to your site. Remember that relevance matters; links from sites that are in the same general industry or niche as your site will have more value than links from random, unrelated sites.

It can take a while to build a lot of links, but be patient, and remember that shortcuts like buying links are against Google's guidelines and can be devastating for your SEO. Don't take chances.

Build Links for Free with Internal Link Building

There's an easy, underrated way to build links to the pages you're attempting to improve search engine rankings for. And it's a method you have total control over: Internal link building.

In attempting to get a Web page to rank, there are a few key factors to consider:

Anchor Text - One of the most important things search engines take into account in ranking a page is the actual text a linking page uses to talk about your content. So if someone links to our Good Guys Wind Turbine Parts site with the text "wind turbine parts", that will help us to rank highly for that keyword phrase, whereas if they had simply used text like "Good Guys LLC" to link to our site, we wouldn't enjoy the same ranking advantage for the phrase "wind turbine parts".

Quality of the Linking Page - Another factor taken into account is the quality of the page that is sending the link; search engines allow links from high-quality, trusted pages to count more in boosting rankings than questionable pages and sites.

Page the Link is Aimed At - Many times, when people talk about your site they'll link to the home page. This makes it difficult for individual pages to achieve high rankings (because it's so difficult for them to generate their own link equity).

These are all elements we can't control in attempting to get other sites to link to us. We can, however, control all of these elements in linking to our own pages from our own content. We can:

Determine what anchor text to use.

Decide which page to point that anchor text at.

Ensure that the quality and content of the linking page is high (since it's our page!).

Building external links to your site is important, but in focusing more of your efforts on the optimization of these internal links you can build quality in-bound links with rich anchor text to the proper pages, which will provide you with an unparalelled ranking boost (for free!).

Internal Link Building Tools and Tips

So how do you go about building these great internal links? Well, you can set up a system for interlinking your pages in a few easy steps:

Keyword Research for Link Building - First, you need to utilize a keyword research tool to have numerous keywords suggested to you that are both relevant and popular.

Assign Keywords to Content - Next, you have to group your keywords strategically, creating a search-friendly information architecture.

Link Pages Using Targeted Anchor Text - The final step is to apply your keyword research to intelligent inter-linking; you do this by linking to content using the keywords you've discovered.

The execution of the third item is key. You need to be sure that you're linking to the right pages with the right anchor text. Here are a couple quick tips for carrying that out effectively:

Use Your Site Search

This one's pretty simple, and can be used for multiple purposes:

Finding pages on your site to link to a new page - When you create new content, you want to make sure you can search your site for mentions of similar keyword variations you might want to link to that page.

Finding a page that's been created to link to - Your site may have multiple content authors. In this case, you may have a vague idea that a page about "wind turbine rotors" has been created, but you don't know the page title or URL. In this case, you can either type the keyword into your site search to find the corresponding page, or use Google itself. To do this we'd simply type: "site:http://www.goodguyswindturbineparts.com intitle:wind turbine rotors" into Google. This would return all of the pages containing that phrase that Google has indexed.

Create an Internal SEO Link Building Wire Frame

To do this, you simply need to map the keywords you'd like to target to the most logical pages. So, let's say we have three pages to choose from:

goodguyswindturbineparts.com/wind-turbine-parts

goodguyswindturbineparts.com/turbine-rotors

goodguyswindturbineparts.com/wind-turbine-shaft

Since the turbine rotors page definitely seems to be the best fit for our "wind turbine rotors" keyword, we'll align that keyword with that page.

We can similarly match "wind turbine parts" and "wind turbine shaft" with the corresponding pages. In a spreadsheet, this might look something like this:

As you can see, each page is associated with mutiple keywords. By making this document available to all of your content writers, they can quickly see which pages are targeting which keywords; they can also instantly check your SEO wireframe to see which keywords have been targeted (with a simple ctrl F!).

Need more help with SEO? Check out our comprehensive SEO Basics guide.

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Learn the Basics of Quality Link Building for SEO

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Link building refers to the process of getting external pages to link to a page on your website. Link building is one of the many tactics used in search engine optimization (SEO). Learn the ins and out of link building in this comprehensive post.

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What Are SEO Keywords?

Your SEO keywords are the keywords and phrases in your web content that make it possible for people to find your site via search engines. A website that is well optimized for search engines "speaks the same language" as its potential visitor base with keywords for SEO that help connect searchers to your site. Keywords are one of the main elements of SEO.

In other words, you need to know how people are looking for the products, services or information that you offer, in order to make it easy for them to find you-otherwise, they'll land on one of the many other pages in the Google results. Implementing keyword SEO will help your site rank above your competitors.

This is why developing a list of keywords is one of the first and most important steps in any search engine optimization initiative. Keywords and SEO are directly connected when it comes to running a winning search marketing campaign. Because keywords are foundational for all your other SEO efforts, it's well worth the time and investment to ensure your SEO keywords are highly relevant to your audience and effectively organized for action.

Settling on the right SEO keywords is a delicate process involving both trial and error, but the basics are easy to understand. Here we'll walk you through researching what your customers are looking for, discovering those keywords that will help you rank on a search engine results page ( SERP), and putting them to work in your online content.

Finding Your Best Keywords for SEO

Most beginning search marketers make the same mistakes when it comes to SEO keyword research:

Only doing SEO keyword research once,

Not bothering to update and expand their SEO keyword list, or

Targeting keywords that are too popular, meaning they're way too competitive.

Basically, SEO keyword research should be an ongoing and ever-evolving part of your job as a marketer. Old keywords need to be reevaluated periodically, and high-volume, competitive keywords (or "head" keywords, as opposed to long-tailed keywords) can often be usefully replaced or augmented with longer, more specific phrases designed not to bring in just any visitor but exactly the right visitors. (Who visits your site - particularly if they're people who are actively looking for your services - is at least as important as how many people visit.)

And you've got to diversify. Here's a tongue-twister that's absolutely true: diversity is a key word in the keyword world. You're not going to stand out if you find yourself using all of the same keywords as your competitors. Not only should you try new keyword search tools and keep track of the results, but you should feel free to experiment based on your own research - who else uses your keywords? And how do you make yourself stand out? By providing great content that truly answers the questions your prospective customers are asking with their keyword searches.

Using Our Free Keyword Tool

WordStream's free SEO keyword research tools that help you find your best, most relevant keywords-keywords that will drive ongoing web traffic and conversions on your site.

Benefits of using WordStream's keyword tools, including the Free Keyword Tool, for better SEO include:

More SEO Keywords - Get FREE access to thousands of keywords plus keyword search volume data, mailed right to your inbox.

Targeted SEO Keywords - Filter your keyword results by industry or country so you can focus on the keywords that will really work for your account.

Grouping SEO Keywords - Learn how to organize your new SEO keywords into actionable segments using effective keyword grouping.

WordStream's keyword toolset is also hugely valuable for PPC marketing - use the Keyword Niche Finder to identify new ad groups for your Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) campaigns, and use the free Negative Keyword Tool to find negative keywords that will reduce wasteful clicks and save you money.

Making Your SEO Keywords Work for You

Now that you've found the best keywords, you need to put them to work in order to get SEO results (search-driven traffic, conversions, and all that good stuff).

So: how to proceed? On the one hand, SEO best practices recommend that you include relevant keywords in a number of high-attention areas on your site, everywhere from the titles and body text of your pages to your URLs to your meta tags to your image file names. On the other hand, successfully optimized websites tend to have thousands or even millions of keywords. You can't very well craft a single, unique page for every one of your keywords; at the same time, you can't try to cram everything onto a handful of pages with keyword stuffing and expect to rank for every individual keyword. It just doesn't work that way.

So how does it work? The answer is keyword grouping and organization. By dividing your keywords into small, manageable groups of related keywords, you'll cut down on your workload (significantly), while still creating targeted, specific pages.

For example, let's say you were running the website of an online pet store. You might be wise to create one keyword grouping for all your dog-related products, then one for all of your parakeet-related projects, etc. The next step would be to segment each individual group into smaller subgroups (parakeet cages, parakeet toys, parakeet snacks) and then even smaller groups for each type of product (low-fat parakeet snacks, luxury parakeet snacks... you get the idea). Now your pet store can create individual pages optimized for each small keyword group.

A marketer attempting to optimize a web page for the "gourmet parakeet snacks" keyword group should consider doing most if not all of the following:

Using the keyword in the title of the page

Using the keyword in the URL (e.g., online-petstore.com/parakeets/snacks/gourmet)

Using the keyword, and variations (e.g., "gourmet parakeet snacks"), throughout the page copy

Using the keyword in the meta tags, especially the meta description

Using the keyword in any image file paths and in the images' alt text

Using the keyword as the anchor text in links back to the page from elsewhere on the site

When optimizing your web pages, keep in mind that keyword relevance is more important than keyword density in SEO.

Need Help Finding SEO Keywords?

Try our Free Keyword Tool today. And, to make the most of your keyword research, be sure to check out our resources on keyword grouping and keyword niches.

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SEO Keywords: How to Find Keywords for Your Website | WordStream

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Your SEO keywords are the keywords and phrases in your web content that make it possible for people to find your site via search engines. A website that is well optimized for search engines "speaks the same language" as its potential visitor base with keywords for SEO that help connect searchers to your site.

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Choose the Right Keywords with Our Research Tools - Google Ads

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Find the right keywords to use in your Google Ads campaigns with Keyword Planner.

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SEO stands for "search engine optimization." In simple terms, SEO means the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in Google, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines whenever people search for:

Products you sell.

Services you provide.

Information on topics in which you have deep expertise and/or experience.

The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to be found and clicked on. Ultimately, the goal of search engine optimization is to help attract website visitors who will become customers, clients or an audience that keeps coming back.

What you'll learn in this guide:

How is SEO different from SEM and PPC?

SEM and PPC are two other common terms you will read about a lot here on Search Engine Land and hear about in the larger search marketing community.

Read on to learn more about both of these terms and how they're related to SEO.

SEO vs. SEM

SEM stands for search engine marketing - or, as it is more commonly known, search marketing.

Search marketing is a type of digital marketing. It is an umbrella term for the combination of SEO and PPC activities meant to drive traffic via organic search and paid search.

Put simply, search marketing is the process of gaining traffic and visibility from search engines through both paid and unpaid efforts.

So how do SEO and SEM differ? Technically they aren't different - SEO is simply one-half of SEM:

SEO = driving organic traffic from search engines.

SEM = driving organic and paid traffic from search engines.

Now, this is where things get a bit confusing.

Today, many people use SEM interchangeably with PPC (which we'll talk about in the next section).

This idea seems to undercut SEO. However, SEO is marketing, just like PPC is marketing.

Here's the best way to think about SEO and SEM:

Imagine SEM is a coin. SEO is one side of that coin. PPC is on the flip side.

SEO vs. PPC

PPC stands for pay-per-click - a type of digital marketing where advertisers are charged whenever one of their ads gets clicked on.

Basically, advertisers bid on specific keywords or phrases that they want their ads to appear for in the search engine results. When a user searches for one of those keywords or phrases, the advertiser's ad will appear among the top results.

So again, if we think of search marketing as a coin, SEO and PPC are two sides of the same coin - SEO is the unpaid side, PPC is the paid side.

Another key point: it's important never to think of it as "SEO vs. PPC" (i.e., which one is better) because these are complementary channels. It's not an either-or question - always choose both (as long as your budget allows it).

As we mentioned before, the terms SEM and PPC are used within the industry interchangeably. However, that isn't the case here on Search Engine Land.

Whenever we mention "SEM," it will be because we're referring to both SEO (organic search) and PPC (paid search).

If you're curious about the history behind how "SEM" came to mean "PPC" at the exclusion of SEO, you can dig deeper into these articles:

Why is SEO important?

SEO is a critical marketing channel. First, and foremost: organic search delivers 53% of all website traffic.

That's one big reason why the global SEO industry is forecast to reach a staggering $122.11 billion by 2028. SEO drives real business results for brands, businesses and organizations of all sizes.

Whenever people want to go somewhere, do something, find information, research or buy a product/service - their journey typically begins with a search.

But today, search is incredibly fragmented. Users may search on traditional web search engines (e.g., Google, Microsoft Bing), social platforms (e.g., YouTube, TikTok) or retailer websites (e.g., Amazon).

In fact, 61% of U.S. ﻿online shoppers start their product search on Amazon, compared to 49% who start on a search engine like Google. Also of note from that same research:

32% start on Walmart.com.

20% start on YouTube.

19% start on Facebook.

15% start on Instagram.

11% start on TikTok.

Trillions of searches are conducted every year. Search is often the primary source of traffic for websites, which makes it essential to be "search engine friendly" on any platform where people can search for your brand or business.

What this all means is that improving your visibility, and ranking higher in search results than your competition, can positively impact your bottom line,

SEO is also incredibly important because the search engine results pages (or SERPs) are super competitive - filled with search features (and PPC ads). SERP features include:

Another reason SEO is critical for brands and businesses: unlike other marketing channels, good SEO work is sustainable. When a paid campaign ends, so does the traffic. Traffic from social media traffic is at best unreliable - and a fraction of what it once was.

SEO is the foundation of holistic marketing, where everything your company does matters. Once you understand what your users want, you can then implement that knowledge across your:

Campaigns (paid and organic).

Website content.

Social media properties.

SEO is a channel that drives the traffic you need to achieve key business goals (e.g., conversions, visits, sales). It also builds trust - a website that ranks well is generally regarded as authoritative or trustworthy, which are key elements Google wants to reward with better rankings.

Types of SEO

There are three types of SEO:

Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical aspects of a website.

On-site SEO: Optimizing the content on a website for users and search engines.

Off-site SEO: Creating brand assets (e.g., ​​people, marks, values, vision, slogans, catchphrases, colors) and doing things that will ultimately enhance brand awareness and recognition (i.e., demonstrating and growing its expertise, authority and trustworthiness) and demand generation.

You maintain 100% control over content and technical optimizations. That's not always true with off-site (you can't control links from other sites or if platforms you rely on end up shutting down or making a major change), but those activities are still a key part of this SEO trinity of success.

Imagine SEO as a sports team. You need both a strong offense and defense to win - and you need fans (a.k.a., an audience). Think of technical optimization as your defense, content optimization as your offense, and off-site optimization as ways to attract, engage and retain a loyal fanbase.

Technical optimization

Optimizing the technical elements of a website is crucial and fundamental for SEO success.

It all starts with architecture - creating a website that can be crawled and indexed by search engines. As Gary Illyes, Google's trends analyst, once put it in a Reddit AMA: "MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE."

You want to make it easy for search engines to discover and access all of the content on your pages (i.e., text, images, videos). What technical elements matter here: URL structure, navigation, internal linking, and more.

Experience is also a critical element of technical optimization. Search engines stress the importance of pages that load quickly and provide a good user experience. Elements such as Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness and usability, HTTPS, and avoiding intrusive interstitials all matter in technical SEO.

Another area of technical optimization is structured data (a.k.a., schema). Adding this code to your website can help search engines better understand your content and enhance your appearance in the search results.

Plus, web hosting services, CMS (content management system) and site security all play a role in SEO.

Content optimization

In SEO, your content needs to be optimized for two primary audiences: people and search engines. What this means is that you optimize the content your audience will see (what's actually on the page) as well as what search engines will see (the code).

The goal, always, is to publish helpful, high-quality content. You can do this through a combination of understanding your audience's wants and needs, data and guidance provided by Google.

When optimizing content for people, you should make sure it:

Covers relevant topics with which you have experience or expertise.

Includes keywords people would use to find the content.

Is unique or original.

Is well-written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.

Is up to date, containing accurate information.

Includes multimedia (e.g., images, videos).

Is better than your SERP competitors.

Is readable - structured to make it easy for people to understand the information you're sharing (think: subheadings, paragraph length, use bolding/italics, ordered/unordered lists, reading level, etc.).

For search engines, some key content elements to optimize for are:

Title tags

Meta description

Header tags (H1-H6)

Image alt text

Open graph and Twitter Cards metadata

Off-site optimization

There are several activities that may not be "SEO" in the strictest sense, but nonetheless can align with and help contribute indirectly to SEO success.

Link building (the process of acquiring links to a website) is the activity most associated with off-site SEO. There can be great benefits (e.g., rankings, traffic) from getting a diverse number of links pointing at your website from relevant, authoritative, trusted websites. Link quality beats link quantity - and a large quantity of quality links is the goal.

And how do you get those links? There are a variety of website promotion methods that synergize with SEO efforts. These include:

Brand building and brand marketing: Techniques designed to boost recognition and reputation.

PR: Public relations techniques designed to earn editorially-given links.

Content marketing: Some popular forms include creating videos, ebooks, research studies, podcasts (or being a guest on other podcasts) and guest posting (or guest blogging).

Social media marketing and optimization: Claim your brand's handle on any and all relevant platforms, optimize it fully and share relevant content.

Listing management: Claiming, verifying and optimizing the information on any platforms where information about your company or website may be listed and found by searchers (e.g., directories, review sites, wikis).

Ratings and reviews: Getting them, monitoring them and responding to them.

Generally, when talking about off-site, you're talking about activities that are not going to directly impact your ability to rank from a purely technical standpoint.

However, again, everything your brand does matters. You want your brand to be found anywhere people may search for you. As such, some people have tried to rebrand "search engine optimization" to actually mean "search experience optimization" or "search everywhere optimization."

SEO specialties

Search engine optimization also has a few subgenres. Each of these specialty areas is different from "regular SEO" in its own way, generally requiring additional tactics and presenting different challenges.

Five such SEO specialties include:

Ecommerce SEO: Additional SEO elements include optimizing category pages, product pages, faceted navigation, internal linking structures, product images, product reviews, schema and more.

Enterprise SEO: This is SEO on a massive scale. Typically this means dealing with a website (or multiple websites/brands) with 1 million+ pages - or it may be based on the size of the organization (typically those making millions or billions in revenue per year). Doing enterprise also typically means delays trying to get SEO changes implemented by the dev team, as well as the involvement of multiple stakeholders.

International SEO: This is global SEO for international businesses - doing SEO for multiregional or multilingual websites - and optimizing for international search engines such as Baidu or Naver.

Local SEO: Here, the goal is to optimize websites for visibility in local organic search engine results by managing and obtaining reviews and business listings, among others.

News SEO: With news, speed is of utmost importance - specifically making sure you get into Google's index as quickly as possible and appear in places such as Google Discover, Google's Top Stories and Google News. There's a need to understand best practices for paywalls, section pages, news-specific structured data, and more.

How does SEO work?

If you found this page via Google search, you likely searched Google for [what is seo] or [seo].

This guide is published on Search Engine Land, an authoritative website with great expertise on and experience in the topic of SEO (we've been covering all SEO changes, big and small since 2006).

Originally published in 2010, our "what is SEO" page has earned a whopping 324,203 links.

Put simply, these factors (and others) have helped this guide earn a good reputation with search engines, which has helped it rank in Position 1 for years. It has accumulated signals that demonstrate it is authoritative and trustworthy - and therefore deserves to rank when someone searches for SEO.

But let's look at SEO more broadly. As a whole, SEO really works through a combination of:

People: The person or team responsible for doing or ensuring that the strategic, tactical and operational SEO work is completed.

Processes: The actions taken to make the work more efficient.

Technology: The platforms and tools used.

Activities: The end product, or output.

Many other things factor into how SEO works. What follows is a high-level look at the most important knowledge and process elements.

Six critical areas, in combination, make SEO work:

1. Understanding how search engines work

Simply, if you want people to find your business via search - on any platform - you need to understand the technical processes behind how the engine works - and then make sure you are providing all the right "signals" to influence that visibility.

When talking about traditional web search engines like Google, there are four separate stages of search:

Crawling: Search engines use crawlers to discover pages on the web by following links and using sitemaps.

Rendering: Search engines generate how the page will look using HTML, JavaScript and CSS information.

Indexing: Search engines analyze the content and metadata of the pages it has discovered and add them to a database (though there's no guarantee every page on your website will be indexed).

Ranking: Complex algorithms look at a variety of signals to determine whether a page is relevant and of high-enough quality to show when searchers enter a query.

But optimizing for Google search is different from optimizing for search other platforms like YouTube or Amazon.

Let's take Facebook, for example, where factors such as engagement (Likes, comments, shares, etc.) and who people are connected to matter. Then, on Twitter, signals like recency, interactions, or the author's credibility are important.

And further complicating things: search engines have added machine learning elements in order to surface content - making it even harder to say "this" or "that" resulted in better or worse performance.

2. Researching

Research is a key part of SEO. Some forms of research that will improve SEO performance include:

Audience research: It's important to understand your target audience or market. Who are they (i.e., their demographics and psychographics)? What are their pain points? What questions do they have that you can answer?

Keyword research: This process helps you identify and incorporate relevant and valuable search terms people use into your pages - and understand how much demand and competition there is to rank for these keywords.

Competitor research: What are your competitors doing? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What types of content are they publishing?

Brand/business/client research: What are their goals - and how can SEO help them achieve those goals?

Website research: A variety of SEO audits can uncover opportunities and issues on a website that are preventing success in organic search. Some audits to consider: technical SEO, content, link profile and E-E-A-T.

SERP analysis: This will help you understand the search intent for a given query (e.g., is it commercial, transactional, informational or navigational) and create content that is more likely to earn rankings or visibility.

3. Planning

An SEO strategy is your long-term action plan. You need to set goals - and a plan for how you will reach them.

Think of it your SEO strategy as a roadmap. The path you take likely will change and evolve over time - but the destination should remain clear and unchanged.

Your SEO plan may include things such as:

Setting goals (e.g., OKRs, SMART) and expectations (i.e., timelines/milestones).

Defining and aligning meaningful KPIs and metrics.

Deciding how projects will be created and implemented (internal, external or a mix).

Coordinating and communicating with internal and external stakeholders.

Choosing and implementing tools/technology.

Hiring, training and structuring a team.

Setting a budget.

Measuring and reporting on results.

Documenting the strategy and process.

4. Creating and implementing

Once all the research is done, it's time to turn ideas into action. That means:

Creating new content: Advising your content team on what content needs to be created.

Recommending or implementing changes or enhancements to existing pages: This could include updating and improving the content, adding internal links, incorporating keywords/topics/entities, or identifying other ways to optimize it further.

Removing old, outdated or low-quality content: The types of content that aren't ranking well, driving converting traffic or helping you achieve your SEO goals.

5. Monitoring and maintaining

You need to know when something goes wrong or breaks on your website. Monitoring is critical.

You need to know if traffic drops to a critical page, pages become slow, unresponsive or fall out of the index, your entire website goes offline, links break, or any other number of potential catastrophic issues.

6. Analyzing, assessing and reporting on performance

If you don't measure SEO, you can't improve it. To make data-driven decisions about SEO, you'll need to use:

Website analytics: Set up and use tools (at minimum, free tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools) to collect performance data.

Tools and platforms: There are many "all-in-one" platforms (or suites) that offer multiple tools, but you can also choose to use only select SEO tools to track performance on specific tasks. Or, if you have the resources and none of the tools on the market do exactly what you want, you can make your own tools.

After you've collected the data, you'll need to report on progress. You can create reports using software or manually.

Performance reporting should tell a story and be done at meaningful time intervals, typically comparing to previous report periods (e.g., year over year). This will depend on the type of website (typically, this will be monthly, quarterly, or some other interval),

SEO is ongoing

SEO never ends. Search engines, user behavior and your competitors are always changing. Websites change and move (and break) over time. Content gets stale. Your processes should improve and become more efficient.

Bottom line: There's always something you can be monitoring, testing or improving. Or, as Bruce Clay put it: SEO will only be done when Google stops changing things and all your competition dies.

How to learn SEO

Now that you understand more about what SEO is and how it works - how can you learn more?

Reading (or, if you prefer, watching or listening to) the latest SEO news, research, best practices and other developments should become one of your regular habits, whether it's daily, weekly or monthly. You should also invest in attending at least one or two events per year.

The expectations and behavior of searchers are constantly evolving, which means algorithms are constantly changing to keep up. That, in combination with new breakthroughs in technology (look no further than the explosive rise of ChatGPT in late 2022 and the sudden addition of generative AI to search results in 2023).

Here are some trusted resources and tips to help you grow as an SEO professional.

Search Engine Land's SEO resources

Search Engine Land has been covering SEO since 2006. In addition to news stories written by our editorial staff, Search Engine Land publishes contributed articles from a diverse group of subject matter experts featuring helpful SEO tips, tactics, trends and analysis.

We're biased, but we highly suggest you sign up to receive Search Engine Land's free email newsletter featuring a roundup of the latest SEO news, and insights every weekday.

Search Engine Land also has multiple categories on topics dedicated to specific areas and platforms which you may find helpful:

Search Engine Land's Guide To SEO
(Editor's Note: We are currently updating this guide, with the goal of having the chapters completely updated in the first quarter of 2024.)
Search Engine Land's Guide To SEO walks you through the fundamentals of optimizing for search so you can develop a solid strategy to drive organic traffic to your website.

Our guide explains these factors in more depth, and highlights tactical tips from experts on search engine optimization that will help your website get more visitors from organic search.

Google's SEO resources

Google Search Essentials: In this guide, Google discusses technical requirements, spam policies and key best practices.

SEO starter guide: An overview of SEO basics, according to Google's best practices.

Search quality evaluator guidelines: This document explains how Google instructs human raters to evaluate the quality of its search results by examining the experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness of content and websites.

Developing your SEO skills

One of the best ways to learn SEO is to experiment. Hands-on experience is one of the absolute best ways to advance your skills and deepen your SEO knowledge.

Build your own websites - and make them about topics you are passionate about. Try out various tactics and techniques. See what works and what doesn't.

SEO requires many other skills. Dig deeper into some of those in 13 essential SEO skills you need to succeed.

Another way to advance your career is by attending a search conference. The Search Engine Land team programs the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) conference series, which has a dedicated SEO track that dives into various aspects of SEO and features some excellent speakers and presentations. SMX Advanced takes place in June and SMX Next in November.

Beyond that, there are several other options (free and paid) to learn SEO:

Websites, blogs and publications.

Books and ebooks.

Videos.

Podcasts.

Webinars.

Conferences, events and meetups.

Courses.

Training and certification programs.

Groups (e.g., social media, Slack).

Newsletters.

Following experts on social media.

Forums.

Just be careful. While there are many reliable resources, you (or your clients) will discover some outdated or wrong SEO information at some point.

Bottom line: there are no "universal" truths or some big secret to SEO. The truth is, you have to put in the work in all the phases of SEO to grow your visibility, clicks, traffic, authority, conversions, sales and revenue.
This guide was written by Danny Goodwin, Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & SMX. With more than a decade of experience in the search marketing industry, Goodwin reports on breaking news and provides analysis and commentary on all things SEO.

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What Is SEO - Search Engine Optimization?

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Get started learning the basics of search engine optimization - how SEO works, why it's important, the different types of SEO and much more.

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No longer a fad, China's video-sharing app TikTok has cemented its popularity with half a billion active users, mostly young people, around the world. We take a look at how beauty brands are using TikTok in Japan and China.
TikTok users in Japan are predominantly young women. In fact, a study found that 53% of female first-year junior high students use the app. So it's easy to see how TikTok is a perfect tool for beauty and fashion advertising and promotions. Although several beauty brands in Japan are beginning to use TikTok, they still have a way to go.
Pantene's hashtag challenge garners over 130 million views
In Japan, one successful example is a TikTok video uploaded by Maybelline New York. The video advertised a Maybelline product with prominent TikToker Rikoriko, who has 600,000 followers, dancing to the original song "Matsuge Kareshi". The video earned around 48,000 hearts (the TikTok equivalent of "likes"), plus a jump in other users' posts who lip-synced to the song in their own videos. Total views of all related videos numbered over 10 million.

Then there's cosmetics brand Opera, which posted a promotional video featuring a TikToker duet. That video received around 17,000 hearts while total views of videos tagged with the hashtag #operaduet also hit more than 10 million.

An even more effective promotional tool on Tiktok is hashtag challenges. This is where users are challenged to film themselves doing something specific. A common example is when a company asks users to create a video of themselves lip-syncing and dancing along to a product-related, promotional song.

Kanebo Cosmetics started a hashtag challenge centered around its sunscreen brand "ALLIE" using the hashtag #KyouWaKoreDeAllie (or "this is fine for today"). It became popular with its catchy pop-style song and cute dance choreography. More than 80,000 users posted their attempts at the challenge, with overall views of the videos surpassing 70 million.

P&G Japan started its Pantene Micellar Dance Championship from November 2018 with a video featuring model Maria Tani dancing to a song about "smooth, soft hair" sung by singer-songwriter Koresawa. The company challenged users to create their own versions of the promotional video, with the winning entry to be displayed on Pantene's official Twitter account. Although the challenge officially went on for only two weeks, entries still continued to be posted even after it ended, and views of videos tagged with #micellardance surpassed 130 million.

Pantene Micellar Dance Championship
In China, popular challenges surpass 3 billion views
Despite the examples shown so far, utilization of TikTok in the beauty industry is still in its infancy. This is also the case in the app's homeland, China, where few brands use the app for beauty promotion purposes. Out of these, the companies with the most followers on TikTok are PerfectDiary (approx. 41 million), Dior (36 million), Shiseido (2 million), Estée Lauder (1.8 million), Etude House (1.7 million) and Maybelline New York (1.4 million).*

In China, brands with many followers tend not to do hashtag challenges. Dior, for example, only posts promotional videos. However, Dior still maintains a large number of followers, which is a testament to the power of its brand and the use of celebrities in promotions.

Yet, hashtag challenges do take off in China, and when they do, their impact is stratospheric. Take Shiseido China. The beauty giant recruited Fan Chengcheng, younger brother of superstar actress Fan Bingbing, to be the new face of skincare product WASO, which is targeted at younger customers. The company then started the hashtag challenge #FanChengChengWasoYouFan, or "Fan Chengcheng WASO has fans". It asked users to create TikTok videos using WASO advertising material featuring its new spokesman, with the best five videos winning products signed by Fan himself. In all, the videos garnered nearly 460 million views.

#FanChengChengWasoYouFan

Meanwhile, Maybelline New York launched #NiYaoDeMeiXingDouNaZou, or "take away the eyebrows you want". Its hashtag challenge asked users for their ideal eyebrow line and awarded products to the top 20 users with the most hearts, amassing an amazing 3 billion views from overall related videos.

#NiYaoDeMeiXingDouNaZou
The need for more thorough compliance
Although TikTok continues to grow, it's still unclear whether it will become a promotional tool on a par with the likes of YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. This is due to certain risk factors that have come to light. In February, in the US, TikTok's parent company ByteDance was fined US$5.7 million for allowing videos that targeted kids under 13, whose personal data was illegally obtained. In April, in India, the Supreme Court banned new downloads of the TikTok app after copious postings of inappropriate videos were made, although subsequent news articles report that this ban will soon be lifted.

Still, it can't be denied that TikTok's rapid global expansion has left countries around the world struggling to contain it. TikTok has set up an authentication system for companies and individuals, but the screening process seems to be lax in some areas compared with other platforms like Twitter. Maintaining TikTok's growth will hinge on whether the app can comply more thoroughly with the laws of the world.
*Numbers in parentheses are follower numbers.
Text: Denyse Yeo
Original ( Japanese): Team Roboteer

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Can TikTok win over beauty brands in Japan and China?

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No longer a fad, China's video-sharing app TikTok has cemented its popularity with half a billion active users, mostly young people, around the world. We take a look at how beauty brands are using TikTok in Japan and China. TikTok users in Japan are predominantly young women.

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DUBLIN--()--The "China Beauty Market Report - 2018 Q3 Makeup Market Review" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

China's beauty market in 2018 is 407.8 billion RMB market, the second-largest in the world after the USA. The rapid growth of the late 2000s is slowing down, but the recent CAGR market is growing at a rapid rate of 11.6%. The Q3 beauty market in 2018 is about 60.96 billion RMB, up 0.7% from the same quarter of the previous year.

The online market is 85 billion RMB, accounting for about 27.7% of the total beauty market. This report focuses on analyzing the sales of cosmetics being sold in Taobao and Tmall which are the largest online distribution channels in China (about 75 billion RMB). Taobao/Tmall distribution channels sold about 22.2 billion RMB in Q3 2018. In terms of platforms, Tmall, which is being operated by brands, accounted for 50% of the total market.

The premium market is steadily taking a stable 30% M/S of the entire market. The top 500 brands in China, as of Q3 2018, include 411 mass brands and 89 premium brands. Premium brands, however, account for about 6 billion RMB (30% M/S) of the total sales, and mass brands account for 13.1 billion RMB (70%M/S ). Q3/Q2 showed a 25% growth, premium brands grew by about 28.7% and mass brands grew by about 24.5%.

China's beauty market is expected to grow into a market of 60 trillion RMB by 2025. As one of the most notable beauty markets in the world, it is a representative market that not only global cosmetics companies but also small niche brands want to enter. As all brands are interested in this market, about 40,000 brands are striving to attract consumers in the Chinese market.

Despite the reports on the economic downturn in China, such as a trade war between the United States and China and various changes in economic environments, the China beauty market is expected to grow the most so that it is drawing worldwide attention. Experts predict that China beauty market will grow to an estimated 280 billion RMB in 2018, with an average growth rate of 12.5%.

Although it is expected to be the largest market in the world in the next five years, not many companies describe the Chinese market accurately. Especially, due to China's unique distribution structure, it is not easy for both foreign and domestic companies to read the entire market. In addition, even global cosmetic brands are having difficulties in the Chinese market due to rapid changes in consumer buying patterns.

This report is based on the analysis of the sales data of more than 3.5 million products being sold at Tmall and Taobao, China, 2.3 billion buyer reviews, as well as more than 10 million data of XIAOHONGSHU and Weibo. Given that 40% of the Chinese cosmetics market is sold online, 70% of the sales are made at Tmall and Taobao channels, this report can be used as a criterion for judging the market share or changes of brands in the entire Chinese market.

In a more complex market, it is necessary to establish a strategy based on more accurate numbers and insight that reads the numbers more clearly. We hope that this report will be able to read the rapidly changing the China beauty market more quickly and easily, and many companies will use this report to establish a strategy to succeed in the Chinese market.

Key Topics Covered

1. Overview

Q3 China Beauty Market Overview: Rapidly growing China Beauty Market

Q3 Korea Brands Performance: Korea brand ranking Top25

Q3 New Brand In: WASO

2. Market

Q3 Makeup Market Issues: Top 100 brands are taking more than 20% of M/S

Q3 Top Makeup Brand Performance

Key Brands to Watch: Perfect Diary, ZEESEA, 3CE, JudydoLL

Makeup Category Issue: Brands with segmentation products

3. Market by Category

Primer/Makeup Market Issue: K-Brands and J-Brands

Foundation Market Issue: Growth of key product line

BB Cream Market Issue: Shift of BB cream from a cream type to cushion type

Concealer Market Issue: Segmentation of the market needs

Pressed Powder Market Issue: Slows down in its market growth

Loose Powder Market Issue: Suitable for a matte makeup style

Lip Stick Market Issue: Representative item for showing

Lip Gloss Market Issue: Competitive market with its rapid market expansion

Lip Liner Market Issue: Smaller market yet steady expansion of the market size

Eye Shadow Market Issue: Focusing on eye palettes

Eye Liner Market Issue: Rapid growing of Japanese brands

Mascara Market Issue: Female consumer needs are on eyebrows length

Eye Brow Market Issue: Natural eyebrows vs. semi-permanent tattoo eyebrows

Blusher/Shading/Highlighter Market Issue: Slight growth on blusher market

4. Marketing Issue

Brand Marketing Issue: Carslan, Cosme Decorte, Aupres, Watsons, L'Oreal, Kiehl's

Seasonal Marketing Issue: Chinese Valentine's Day Chilwol-chilsuk(July 7th in the lunar calendar)

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mqodjb

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The Chinese Beauty Market: Makeup Market Review, Q3 2018 - The Beauty Market in Q3 2018 is About 60.96 Billion RMB, up 0.7% - ResearchAndMarkets.com

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DUBLIN--()--The "China Beauty Market Report - 2018 Q3 Makeup Market Review" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. China's beauty market in 2018 is 407.8 billion RMB market, the second-largest in the world after the USA. The rapid growth of the late 2000s is slowing down, but the recent CAGR market is growing at a rapid rate of 11.6%.

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This article is part of a series on the future of wellness in luxury.

Discover how rising wellness aspirations are profoundly transforming luxury and redefining affluent consumers' expectations. See what you should do to successfully connect with your audience.

The global beauty and personal care industry is estimated to be worth US$1,127 Billion in 2018 and is expected to continue growing strongly over the coming years.

If large beauty legacy brands have historically ruled the industry, digital-first brands are increasingly gaining modern consumers' attention and achieving cult-favourite status amongst younger shoppers.

The growth in the premium beauty segment, in particular, outpaces its mass counterpart as middle-income consumers buy more high-end cosmetics.

Within the premium beauty space, skincare and colour cosmetics are especially lucrative segments. The two categories saw 7% and 9% growth in 2017, respectively.

The recent obsession with wellness - an industry valued at $4.2 trillion worldwide - has contributed to the growth of the beauty industry. Beauty products and experiences are merging with the fitness and wellness worlds, transforming the face of beauty.

The colour cosmetic segment outperformed all the other beauty categories globally, benefiting from " social media appeal, a desire for self-expression and technologically-enabled make-over experiences. "

What does it mean for the future of beauty?

The following report identifies rising trends and growth drivers for the beauty industry. You will learn what these changes mean for the future of luxury beauty. You will also see what the most successful luxury beauty brands are doing to capitalise on shifting consumer attitudes and technological innovations to drive long-term growth.

Let's dive in.

6 Beauty innovations to win the modern affluent consumers

Luxury beauty brands need a new approach to win over the heart and mind of the modern affluent consumer. Successful beauty marketing campaigns will tap into these six critical trends to appeal to wellness-driven customers:

1. Improve discoverability and desirability by working with social media influencers

2. Tap into crowdsourcing to develop new beauty products

3. Deliver a holistic wellness experience through cross-segment collaboration

4. Use digital technologies to provide personalised beauty solutions at scale

5. Embrace diversity and become genderless

6. Forget anti-ageing, think healthy ageing

As consumers increasingly spend more time searching for information about their beauty routines online, social media plays an important role in the beauty purchase journey online. Digital communities are indeed facilitating new product and brand discovery among modern consumers.

Growth in the beauty market is partly fuelled by the desire to be selfie-ready, and the impact of beauty digital influencers and social media platforms on beauty ideals. Modern affluent consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z shoppers are influenced by, and value the opinions of, the online community.

Beauty vlogging isn't new, but beauty brands have rapidly ramped up their involvement with YouTube personalities who attract massive audiences with their makeup tutorials and how-to videos.

With its shoppable features, Instagram is also emerging as a social network of choice for affluent beauty shoppers, bringing the point-of-sale right to the point-of-discovery.

In this modern context, digital storytelling has become essential for legacy beauty brands and startups alike.

2. Tap into crowdsourcing to develop new beauty products

Crowdsourcing is taking the beauty industry, especially indie beauty brands, to a whole new frontier by redefining the way beauty products are conceptualised, produced and sold.

Innovative beauty challengers (such as Glossier) use their online communities via social media to solicit consumers' input and feedback.

By empowering consumers to become co-creators, Indie beauty brands can foster emotional attachments and thus build early customer loyalty, giving new brands an edge over legacy brands.

Case in point:

Founded in 2015, Volition is a community-centric beauty brand with crowdsourcing at the heart of its business model. People submit their ideas for new beauty products, which if deemed viable by the Volition team are put to the public vote and produced.

Once the product is retailed, voters who participated are offered 40% off the retail price.

3. Deliver a holistic beauty experience through cross-segment wellness collaboration

Fighting urban pollution. Protecting your skin from damaging blue light. Caring for your face with toxin-free products. The quest for wellness and a healthier lifestyle is transforming attitudes towards the beauty industry. We expect to see increased crossover and collaborations between beauty, fitness and wellness brands playing in these adjacent sectors.

When beauty and fitness converge: The rise of the athleisure beauty category

Gyms and boutique fitness studios have become trendy social gathering places. There was a time not long ago when taking a photo at the gym was considered inappropriate, but now Instagram is flooded with workout selfies.

In this context, it's no wonder that athleisure beauty is gaining in popularity - from lightweight, sweat-proof cosmetics designed to be worn while exercising to post-workout clean makeup.

Beauty brands cater to consumers' exercise regimens:

The athleisure beauty trend has spurred a new crop of innovative beauty brands: Sweat Cosmetics, Rae Cosmetics and Birchbox's Arrow Line are great examples.

Traditional beauty brands are adapting their offering: Clinique, for example, jumped on the athleisure trend with its CliniqueFit line of products that cater to pre- and post-workout (from mattifying powder to sweat-proof mascara).

As the line between fitness and beauty continues to blur, partnerships between beauty and fitness brands have seen traction. Many fitness studios are partnering with luxury beauty brands to offer amenities tailored for active lifestyles.

For example, luxury fitness chain Equinox partnered with cult beauty brand Glossier in early 2018 allowing Equinox members to try on Glossier products after workout classes.

For boutique fitness studios, in-studio beauty products are also becoming just as important as the workouts themselves to offer a premium fitness experience. Equinox, for example, offers Kiehl's products in its lockers.

Some fitness centres are going even further by experimenting with on-demand beauty and wellness offerings, from cryotherapy to facial treatments.

Beauty grows natural: Clean makeup and safer ingredients boom

The growth of the natural beauty category continues to outperform conventional beauty categories.

The increasing number of modern affluent consumers looking for cleaner, safer, better beauty is driving the natural beauty movement. The contribution of products featuring natural claims in the beauty industry grew by 50 percent between 2013 and 2017.

The increasing evidence that certain harmful ingredients in personal care products are linked to a range of health concerns is influencing more shoppers to vet the ingredients used in their product by reading natural beauty reviews online. And natural beauty is increasingly about what's not (absence of undesirable ingredients) in products. Think paraben-free, fragrance-free and synthetic colourants-free.

Younger affluent generations take it one step further, by favouring beauty brands that are eco-friendly and socially responsible to align with their personal values.

Particularly appealing to the selfie generation because of their visual nature, the colour cosmetics category (colour-cosmetics challenger brands in particular) is especially growing.

Growing beyond makeup artistry and aesthetics, clean colour cosmetics are now able to truly compete with mainstream makeup brands by offering long-lasting bold colours and full coverage foundations but without nasty chemicals.

It's no longer enough for beauty brands to claim they're natural. Modern affluent consumers want transparency from beauty brands. To accommodate the new wellness-minded consumers, beauty brands are thus upping their game by demystifying ingredients and further educating consumers.

Case in point:

E-commerce beauty site and subscription service Birchbox, for example, has an "Ingredient Conscious" shop category that features clean beauty products free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and petrochemicals - four ingredients customers are most concerned about.

Capitalising on the beauty industry trend toward organic and health-focused products, LVMH-owned Sephora launched in June 2018 its "Clean at Sephora" category on sephora.com (clearly marked with a special seal). The Clean at Sephora section is a curated edit of clean beauty products "free of" ingredients such as sulfates SLS and SLES, parabens, mineral oils and other pro-wellness no-nos.

As ingredient awareness increases among consumers, Clean at Sephora offers more transparency and makes it easier to shop for clean beauty products. Sephora also features display online buying guides and education sections as well as dedicated in-store Clean Skincare and Wellness-themed product walls.

Inside-out beauty further blurs the line between wellness and beauty

As awareness of what we put on our bodies rises, so does the popularity of the inside-out approach to beauty (read: nutricosmetics or ingestible beauty products).

As modern affluent consumers adopt a more holistic approach to wellness, they are increasingly tackling their beauty concerns from the inside out - from beauty supplements to superfood and collagen inner beauty powders that deliver internal health benefits while promising beauty benefits such as weight loss, clearer skin, and stronger hair.

Case in point:

Launched by Australian supermodel, Elle Macpherson, WelleCo offers a premium line of plant-based ingestible beauty products and dietary supplements. The Australian wellness brand has an online quiz to help find the elixir to suit your health and beauty goals.

The beauty and wellness brand Moon Juice offers an assortment of adaptogenic (made of nontoxic herbs) beauty powders focused on hair and skin.

The Nue Co. offers luxury-focused vitamins and supplements.

From Net-a-Porter to Nordstrom and Sephora, luxury retailers are doubling down on the ingestible beauty opportunity. They all have a dedicated online space that curates these wellness inner beauty products.

4. Digital enables personalised beauty solutions at scale

Technology allows beauty brands to be authentically relevant to individuals, at scale.

A growing number of beauty brands and retailers are thus harnessing the power of data and technology - such as artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR), algorithms, apps and scanners - to offer consumers an unprecedented level of product personalisation according to consumers' skin types and their personal needs. But while beauty shoppers tend to be ahead of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) curve in online shopping, we're still very early in the development of truly connected beauty.

Case in point:

L'Oréal's Makeup Genius app uses Augmented Reality to enable customers to try out virtual cosmetics before buying them.

Inspired by digitally native Millennials, the beauty industry is also embracing the Internet of Things. Shiseido released an IoT skincare system that tracks mood, weather, environment, and biological changes to come up with specific serums and moisturizers that suit the present condition of the skin.

Skincare company Proven uses machine learning algorithms to create bespoke products that match crowdsourced learnings from its database of AI-distilled testimonials to what an individual customer shares about their individual needs. After filling out a short questionnaire on Proven's website (answering questions about things like their age, ethnicity, skin type and their skincare priorities), customers receive custom products they can buy.

5. Beauty inclusivity: Embrace diversity and become genderless

The men's beauty category is often cited as a high-growth beauty market segment, as image-conscious male consumers are showing increasing enthusiasm for grooming and beauty product categories.

Case in point:

Chanel debuted its men's makeup line, Boy de Chanel, in September 2018 in South Korea. The collection will be rolled out worldwide in November 2018 on Chanel's e-commerce platforms and debuts in Chanel boutiques, beginning January 2019.
Now that an iconic legacy brand has entered the men makeup space, the rest of the industry is likely to follow suit. And that's a step toward a more inclusive beauty industry.

(Noteworthy: A notable early pioneer, Tom Ford released male cosmetics in 2013).

But beyond male grooming, the cosmetics industry starts to focus on total inclusivity as consumers increasingly seek products that match their ethnicity and individuality. There are thus great opportunities for brands that welcome and care for people of all shapes, ages, colours, and lifestyles.

Case in point:

Rihanna's Fenty Beauty, for example, addresses diversity by offering an inclusive range of 'shades for all' complexion products across skin tones. Fenty Beauty launched with 40 different Pro Filt'r foundation colours - from the fairest to the deepest - in 17 countries all at once (which is somewhat unprecedented for a new brand).

If the makeup brand wasn't the first to offer such a wide range of shades (M.A.C and Make Up For Ever already sold expansive shade ranges), Fenty Beauty put an unprecedented spotlight on the need for diverse beauty products. Fenty Beauty's marketing campaigns are an unabashed celebration of diversity.

Luxury heritage brands have followed suit. Dior, for example, announced at its Cruise 2019 show the launch of a new liquid foundation with 40 shades under its Dior Backstage's line.

Brands are also becoming increasingly aware of the gender blurring barriers and starting to promote unisex beauty such as skincare brand Context. According to Mintel, as consumers increasingly demand personalised beauty product, brands will embrace inclusivity by looking beyond age, gender, sexuality and body type.

Case in point:

Launched in January 2018, Fluide is a line of cosmetics that celebrates diverse beauty by offering makeup "for everyone - for all gender expressions and skin tones". In addition to their inclusive message, the new beauty brand also donates a percentage of their proceeds to LGBTQ organisations.

We expect beauty brands to explore how to best champion inclusive imagery and gender-neutral campaigns, diversify their narrative and launch an increasing number of genderless or genderfluid products in 2019 that act to support a more diverse and inclusive approach to beauty.

6. A new attitude: Forget anti-ageing, think healthy ageing

Ageing demographic trends and the increasing desire to retain youthful appearances have groomed the cosmetics industry, worldwide. This growing consumer segment deserves brands' attention.

In parallel, wellness-focused Millennial consumers approach ageing with a desire for healthy prejuvenation. Luxury beauty brands should leverage this momentum to promote preventative skincare and holistic skin maintenance beauty products - including skin protection features such as air and digital pollution.

To appeal to the modern affluent consumers, luxury brands need to move away from the negatively connotated anti-ageing language and embrace ageing gracefully instead. Brands' narratives will need to adapt to reflect these modern pro-age and wellness values.

Case in point:

Blue light (also referred to as High Energy Visible or HEV light) exposure from digital devices is a new emerging skin concern. Luxury beauty brands are taking notice.

Estée Lauder, for example, turns off the blue light with its new Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery. According to Estée Lauder, the treatment is designed to help repair and prevent the " visible impact on skin of modern-day assaults including lack of sleep, UV, pollution, even exposure to blue light."

The future of high-end beauty

Modern affluent beauty consumers are more wellness-focused, more diverse and more technologically-empowered than ever. They are quick to try new beauty products and expect transparency from the beauty brands they buy into.

To be successful, luxury brands need to be authentic and demonstrate a deeper emotional understanding of their customers' identity. Brands need to be flexible in order to stay relevant to a diverse consumer community. Beauty brands also need to harness digital technologies and online media to deliver product personalisation at scale.

One of Balmain's virtual models @shudu.gram

As the global beauty industry continues to shift towards a holistic cross-sector convergence between cosmetics and well-being, the balance of power between legacy beauty brands and digital-first beauty challengers is shifting.

Beauty shoppers seek inspiration and shopping solutions online. The playbook for building and sustaining brand loyalty is thus changing.

Authentic digital storytelling, personalised experiences and a fast-fashion approach to innovation are key. Brands that are failing at adapting will increasingly lose their footing and relevance in this modern context.

1. What beauty players can teach the consumer sector about digital disruption, by Sara Hudson, Aimee Kim, and Jessica Moulton, McKinsey, April 2018.

2. Five Key Insights from Euromonitor International's Beauty and Personal Care 2018, by Irina Barbalova, Euromonitor International, May 3, 2018.

3. The Future of Beauty, by The Nielsen Company, 2018.

4. 2018 Global Beauty and Personal Care Trends, by Lauren Goodsitt, Mintel, 2018.

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6 Marketing Strategies To Win Over Modern Luxury Beauty Consumers

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This article is part of a series on the future of wellness in luxury. Discover how rising wellness aspirations are profoundly transforming luxury and redefining affluent consumers' expectations. See what you should do to successfully connect with your audience.

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You can't ignore the huge growth currently taking place in the Chinese market. As the world's second largest economy, China is already the globe's biggest market for many products and it is continuing to grow at a staggering rate. Even accounting for some slowdown, China is likely to become the world's largest economy by 2030. This means that expanding into China is a great idea for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

However, you can't simply take your product and its current marketing and drop them into the Chinese market. Well, not if you want to succeed. Many businesses fail to crack China simply because their marketing doesn't suit Chinese audiences. Chinese consumers prefer different forms of advertising, they use different technologies to shop, and they make different judgements about product pricing. If you want to enter the Chinese market, you need to market your product in a way that works for China.

So what do you need to do to successfully market your brand in China? Follow these top tips.

Western markets are heavily centered around occasions like Christmas and Black Friday. No marketer would dream of ignoring these big selling occasions. However, plenty of businesses fail to focus on occasions which are just as big in the Chinese market. The lunar new year, which falls between late January and late February, is an important time of year which is associated with a lot of commercial activity in China. There is also Singles' Day on November 11th, a sort of anti-Valentine's Day celebration which encourages singletons to buy themselves gifts. In 2017, Singles' Day generated a record in China. Make sure that you adapt your marketing calendar to Chinese events so you don't miss out.

Get familiar with how Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo work. Digital marketing is growing fast in China and savvy companies are running highly successful social media marketing campaigns there. If your advertisements are easily shareable, they will go far in the Chinese market where word-of-mouth recommendations hold a lot of weight. WeChat, one of the largest social media and messaging apps, also has a direct pay option (WePay) so you can efficiently convert ad viewers into customers.

QR codes are an important part of marketing your brand in China. Using WePay and a QR code, Chinese customers can use their phones to buy products from brick-and-mortar stores without using cash or cards. Chinese consumers buy more products on mobile than consumers in the US and UK and using QR codes can make this a much easier process. The introduction of QR codes in China led to massive falls in the use of ATMs and POS machines until the integration of QR reading technology. These little black-and-white boxes have changed the way people shop in China and it would be a mistake to ignore them for your products. They may not be highly popular in the west, but QR codes play an incredibly valuable role in marketing in China.

Think carefully about your pricing strategy before marketing your product in China. Incomes vary significantly across China and selling a product at the same price point all over China usually won't work. For example, East China has an average income that is around two and a half times higher than Central China and almost three times higher than West China so you should adjust your prices to suit consumers in these areas.

Chinese consumers are also sensitive to what price point says about a product itself. Brands may not be perceived as luxury or high quality if pricing is too low, and a strong brand will often succeed by increasing their prices in China. Take the example of Coach. In China, the cheapest bag on the Coach website sells for 2,300 RMB ($330 USD) while the same bag is priced at just $175 on their US website. Similarly, the most expensive bag is priced at 9,950 RMB ($1430 USD) versus $995 for the US. Seller beware: Pricing can make or break you in China.

In this same vein, it's useful to focus on the quality and prestige of your product rather than the price when advertising in China. While western advertising may focus on getting value for money and paying the lowest price possible, Chinese commercials emphasize a product's style and the mood it evokes. Presenting a product as cheap isn't a good idea in this market.

Chinese advertising tends to focus on aesthetics and moods rather than information-heavy text or audio. Chinese audiences also tend to appreciate advertising that centers around family and optimism as well as style, aspiration, and emotional warmth. Different styles will also do well in different parts of China, with eastern consumers valuing fashionable commercials and the north leaning towards family-focused advertising. While information is obviously important, it's more vital that your marketing hits the right tone of aspiration, style, and warmth.

This one should go without saying, but unfortunately plenty of businesses make this mistake. You need to check that your Chinese marketing content is written in correct Chinese. Reach out to a native Chinese speaker you know or find a reputable Chinese speaker on a website like Fiverr to help you translate your content. You need to ensure that it makes sense grammatically and that the overall message makes sense. Using incorrect Chinese can make you look unprofessional, turn your business into a laughing stock, or even worse, cause offense to your target market.

In conclusion:

These tips will help you crack the Chinese consumer base and succeed in this thriving market. Here at Floship, we can help you fulfill your orders for the Chinese market quickly, effectively, and at the right price. Floship also have a partnership with a talented Chinese marketing agency who can help you market your product perfectly for Chinese audiences.

Want to successfully market your product in China? Fill out our Free Consultation form and Contact us today to find out more.

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7 Tips For Marketing Your Brand To Chinese Consumers - Floship

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You can't ignore the huge growth currently taking place in the Chinese market. As the world's second largest economy, China is already the globe's biggest market for many products and it is continuing to grow at a staggering rate. Even accounting for some slowdown, China is likely to become the world's largest economy by 2030.

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12 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Growing a business isn't easy. First, you need a viable idea. From there, you need to discover a profitable niche, define a target demographic and have something of value to sell them. Whether you're peddling products, services or information, getting the word out has become increasingly burdensome. And without the right marketing strategies to fuel your growth, churning a profit and staying afloat is virtually impossible.

However, identifying the right strategies to market your business is often likened to rocket science. How do you get your message to the right audience and do it effectively? How do you boost visibility and increase sales while sustaining a profit with a converting offer? Today, with so much vying for our attention from social media, to search engine optimization, blogging and pay-per-click advertising, it's easy to see why most are ready to pull their hair out.

The truth is that what got you to this point in business is likely not going to get you to the next level. If you're feeling stuck, join the fray. Most entrepreneurs are so busy working "in" their businesses that they fail to work "on" their businesses. As a result of dealing with the day-to-day operations of a company that includes customer hand-holding, supply-chain demands and more, we often neglect to wield the right marketing strategies that will help fuel our business's growth.

What does it take to do that? Simply put, you have to take a step back for a moment. You have to analyze and understand the basic mechanics of your message and how to effectively reach a larger audience without losing your shirt. The secret to all of this? No matter what marketing strategy you use, if you don't have an effective sales funnel and optimize your conversions, you'll just be throwing money away.

What are the best marketing strategies to use?

Most businesses are faced with a conundrum. It's a Catch-22. There's a clear need for increased visibility to drastically improve sales. But in order to get more visibility, businesses have to spend more money. When that well runs dry, what are you supposed to do?

There is no obvious and clear answer to that question that covers all situations. But there are things that can be done today, right now, even on a shoestring budget, to reach more customers without breaking the bank. However, it all boils down to time. If you lack the money, you sure better have the time to put in the sweat equity.

Either way you slice it, as long as the fundamentals of a sound business are there and you're working tirelessly to build an authentic relationship with the consumer by sincerely trying to add value, then there are 10 go-to strategies you can use to market any business online.

1. Use social media.

You can't ignore social media. That's where all the so-called magic is happening. Some businesses have been built solely on the backs of social media. It can be intimidating at first. Sure. But as you build momentum, you'll find posting on social media to get easier and easier over time.

Of course, you could also hire a social media manager if you have money to burn. But if you don't, just be yourself. Be authentic. Post your thoughts. Post your products. Post anything that you find relevant and useful that would help your audience either learn more about you and your business, or about the industry that you're in.

Use direct messages on platforms like Instagram and even Snapchat or Twitter to reach out to other successful businesses or even to communicate with potential customers who might be looking for your products and services. This is very powerful marketing.
Related: 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing
2. Create video tutorials.

One of the most effective ways to get the word out on your business is to create video tutorials. Teach people something useful. Walk them through it. Hold their hands. Step-by-step tutorials are all the rage. The better you are at this, and the more value you provide, the quicker you can boost your visibility, and ultimately, your sales.

Today, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world behind Google. Whenever someone wants to learn something visually, they head there. You've likely done it yourself countless times. So just ask yourself what you could teach in your business that would help consumers solve some pain point? What got you into business in the first place?

The hardest part? Hearing your own voice playing back and even seeing yourself. Now, you don't have to appear visually on camera, but you'll likely need to be heard. You get used to it over time. But you can't ignore the visibility and reach of YouTube so get out there and start making authentic and useful videos today, right now.
Related: 6 Ways to Use Video to Sell New-Product Concepts
3. Start blogging now.

Sure, you could start a blog. If you don't have a blog for your business, then you need to start one immediately. But you don't just have to blog on your own blog. Most people find blogging mundane because they lack the visibility. The truth is that your blog is going to be like a barren desert unless you know what you're doing.

But this isn't just about posting your ideas on your own blog. You should start authority blogging. Use platforms like Medium to post content. Answer questions on Quora and Reddit. Or get out there onto LinkedIn's publishing platform. These are all authority domains that anyone can post on, which have massive audiences, giving you instant and immediate reach right now.

When you do blog, ensure that you blog effectively. Don't post thin content. Think about adding value. Worried about revealing all your business secrets? Don't be. Give away the farm. Give people so much value that you instantly become an authority in their eyes. This is one of the most powerful strategies you can use to market any business.
Related: 5 Ways to Build an Audience for Your Blog and 10 Ways to Make Money Once You Have
4. Understand search engine optimization.

This is an area of marketing that I'm incredibly passionate about. But it's also an area that many people are deathly frightened by. Yes, SEO can be frightening. But it can also be powerful. And when you learn to leverage it and you learn SEO the right way, the sky truly is the limit.

There are companies out there who teach you how to use shady PBNs and other link schemes to "trick" Google. It might get short-term results, but in the long term, you'll land in hot water. You can't take shortcuts with SEO. Just like in business, you have to put in the work and the time if you want to see the results.

Some tips for doing this the right way? Don't spam keywords. Hands down. This is one of the biggest mistakes most people make. Create your content for humans while also paying homage to search engines. But more importantly, ensure that whatever it is that you're conveying is insightful, engaging, unique and adds a tremendous amount of value.
Related: SEO Tutorial: 12 Immutable Laws For Dominating Google's Search
5. Leverage influencers.

Want to get the word out there and boost your visibility on social media without taking years to build the audience? Then you should certainly leverage influencers. But the key is to find the right influencer. You don't have to go with influencers with millions of followers. You could opt for micro-influencers with tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand followers.

The trick? Find the right influencer in your niche so that you're targeting the right audience. It's not just about spreading your message. It's about spreading your message to the right consumer base. If you can do that properly, then you can likely reach a sizable audience for not much money invested when you think about the potential profit it can return.

If your sales systems and products are in place, then this makes sense. If you have an offer that's clearly converting, and it's simply about more visibility, then this is likely the right marketing strategy for you right now. Assess the situation and reach out to influencers and gauge their pricing. Do small tests and see what works, then scale.
Related: 10 Rules for Leveraging Social Media to Grow Your Business
6. Build a great lead magnet.

So much effectiveness in marketing really does boil down to creating a great lead magnet. I've found that the right lead magnet presented to the right audience can have explosive results. The best way to do this is if you can identify the right pain points and present a solution in your lead magnet, then you're well on your way.

What problem are consumers facing in your niche? What made you get into business in the first place? Ask yourself these questions before building out your lead magnet. The better you identify the problem or pain points at the outset, the better you'll be at actually addressing that with a solution in your lead magnet.

What type of lead magnet should you build? That could either be an ebook, a cheat sheet, a checklist, a video and others. Of course, it's not just about the lead magnet. You have to have a squeeze page with sizzling sales copy to get people to drop into your funnel. But it all starts with a great lead magnet. The better it is, the more effective you'll be at reaching your audience.
Related: How to Create a Lead Magnet That Actually Gets Leads
7. Use Facebook ads with re-targeting.

One of the most powerful methods you can use to market just about anything these days are Facebook ads. With Facebook, you can reach a very specific audience and you can do it very easily. You can target by interest, age, relationships status, geographic location, and so much much more.

But the trick here to getting great results isn't just about click-traffic. You have to focus on conversions and re-targeting through pixels. If you don't know how to install the Facebook Pixel on your site, then you absolutely must learn how to do this right now. Even if you're not running Facebook ads, you can build your audience with a pixel.

Pixels track everyone who comes to your site, and you can build custom audiences around them. For example, if you post content about how to learn to drive a semi-truck, and you track visitors with pixels, you can then market truck driving certification to people who have already shown an interest in that already because they visited that specific page. And your conversions will skyrocket.
Related: Here's How to Master Facebook Advertising and Why You Must
8. Use LinkedIn the right way.

Do you have a video on your LinkedIn profile? Did you know that you can easily add one? Why not take the time to introduce yourself and your business. Link that to your profile description. This is an easy way to passively market your business, and when it's done right, it can lead to shocking results.

If you have lots of connections on LinkedIn and you're not really posting on there, start immediately. You can reach a large audience, especially when your posts go viral. This is a great place to convey the entrepreneurial journey. Talk about your challenges and tell stories. The more effective your stories, the larger your potential reach when you go viral.

You can also reach out to other businesses and collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs on LinkedIn. It's a great go-to resource for all things business and too many people overlook this.
Related: Seriously, Please Stop Trying to 'Go Viral' on LinkedIn
9. Create an affiliate program.

Most people don't understand the power of affiliate marketing. Affiliates can provide massive fuel for growth. But approaching the right partners isn't always that easy. You have to have good conversion if you want the bigger affiliate to take you seriously.

I've found that navigating the affiliate minefield can be tricky. It takes persistence and it takes true grit to make it through. Most of us get discouraged after a few setbacks, but you can't allow emotions to get in the way when it comes to affiliate. Build an affiliate program and start reaching out to potential affiliate who can assist you.

There are loads of websites you can use as well such as E. Brian Ross's JVZoo, or Tim and Eileen Barber's ClickBank and Commission Junction to get the word out.
Related: The Affiliate Marketing Model: A Blueprint for Success in the Gig Economy
10. Use Email Marketing Sequences

Part of any good sales funnel is going to be an email marketing sequence. These are the automated messages that go out to users once they subscribe to your list. Use your email sequence to build a relationship with the subscriber. Be authentic and transparent. And convey your journey.

Use the email responses and clicks to segment your list. For example, if someone clicks on a specific link, they've clearly shown an interest in something. Tag that subscriber to market to them later. If someone buys, tag them as a buyer. Identifying your buyers and the interests of your subscribers is huge for segmenting.

When you do send broadcasts, split test. Split test everything, in fact, You never really do know what's going to be the most effective until you pull the trigger and really test it out. This will help you understand what your audience responds to better, making you a better communicator, and better able to sell to your customers.

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10 Marketing Strategies to Fuel Your Business Growth

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12 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Growing a business isn't easy. First, you need a viable idea. From there, you need to discover a profitable niche, define a target demographic and have something of value to sell them.

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Start playing Candy Crush Saga today - a legendary puzzle game loved by millions of players around the world.

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‎Start playing Candy Crush Saga today - a legendary puzzle game loved by millions of players around the world. With over a trillion levels played, this sweet match 3 puzzle game is one of the most popular mobile games of all time! Switch and match Candies in this tasty puzzle adventure to progress...

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Home of the Angry Birds - stars of the Angry Birds Movie and the beloved mobile games downloaded billions of times worldwide.

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In an age in which brands make serious investments to curry customers' attention, traditional forms of advertisement are no longer enough to stand out in the media landscape. Marketers today are expected to invent new ways to capture customers' attention in a shorter amount of time and keep them engaged longer. In our latest WeChat case study column, we analyzed a gamification WeChat campaign by French luxury cosmetics brand Guerlain that exemplifies the art of audience engagement.

To celebrate its latest lipstick, the KissKiss Matte collection, Guerlain partnered with a major player in duty-free shopping, Sunrise Duty Free, to create a gamification WeChat campaign. Within 10 days of its launch, the campaign attracted 18,582 page views and 10,000 players. In total, Guerlain has selected more than 300 winners.

Here is how it worked:

With unlimited attempts to go through multiple levels of difficulty, players have the chance to win a lipstick as long as they score over 5,000 points. At the end of the game, they are asked to submit personal information, such as name and phone number, to enter a lottery.

Takeaways:

Target small and know your audience

The campaign is created with a clear purpose: to raise awareness among travelers. Guerlain's reason for picking Sunrise to promote its lipstick is to attract a specific demographic: fashion and trendy customers who are keen on getting first-hand information about the latest products. Therefore, the offering of a free give-away lipstick is a perfect introduction to an entirely new collection.

This specific group of Chinese travelers is likely to be the target of Guerlain's travel retail initiative on a bigger scale in the near future, "We are constantly striving to digitally engage our customers in China in unique ways and we are starting to look at expanding our social and digital communication into travel retail," said Jessica Lau, Guerlain travel retail area China manager.

Make it fun and keep your audience engaged and invested

However, a highly targeted campaign will have limited exposure. Guerlain makes up for this by improving the entertainment aspect of the campaign. The campaign was designed as a highly addictive tetris game. Additionally, since the lipstick element frequently appears throughout the game, customers can be totally immersed in the product narrative created by Guerlain that makes consumers invest their time to learn more.

Winner takes all, collect valuable data

Guerlain asked players to fill in their personal information in exchange for a free gift. This gives Guerlain valuable customer data and can help the company target future campaigns and products at this specific demographic. However, the quality of customer data could be less than ideal because of the inclusion of a free giveaway. A promotion like this can attract the wrong customer demographic, those consumer only interested in a free prize and with little interest in buying in the future.
To learn more about successful WeChat campaigns and how brands can use WeChat marketing to optimize their sales in China, click here to download our latest WeChat report.

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3 Tips From Guerlain's Gamification WeChat Campaign | Jing Daily

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In an age in which brands make serious investments to curry customers' attention, traditional forms of advertisement are no longer enough to stand out in the media landscape. Marketers today are expected to invent new ways to capture customers' attention in a shorter amount of time and keep them engaged longer.

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DUBLIN--()--The "China Beauty Market Report - 2018 Q3 Makeup Market Review" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

China's beauty market in 2018 is 407.8 billion RMB market, the second-largest in the world after the USA. The rapid growth of the late 2000s is slowing down, but the recent CAGR market is growing at a rapid rate of 11.6%. The Q3 beauty market in 2018 is about 60.96 billion RMB, up 0.7% from the same quarter of the previous year.

The online market is 85 billion RMB, accounting for about 27.7% of the total beauty market. This report focuses on analyzing the sales of cosmetics being sold in Taobao and Tmall which are the largest online distribution channels in China (about 75 billion RMB). Taobao/Tmall distribution channels sold about 22.2 billion RMB in Q3 2018. In terms of platforms, Tmall, which is being operated by brands, accounted for 50% of the total market.

The premium market is steadily taking a stable 30% M/S of the entire market. The top 500 brands in China, as of Q3 2018, include 411 mass brands and 89 premium brands. Premium brands, however, account for about 6 billion RMB (30% M/S) of the total sales, and mass brands account for 13.1 billion RMB (70%M/S ). Q3/Q2 showed a 25% growth, premium brands grew by about 28.7% and mass brands grew by about 24.5%.

China's beauty market is expected to grow into a market of 60 trillion RMB by 2025. As one of the most notable beauty markets in the world, it is a representative market that not only global cosmetics companies but also small niche brands want to enter. As all brands are interested in this market, about 40,000 brands are striving to attract consumers in the Chinese market.

Despite the reports on the economic downturn in China, such as a trade war between the United States and China and various changes in economic environments, the China beauty market is expected to grow the most so that it is drawing worldwide attention. Experts predict that China beauty market will grow to an estimated 280 billion RMB in 2018, with an average growth rate of 12.5%.

Although it is expected to be the largest market in the world in the next five years, not many companies describe the Chinese market accurately. Especially, due to China's unique distribution structure, it is not easy for both foreign and domestic companies to read the entire market. In addition, even global cosmetic brands are having difficulties in the Chinese market due to rapid changes in consumer buying patterns.

This report is based on the analysis of the sales data of more than 3.5 million products being sold at Tmall and Taobao, China, 2.3 billion buyer reviews, as well as more than 10 million data of XIAOHONGSHU and Weibo. Given that 40% of the Chinese cosmetics market is sold online, 70% of the sales are made at Tmall and Taobao channels, this report can be used as a criterion for judging the market share or changes of brands in the entire Chinese market.

In a more complex market, it is necessary to establish a strategy based on more accurate numbers and insight that reads the numbers more clearly. We hope that this report will be able to read the rapidly changing the China beauty market more quickly and easily, and many companies will use this report to establish a strategy to succeed in the Chinese market.

Key Topics Covered

1. Overview

Q3 China Beauty Market Overview: Rapidly growing China Beauty Market

Q3 Korea Brands Performance: Korea brand ranking Top25

Q3 New Brand In: WASO

2. Market

Q3 Makeup Market Issues: Top 100 brands are taking more than 20% of M/S

Q3 Top Makeup Brand Performance

Key Brands to Watch: Perfect Diary, ZEESEA, 3CE, JudydoLL

Makeup Category Issue: Brands with segmentation products

3. Market by Category

Primer/Makeup Market Issue: K-Brands and J-Brands

Foundation Market Issue: Growth of key product line

BB Cream Market Issue: Shift of BB cream from a cream type to cushion type

Concealer Market Issue: Segmentation of the market needs

Pressed Powder Market Issue: Slows down in its market growth

Loose Powder Market Issue: Suitable for a matte makeup style

Lip Stick Market Issue: Representative item for showing

Lip Gloss Market Issue: Competitive market with its rapid market expansion

Lip Liner Market Issue: Smaller market yet steady expansion of the market size

Eye Shadow Market Issue: Focusing on eye palettes

Eye Liner Market Issue: Rapid growing of Japanese brands

Mascara Market Issue: Female consumer needs are on eyebrows length

Eye Brow Market Issue: Natural eyebrows vs. semi-permanent tattoo eyebrows

Blusher/Shading/Highlighter Market Issue: Slight growth on blusher market

4. Marketing Issue

Brand Marketing Issue: Carslan, Cosme Decorte, Aupres, Watsons, L'Oreal, Kiehl's

Seasonal Marketing Issue: Chinese Valentine's Day Chilwol-chilsuk(July 7th in the lunar calendar)

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mqodjb

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The Chinese Beauty Market: Makeup Market Review, Q3 2018 - The Beauty Market in Q3 2018 is About 60.96 Billion RMB, up 0.7% - ResearchAndMarkets.com

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DUBLIN--()--The "China Beauty Market Report - 2018 Q3 Makeup Market Review" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. China's beauty market in 2018 is 407.8 billion RMB market, the second-largest in the world after the USA. The rapid growth of the late 2000s is slowing down, but the recent CAGR market is growing at a rapid rate of 11.6%.

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The beauty industry in China is thriving, and Euromonitor International estimates that the beauty and personal care market in China will reach $62 billion by 2020. The global beauty market is also seeing favorable numbers, so the segment is sure to bring incredible opportunities to luxury retailers worldwide. Cosmetics and personal-care are the current high-demand sectors, but there are still some trends that retailers should consider if they want to increase their global profit margin. But first, luxury beauty players need to understand Chinese consumer demographics and the new market shift toward younger, brand-savvy buyers.

The modern Chinese beauty consumer is no stranger to switching brands, as they're less loyal than older generations. This analysis is supported by the China Insight Report: The New Face of Beauty in China, which was produced by Reuter: Intelligence. The luxury intelligence platform "performed qualitative focus group discussions, smartphone-enabled ethnographies, big data analytics, and a quantitative online survey of over 300 consumers across first-tier cities Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou." The results concluded that over 60 percent of the respondents were very curious about niche brands, so despite their established record of credibility, big international retailers should be wary of this characteristic. But there are other difficulties that international brands need to overcome in China today, so they must understand the following trends:

Chinese brands are seeing positive momentum

According to research by , domestic brands now own 56 percent of the Chinese market, a sizable gain due to homegrown brands expanding into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Moreover, mentions that best-selling brands like Pechoin (skincare), Chando (skincare), and One Leaf (facial masks) ranked as top-10 Singles' Day sellers in 2017, despite their relative anonymity in the West. China's cosmetics market is progressing because consumer preferences are constantly changing, and local brands have an edge in understanding consumer needs. Thus, international brands need to show an ongoing commitment toward excellence and innovation in the beauty market.

The male segment is seeing unprecedented growth

A study conducted in 2015 by Statista shows that Chinese men spent an average of 2.2 hours a week on grooming, while women dedicate around 3.8 hours on average. Tao Yi Xue, a consumer analyst with Cinda Securities, believes that as male moisturizers, creams, and lotions have grown in popularity, China has entered a "male beauty era," and beauty brands would be wise not to neglect this highly lucrative segment.

The rise of new aesthetic trends (and the fall of K-beauty)

Until recently, China was all about South Korean beauty trends because of the popularity of K-Pop "boyband" music. Mintel estimates that the K-beauty industry globally amassed $13.1 billion worth of sales in 2018, and in the past, K-beauty was considered pure gold. But now, Chinese beauty buyers are flocking to domestic and Western brands. In fact, the South China Morning Post mentions that the popularity of America's West Coast aesthetic has been on the rise in China. This change in consumer trends strongly relates to a search for authenticity, and consumers now want products that allow them to express their identity and individuality rather than the uniformity promoted by K-beauty. Emily Guo, a researcher at Cherry Blossoms, says that " K-beauty is about conformity and collectivism. It's about always having the same: the same face, same eyebrows, same look."

Livestreaming is the new norm in the beauty industry

China's beauty industry is pioneering new technologies that have helped brands better engage with their followers, such as VR exchanges to AR shopping features. This digital arena now offers next-level livestreaming, which connects beauty lovers to vloggers, industry experts, and other audience segments. As livestreaming becomes increasingly mainstream, younger consumers have turned to Douyin, Kuaishou, and DuoYu, to find peer-to-peer reviews, user-generated content, and influencer interactions. And since younger demographics are addicted to their mobile devices, luxury beauty brands must incorporate livestream marketing into their content marketing plans if they are serious about increasing customer engagement and conversions.

According to research by Mintel, Chinese consumers "are pursuing color cosmetics products that come in smaller packaging or are effortless in their application." Mini lip palette and lip gloss sets that include various shades and are sold in smaller packs, sample-size eyeshadow, and travel-size cosmetics kits are now prized products. The demand for sample size makeup comes from consumers' desire to achieve " an authentic experience with the product prior to making the investment," says Jaimee Given, marketing manager of Beauty, North America, Aptar.

Sari Sternschein, vice president of marketing, Qosmedix, believes that "consumers are no longer loyal to one brand. Millennials, especially, love to try a product and move on to the next." Consequently, the "mini" segment is more in line with those demands and habits.

The rise of partnerships, acquisitions, and mergers between multinational brands and domestic players

Multinational beauty brands still dominate the Chinese market but the winds of change are forcing these companies to revise their business strategies and seek out critical alliances to improve their positioning and speed up growth. For example, Johnson & Johnson acquired the Chinese cosmetics firm Dabao, and Coty Inc. acquired a majority stake in T-Joy. Naturally, well-known brands are still in high demand in China, but competition from emerging and domestic players is steadily growing. As a result, global players are pursuing partnerships and mergers with Chinese beauty brands as a way to satisfy ever-evolving consumer preferences and secure a larger market share.

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6 Beauty Industry Trends in China Brands Must Know | Jing Daily

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The beauty industry in China is thriving, and Euromonitor International estimates that the beauty and personal care market in China will reach $62 billion by 2020. The global beauty market is also seeing favorable numbers, so the segment is sure to bring incredible opportunities to luxury retailers worldwide.

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A stroll in China's urban streets and shopping malls today won't be complete without seeing any form of arcade games. Once a popular phenomenon in Japan and Taiwan, arcade game installations in China today take a slightly different form by combining gaming with shopping - claw machines that contain luxury makeup as rewards, lipstick machines that sell the thrill of "$4.3 (30RMB) for nothing or a Dior lipstick," and branded lucky box machines that give out random product samples have been ubiquitous across the country's most crowded shopping hubs since the recent two years. Highly digitalized and constantly stimulated, Chinese millennials are living in an increasingly gamified retail environment both online and offline.

There are plenty of media headlines that address China's advanced digital landscape and the importance of gamification in online marketing to Chinese millennials. But this recent phenomenon of arcade game luxury retail has proved that gamification is not only crucial online, but also offline. According to media site , China's arcade-game retail industry experienced a boom in the year 2017. In 2017, the number of claw machines in China reached 2 million, making up a 60 billion RMB (around 8.7 billion USD) market.

Chinese millennials have largely normalized gamification in everyday lives in a way that their western peers cannot imagine. This is a generation that buys Cartier jewelry from a WeChat mini-program game, $500 luxe facial creams from a pop-up discount while scrolling video feeds on Little Red Book, and Dior makeup from the brand's "see now, buy now" live streaming. Gaming and the metrics of gamification are no longer a novelty, but the norm of their interactions with all kinds of interfaces. So far, forward-thinking international brands are already leveraging this generation's love for both gaming and luxury shopping to enhance the overall brand experience. Here are three prominent examples:
1. Lancôme's CNY gift machines & Pop-Up
During the Chinese New Year period in 2018 and 2019, Lancôme put CNY-themed lucky gift machines in shopping centers across China's top-tier cities. The machines had attracted long lines of trendy-looking youths to line up for the free gift and WeChat-ready photo crops. One would need to scan the QR Code on the machine, follow Lancôme's official WeChat, and then receive a code via text in order to get a CNY-themed gift box containing various product samples.
2. Little Red Book's Red Home
In May 2019, Lancôme's L'Absolu Mademoiselle pop-up in Beijing has again adopted the popular metric of arcade games. One of the pop-up's main experiences is a virtual "claw machine" screen game, in which visitors use a remote control to pick up the red cherries icons on the screen to exchange for gift rewards.
3. Chanel Game Center
In June 2018, the lifestyle platform Little Red Book (A.k.a. "Xiaohongshu") opened its first offline retail store in Shanghai. The platform's offline store is a reflection of everything trending on its online version: WeChat-friendly photo booths, AI-powered makeup mirror, and a variety of machines and claw machines. Visitors would need to first complete a series of tasks (such as uploading a long content feed to the platform) to win the gaming coins. The rewards range from Tom Ford lipsticks, Lego toys, to fluffy dolls, objects are most trending among the platform's young, mostly female audience.

In 2018, Chanel's arcade pop-up "Coco Game Center," traveled through Asia's fashion capitals from Tokyo to Singapore to Hong Kong and Chengdu, marked one of the most shared pop-up experiences in Chinese social media. With a range of arcade activities like racing games, bubble games, and crane games, the pop-up allowed visitors dress in the brand's classic Tweed to enjoy the thrill of picking up the latest makeup products from a claw machine. The event was a publicity success, too. On Little Red Book alone, over 2,920 user-generated notes were shared to broadcast the experience.

The psychological thrill that resembles gambling, and the amplifying effect of social media, emerged as the two most common reasons behind the arcade game's massive popularity. To many Chinese arcade-game lovers, these arcade-shopping installations resemble a less risky form of gambling. Xuanxuan Liu, a 25-year-old graphic designer in Shenzhen, tells Jing Daily that these arcade games are a way of relief to her work life. "I often stop by the lipstick claw machine after working late night in the office. It is like gambling, but you end up winning makeup instead of money," she said.

Besides the psychic thrill, social media amplifies the Chinese millennials' fixation on arcade games. Camilla Qiu, a 22-year-old fashion design student in London, said, "I first got fascinated by these arcade shopping games by looking at Douyin (China's viral video-sharing app) because it was a huge trend. Then I got very enticed to share the video of me playing it, too." These arcade game's "millennial pink," fun outlook make them the perfect photo backdrop for China's social-obsessed female audience, who find anything that strikes their "girly heart (少女心)" hard to resist.

For any brand that tries to resonate with millennial Chinese consumers, this arcade game trend has a broader implication: shopping is getting ever more performance-oriented, interactive, and technological in young China. Gamification isn't a plus, but a 24/7 reality that they increasingly expect from brands. How international brands could adapt to this next-level gamified reality, still remains a question.

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Gamification: the Future of Luxury Retail in China | Jing Daily

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A stroll in China's urban streets and shopping malls today won't be complete without seeing any form of arcade games.

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Welcome to BoF's Beauty Newsletter, featuring members-only analysis and the week's top news from the front lines of the global beauty business. Subscribe .
NEW YORK, United States - Charlotte Tilbury accomplished the seemingly impossible in 2019: it grew.

Last year was a bad one for prestige cosmetics, with just two of the 20 biggest labels in the US seeing growth in the first half of the year, according to data from NPD Group. Charlotte Tilbury was one of them. For the first quarter of 2020, makeup was down 22 percent, year over year.

No wonder then that the brand is widely expected to be acquired by a strategic any day now. The pandemic has slammed consumer spending on everything aside from essentials. Any brand that has a proven ability to hold onto customers in a downturn can practically name its own price these days.

Charlotte Tilbury was already a top acquisition target even before Covid-19. The seven-year-old line is one of the largest "indie" brands yet to be scooped up by a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. For beauty giants, the hope is that the brand could help give their existing colour businesses a much-needed lift.

Estée Lauder was rumoured to be circling the brand as far back as spring 2019. Last month, talks of a sale were reignited - and said to be in late stages - even though the coronavirus outbreak has ravaged the apparel industry and the retailers where many beauty brands are sold. Lauder was said to be out, and Unilever and Puig are now the rumoured frontrunners willing to pay Charlotte Tilbury's reportedly $1 billion-plus price tag. Charlotte Tilbury and Puig did not respond to requests for comment. Unilever and Estée Lauder declined to comment.

The initial reaction to the makeup brand's unicorn-sized price was met with many a furrowed brow (due in part to lack of access to Botox right now, but also because it's a lot of money during a time of economic uncertainty). With retailers hanging on by a thread - Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy Thursday with others sure to follow - the idea of shelling out that much for a makeup brand right now seems risky.

But is it?

Founded by the celebrity makeup artist of the same name, Charlotte Tilbury markets "Hollywood glamour," with signature rose gold packaging that feels elevated but not gaudy. Tilbury sells colour cosmetics, but her brand is more approachable than other artist-founded lines - think makeup one might put on for a (virtual) "date night," not the dramatic contouring and brows one might see on Anastasia Beverly Hills or Huda Beauty's Instagram feed.

The brand's "Pillow Talk," a pink-nude lip liner that "flatters all skin tones," became so popular that Tilbury built an entire franchise around the shade. There is now "Pillow Talk" lip colour (matte, glossy, liquid, collagen-infused and even a sparkly "Diamond" version), eyeshadow palettes, eyeliner, blush, and more. It's Tilbury's version of Nars' "Orgasm." The desired effect is just more red carpet than post-sex glow.

All of this has helped the line dodge the challenges faced by the rest of the sector. Plus, Tilbury herself has a magnetic public personality, often appearing in tutorial videos or in photos with celebrity pals like Jennifer Aniston.

The two most likely buyers have their own motives for buying the brand. Puig, a Spanish company, has little track record in makeup and is known mostly for its fragrance portfolio, where it holds the licenses to Prada, Carolina Herrera, Jean Paul Gaultier and Paco Rabanne brands.

Buyers who have cash are able to set the tone.

Puig would be making a "really bold move" if it spends $1 billion for Tilbury, a banker who has worked on major beauty deals said.

Unilever has been trying to establish itself as a prestige player in cosmetics, a space it entered with the 2017 acquisition of Hourglass. Last year, the company bought skin-care line Tatcha.

Unilever is said to be conserving cash now, but it also needs a sexy colour label. Hourglass is a smaller business than Charlotte Tilbury, with more subdued branding, but what's missing is a younger, more provocative makeup line like Too Faced or Urban Decay.

Assuming Tilbury is sold, it could be the last major beauty deal for a while. Other indies hoping to sell to a strategic face the daunting idea of negotiating and conducting due diligence via Zoom, in the middle of a severe recession. Setting a price would be difficult.

"Investors value businesses off of current year and forward years' earnings and sales," said Rich Gersten, founder of True Beauty Capital, a private equity firm he formed earlier this year. Previously, he was a partner at Tengram Capital Partners, an investor in Nest Fragrances and Lime Crime. "[The] forward year is impossible to forecast."

The frothy multiples that defined M&A deals in years past are likely gone. What was acceptable pre-pandemic - Pat McGrath Labs 2018 valuation of over $1 billion when the brand was on track to do over $60 million in sales - won't fly.

"Buyers who have cash are able to set the tone," said Bahige El-Rayes, a partner at consulting firm Kearney's consumer practice. To him, a sluggish economy does not necessarily equate to a slowdown of beauty acquisitions - it means buyers will get "decent-sized assets" at a discount.

Till Dudler, managing director of Accenture's consumer goods and services practice, expects demand in beauty technology - software and hardware - to grow even as the economy lags.

Solutions that optimise the backend, as well as consumer-facing features that enhance (or in the case of coronavirus, replace) the in-store shopping experience, are in high demand. Artificial intelligence and augmented reality could help retailers sell more makeup to the customers who are afraid to go into stores. With more people at home, there is also an appetite for more tools and in-home treatments.
THIS WEEK IN BEAUTY
"It doesn't mean I wouldn't invest in makeup," Gersten added. "The valuation just would be different."

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The brand is a rarity in the beauty world: it grew during a makeup downturn and it's still independent. A sale is imminent, even in the midst of a pandemic, with a selling price that is said to be over $1 billion.

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The Chinese cosmetics industry is one of the most promising fields of business in China for the near future. Consumer demographics are shifting towards a younger, more affluent segment with an increased sense for luxury goods such as beauty and care products. The retail trade revenue of cosmetics in China grew from 19.5 billion yuan in March 2016 to 21.49 billion yuan in March 2017. The retail price of cosmetic products in the Chinese market is subject to strong fluctuation. Unit prices for high-end premium lipsticks sold in China ranged at around 99 U.S. dollars, while high-end premium eye shadow products were sold for around 84 U.S. dollars each. In the past few years, the market for cosmetic products in China has seen steady development. By the end of 2014, the cosmetics market in China was highly concentrated. In several subcategory markets, the leading ten cosmetics brands had a combined market share of 50 percent and above. Multinational players continue to dominate the cosmetics market in China, with nine out of the top 10 players being foreign companies. The top three players, Procter & Gamble (P&G) from the United States, L'Oreal from France and Shiseido from Japan, took up 25.3% of the overall value sales on the Chinese beauty and personal care market in 2014. Among other distribution channels, online distribution has developed quickly over the last several years. The sales of cosmetic on online shops in China had amounted to around 124 billion yuan by 2015, with a growth rate of 25.2 percent compared to the previous year. This rapid increase was paralleled by a sharp decline in department store sales, a strong hint that Chinese consumers of cosmetic products are putting growing emphasis on online retailing channels. In terms of international trade, China had exported cosmetic products with an overall value of 366 million U.S. dollars to Singapore, which was three million U.S. dollars more than the amount China had exported to Malaysia in 2015. In comparison, the value of personal care and cosmetics products imported to China from the United States amounted to about 393 million U.S. dollars in 2015. In the same year, Japan became China's biggest personal care and cosmetic products supplier. A major trend in the sector is the 'for men' segment. A study on personal grooming conducted in 2015 revealed that the average weekly time spent on personal grooming by Chinese men was around 2.2 hours in 2015, while Chinese women needed about 3.8 hours on average.

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The Chinese cosmetics industry is one of the most promising fields of business in China for the near future. Consumer demographics are shifting towards a younger, more affluent segment with an increased sense for luxury goods such as beauty and care products.

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Games have been a part of human life ever since the beginning of recorded culture. They have been used as tools for entertainment, relationship building, training, and even survival.

The strengths of the games medium has forged the development of gamification as a marketing strategy, too.

What started out as hype by a handful of marketing experts has developed into a 1.65 billion industry (measured in 2015) and is estimated to rise up to 11.1 billion by 2020.

Gamified strategies are expected to become key practices for businesses by increasing brand engagement and customer loyalty.

Here's what you need to know to make the most of gamification's potential and add a fun twist to your marketing strategy.

Some of the simplest definitions refer to games as voluntary activities that follow rules and social boundaries, and are intensely engaging but not serious.

Gamification, on the other hand, takes the essence of what makes games so compelling (e.g. challenge, reward, sense of purpose) and decodes the mechanics that make them work to achieve business objectives.

As Gabe Zichermann explains in Game-Based Marketing: Inspire Customer Loyalty Through Rewards, Challenges, and Contests, gamification is 'the art and science of turning your customer's everyday interactions into games that serve your business purposes'.

1. Points aka values awarded for an action or a combination of actions.

2. Levels aka markers that inform players where they stand in a gaming experience over time.

3. Leaderboards which serve to make simple comparisons.

4. Badges that mark the completion of goals and the progress of play.

5. Challenges/quests that give players a sense of purpose within the world of the gamified experience.

6. Onboarding aka the first minute of a new player entering a funnel, where the game will train and engage but shouldn't overwhelm.

7. Engagement loops which are motivating emotional leads to promote player re-engagement, which flows to visible progress and/or rewards, which loops back around to a motivating emotion (Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011).

Professor Frans Mäyrä has argued that because we live in a ludic society where play has become a common practice, playfulness as an attitude and playful designs have an increasing role in our everyday reality.

Could it be because it's 75% psychology and 25% technology, as Gabe Zichermann has said?

One clue can be found in Prospect Theory, which suggests that small incentives enable people to make an extra effort to do things that they otherwise would not.

For example, providing rewards that can be lost if gamers do not return to play can trigger the well-known human tendency to avoid losses and to irrationally value things that they have over the things that they don't have.

The positive effect of games can be explained also by Flow Theory. Flow is the mental state of a person who is performing an activity and is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment.

A challenging activity requiring skills

A merging of action and awareness

Clearly identified goals

Direct immediate feedback

Concentration on the task at hand

A sense of control

A loss of self-consciousness

An altered sense of time

Games that satisfy all these conditions can create a sense of intrinsic motivation which compounds and grows over time.

Successful game design taps into our lust for competition, rewards and status, and therefore can create many opportunities for marketers to increase consumer engagement, loyalty and drive specific behaviors.

Gamification has been trendy for years. Brands like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Nike, and Sony were amongst the first to use the particularly compelling, dynamic and sustained gamification experience to accomplish their marketing goals. So does that mean it's getting old?

The answer is no. Gamification is still having a huge moment. According to the latest Nielsen report, 64% of the U.S. population (13+) are gamers and a typical millennial spends up to 96 minutes a day playing games on their phone.

Compared with other more traditional marketing tools, gamification can be an innovative platform to incorporate brand messages and promotions. It can work for almost any product or service and it's adaptable to every budget.

Companies can gamify almost any stage of customer interaction, including websites, loyalty programs, marketing campaigns, and online brand communities.

1. Relate gamification to your marketing goals.

Firstly, identify the business need that you believe gamification can address. Think about the target outcomes and success metrics. Add specifics and articulate target outcomes that are realistic, achievable, explicitly stated and measurable.

Don't forget to integrate analytics tools that deliver statistics on user behavior and can tell you whether your goal has been achieved. For example, if your target is to increase your website's traffic, you can easily acquire your page and app analytics with Google Analytics and Google Firebase. Also, remember that gamification is not the solution to all business problems.

Ideal Bathrooms, the UK's leading distributor of bathroom products, used gamification to drive customer engagement and achieve sales growth. They created a sales incentive programme called The Race To Dubai.

The gamified virtual yacht race was designed to keep customers engaged. With each order they placed with Ideal, they would earn miles and move further on the map.

The reward message was simple - achieve your target and you're going on a trip to Dubai. As a result, the company's overall sales increased by £5.1m and their market share increased by 1.2%.

2. Understand your target audience.

Always consider your target audience to determine what type of game might appeal to them. Some critical questions you should think about are:

What sort of games are going to work with your audience?

What sort of things do they like and are receptive to?

A millennial audience probably doesn't like the same type of gameplay as 40-year-olds. Make sure you use the data available to you to analyze your online audience.

A quick trick is to use a URL shortener such as Capsulink free URL shortener, Goo.gl or Bitly to gain an immediate insight into what topics and keywords your audience is most interested in.

Take inspiration from Sephora's Beauty Uncomplicator campaign. It's a perfect example of gamification being used to solve a consumer problem. The company researched its consumers' pain problems and found that the number of beauty products they sell has become overwhelming to its largely millennial audience.

So in response, Sephora created a gamified experience to help consumers find inspiration in a 'swipe it, shop it' app where they could get tailored advice for their needs in a product recommendation quiz.

3. Choose big ideas over big budgets.

If you want to introduce gamification into your marketing strategy, it's best to test the waters first and start small with a simple game. Run some little challenges and quizzes that reward the users to see how gamification works in practice for your business and how your target audience responds.

For example, Mars launched a simple campaign to promote pretzel-flavoured M&Ms. It was a basic eye-spy game where the challenge was to find a Pretzel Guy that was hidden among lots and lots of M&Ms. The concept was incredibly simple but it brought huge gains to the company including 25,000 new likes on their Facebook page, 6,000 shares, and 10,000 comments. You can see why they felt confident moving forward with gamification - but they started small before pulling out the big budget guns.

4. Determine your freebies and incentives.

Carefully consider what you want to give away as an incentive. Whether it's a product sample, promotional coupons or special content, there has to be a clear incentive to make gamification work.

The My Starbucks Rewards app is a great example of how a brand can use gaming to create incentives for their customers. The app encourages users to pay for transactions on their phone by giving them a golden star each time. After 5 stars, customers receive special perks as free refills next time they purchase a drink. When a person has gained 30 stars they earn a customized gold card.

5. Don't overcomplicate the process.

If your audience can't figure it out quickly or you ask too much of them straight away, they will abandon the game, no matter how clever. Remember that people's attention spans are short and there are many distractions around us.

Divide your game into a set of small activities that users can learn about gradually instead of creating a large and complicated gamified experience. Test it out using focus groups and user testing sites (e.g., Userfeel, Peek and Morae) to figure out if the game has the optimal level of difficulties to maintain interest and excitement without becoming too difficult and boring.

Fast food chain Chipotle successfully used gamification to push ethical food sourcing in a unique way. They created a game that allows users to visit an animated world and play the role of a farmer who becomes more successful by using more natural and sustainable ingredients. The player of the game had to complete tasks like carrying crates of vegetables through dangerous obstacles.

The game consisted of three different worlds and the player moved through several levels. While exciting, the game was not overly complicated, and the reward system was easy. Prizes were distributed electronically to those who earned at least three stars out of five in each game world. Within days of its release, the Chipotle smartphone game was downloaded more than 300,000 times.

6. Take time to make it fun.

Do you think that your business is not fun? Probably you can come up with an endless array of things in life that are not fun such as surgery, changing a dirty diaper or clipping toenails.

However, some of the most popular games in the past few years have used quite banal ideas as their thematic hooks - waiting tables (Diner Dash), diapering a baby (Diaper Dash), planting crops (FarmVille), and doing other people's nails (Sally's Salon).

Whatever your product or service might be, including elements of fun can help to dilute the intimidation of advertising and make it more consumer-friendly. SavingsQuest, for instance, has transformed the typical money saving experience into something more appealing by creating a gamified website and mobile app that uses challenges, badges and messaging to motivate users to reach their financial goals.

7. Bring it to the next level with augmented reality.

Augmented reality, which displays virtual information in a physical environment, has become an innovative tool that enables marketers to enrich the relationship between a consumer and a brand.

Gamification strategies rely on customer engagement, so by integrating augmented reality into your gamification strategy, you can design a completely immersive experience that will captivate your audience like never before.

L'Oreal's Makeup Genius is a great example of an immersive gamification app. It turns a smartphone into a magic mirror and allows the user to try on various shades of cosmetics.

The Makeup Genius app can capture 64 facial points, up to 100 expressions and track head movements of up to 60 degrees, which allow the virtual makeup to move with you as you turn your head, change your facial expression and test out new looks at various angles.

Gamification isn't just a marketing buzzword. It's a way to trigger real, powerful human emotions that can trigger better customer experiences, increased engagement, and unbelievable brand loyalty.

However, you shouldn't do it only because it's fun. Like anything else, gamification can be done well and can be done poorly. To avoid bad gamification, always approach it strategically. Identify your stakeholders and their needs, understand your consumers' pain problems and use gamification to solve them.

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7 Ways to Unleash the Power of Gamification in Your Marketing

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The strengths of the games medium has forged the development of gamification as a marketing strategy, too. What started out as hype by a handful of marketing experts has developed into a 1.65 billion industry (measured in 2015) and is estimated to rise up to 11.1 billion by 2020.

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In 2002, Nick Pelling coined the term 'gamification' and freestyle rappers everywhere rejoiced at the rhyming potential it offered. The world is now a very different place, we've had three new Spider-men, Andy Murray won Wimbledon and we no longer 'Ask Jeeves' if there's the slightest chance that our missing sock has been sucked up into a black hole. But what is the definition of gamification?

It's a term you've probably heard before. Maybe you have a vague understanding of what it is. Maybe you don't. Perhaps you've used it before. Perhaps you haven't. Maybe the term makes you break out in hives. Maybe it makes you jump for joy (this is the correct response).

Why is Everyone so Confused?

There's a clear issue with the term. No two people seem to have the same working definition of gamification. It doesn't help that there are two different types of gamification ('Structural' and 'Content').

Then there's 'Learning Games', which are their own beast, but often get dragged into conversations about gamification. Finally, there are those poor, misguided folk who use the term as a catch-all for anything tangentially connected to the gaming world.

There's clearly an underlying sense of confusion about this word. If you run a quick search, you'll find a startling lack of clarity on the topic. Bamboozlement abounds. As it happens, we're about to throw our own beret into the mix. In fact, by the end of this article, we'll have reached our very own definition of gamification. Hurrah!

What is Gamification..?

Let's start by picking apart somebody else's definition of gamification like a pack of digital vultures. By doing this, we'll be able to piece together the vital elements of any working definition of gamification, before producing an alternative of our own.

Back in the halcyon days of 2014, Gartner sought to redefine 'gamification'. Here's what they landed on:

Gamification is ''the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals".

This is an interesting definition. It covers structural gamification (' game mechanics') and content gamification ('experience design') and highlights the importance of engagement and driving motivation. And yet, this definition comes off as both a little too precise and a little too loose. Let's break it down.

Without further ado, here's our three-pronged deconstruction.

Digital or Analog?

Interestingly, Gartner's definition hones in on 'digital' engagement. But whilst digital experiences tend to be easier to gamify, they're not the only types of experience that can be gamified. Think about the loyalty card you receive from your local coffee shop. There's nothing particularly digital about a piece of paper and a stamp and yet this is clearly an example of gamification in action.

What's more, we often use gamification in classroom training, without using any digital applications as a crutch. Learners earn badges throughout the day and climb up our makeshift leaderboard. We even apply a level structure around our content. Can you really say that it's not a gamified experience just because it's not happening within a digital application? ... Can you?

Whose Goal is it Anyway?

In Gartner's definition, gamification focuses on enabling people to achieve 'their' goals. This begs the question: can you not gamify an experience to help people achieve your goals?

Could you not create a gamified experience that encourages others to complete a survey you have created? They may not have woken up in the morning with a burning desire to complete a questionnaire, but the use of rewards could be enough to motivate them into action.

Whilst we appreciate the importance of aligning individual and organisational goals, we don't see how this impacts on the definition of gamification.

Perhaps Gartner are trying to position gamification as a goal alignment tool. In other words, it's something that can be used to bring people's objectives and goals in line with your objectives and goals. In that sense it's a sort of magical motivation-reconfiguration machine. Still, even if this is true, it doesn't feel accurate to classify a reconfigured goal as 'their' goal. The motivation has changed, but the author of the goal remains the same.

Gameception: Can You Gamify a Game?

You can't have gamification without it being applied to something else. Yet in capturing this fact, Gartner's definition seems to come up a little short.

There's no mention of where the game mechanics (or experience design) need to be applied, beyond the 'digital' qualifier. Does that mean that we could describe the gaming mechanics used within video games as an example of gamification? This seems nonsensical on the face of it, but Gartner's definition doesn't necessarily rule it out.

How do we Define Gamification?

As nit-picky as this all may sound, consensus is an important thing. If we're all working from the same base definition, then we're able to have better conversations and drive deeper understanding.

Here at Growth Engineering, we define gamification as "the application of gaming mechanics to non-gaming environments", and we often add the qualification: "to make difficult tasks more palatable". What we mean by this is that gaming mechanics - points, levels, awards - help make boring tasks more fun. So instead of dragging your heels and putting off whatever it is you need to do, you're motivated and engaged to jump in, get it done and win that high score!

Gamification leverages our desires for status, achievement, competition and to be part of an inclusive social community to increase engagement. Many gamification models reward the user for completing the desired task and a leaderboard is then utilised so they strive for further improvement. These elements result in a gamification platform with high levels of engagement and a willingness to return on numerous occasions.

Gamification Examples

Gamification is out of this World, Scouts Honour

A primitive example of gamification would be rewarding Scouts with a badge for a task that they wouldn't necessarily partake in, such as fishing or orienteering. Competition amongst the Scouts reinforces a desire to keep getting more badges. These badges engage the Scout through those desires mentioned earlier, status, achievement, competition and being part of an inclusive social community. The fact that 10 out of the 12 people to have walked on the moon were Scouts means something must be working!

Gamification, I choose you!

The summer of 2016 was dominated by gamification and you probably didn't even realise it. Acting as futuristic Scout badge, 'Pokémon Go!' rewarded its users with high-level Pokémon for walking great distances. This is an example of applying game mechanics to fitness. A market that is quickly becoming part of our Fitbit-wearing lives. Had you asked those young people (and those young at heart) to walk those distances without any incentive then you'd probably find yourself out of luck. This is the power of gamification!

Growth Engineering and Gamification

And what about us at Growth Engineering? Why do we care so much about the definition? And what gives us the right to define the term? Well, we're the #1 provider of gamified learning technology, in fact, we're the team who pioneered its use within L&D.

Our platforms are gamified from the ground up. Everything we do is meticulously designed to engage learners, from your very first login to your one thousandth, learners are motivated and engaged by game-like features on our Academy LMS, Knowledge Arcade and Genie - our authoring tool.

Want to find out more about how we use gamification to engage learners? Why not start with one of these blogs:
Want to take it to the next level? Why not read our game-changing whitepaper? It's packed full of gamification goodness!

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What is the Definition of Gamification and What Does it Mean?

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In 2002, Nick Pelling coined the term 'gamification' and freestyle rappers everywhere rejoiced at the rhyming potential it offered. The world is now a very different place, we've had three new Spider-men, Andy Murray won Wimbledon and we no longer 'Ask Jeeves' if there's the slightest chance that our missing sock has been sucked up into a black hole.

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Visitors to Covent Garden can experience the Christmas shopping spree of the future this festive season as the area transforms into the world's first augmented reality (AR) retail district in partnership with pioneering AR and visual discovery app Blippar and Hearst Magazines UK.

Following AR's explosive growth in gamification and advertising during 2016 - the year that saw it shift from niche interest to widespread consumer adoption - retail is set to be the next AR winner in a market estimated to be worth over $90 billion by 2020.

Individual retailers have already started to reap the benefits of using AR in-store to digitally enhance their product offerings and consumer experiences. The Blippar activation in Covent Garden over the Christmas period will be the largest showcase of the impact of AR technology and gamification ever attempted in one location, creating immersive experiences that will transform brand loyalty and increase footfall, dwell time and revenue.

Today the activation launches across the one million sq ft Covent Garden estate in over 140 participating stores and restaurants including The Watch Gallery, Dior, Hackett, Sandro, Kiehl's, Charlotte Tilbury, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Ted Baker and Paul Smith.

To help Covent Garden's shoppers discover the perfect gifts in the lead up to Christmas, Hearst Magazines UK has collaborated with Blippar to create bespoke interactive AR beauty and fashion gift guides unique to the shopping district. For the next six weeks, top style editors from three of Hearst's brands - Esquire, Elle and Cosmopolitan - will be working with over 35 retailers within Covent Garden to recommend their favourite product gifting selection, which can be discovered exclusively through the Blippar app.

Esquire, ELLE and Cosmopolitan will also support the initiative via print and digital platforms, and each brand will host a bespoke event in Covent Garden during the festive period.

Gamification elements to the campaign include giving visitors to Covent Garden the ability to 'bring to life' a digital reindeer which will amaze users of the Blippar app as it appears to 'fly' above their heads. Shoppers can also blipp Covent Garden's spectacular 50ft Christmas tree in the famous Piazza, which will unlock retailer and restaurant "offers" from around the district in a unique world-first. If that's not magical enough, families can collect further rewards by meeting Santa in an interactive neighbourhood grotto in before embarking on an AR treasure hunt to find and blipp all eight reindeers hidden around Covent Garden, to be entered into a daily competition to win exclusive retailer gifts.

Danny Lopez, Blippar Chief Operating Officer, said: "We are very excited to use the festive season as a backdrop for demonstrating the potential of augmented reality. This year we at Blippar will help digitally enhance the Christmas shopping experience and I'm thrilled that millions of visitors will be a part of such an exciting event. I'm delighted that we are partnering with Hearst Magazines and Capco Covent Garden to bring this fantastic experience to life."

British company Blippar is one of the world's fastest growing AR businesses with over 65 million users. Currently, its technology can recognise and provide information on more than half a billion everyday objects. By integrating digital assets in-store, Blippar is providing retailers with the technology to augment shoppers' experiences and simultaneously allow retailers to engage in-store with customers.

Beverley Churchill, Creative Director of Capco Covent Garden, said: "We are looking forward to merging the old and the new, the real and the virtual in Covent Garden this Christmas to create a unique and truly magical shopping experience with our friends at Blippar and Hearst Magazines."

Duncan Chater, Chief Revenue Officer at Hearst Magazines UK, says: "Hearst produces exceptional content across its brands, and we are constantly exploring new ways to innovate and push our content through new platforms to expand our reach. We understand where audiences are, what they want to consume and how they want to engage. We are really excited to be working in partnership with a leader in mobile augmented reality, and one of London's most famous shopping destinations on such a unique project."

- ENDS -

Notes to Editors:

For all media enquiries, please contact:
Covent Garden: Ellie Heatrick at Edelman: 020 3047 2298 / Ellie.Heatrick@edelman.com
Blippar: Deborah Weitzman at The 10 Group: 0207 637 0656 / deborah@the10group.co.uk
Hearst Magazines: Ben Bolton: 020 7439 5218 / Ben.Bolton@hearst.co.uk

Augmented Reality
AR presents ample opportunity for heightening consumer engagement and the technology is predicted to shift heavily toward commerce in the long-term. According to a recent study, by 2035, AR has the ability to capture a quarter of the mobile commerce market, totalling more than £1 trillion.[1]

About Blippar
Blippar™ is the world's fastest growing image recognition and augmented reality app. Utilizing proprietary, best-in-class image technologies, Blippar™ enables users to instantaneously pull interactive, informative digital content directly from the environment around them, their favorite publications, brands and objects via their iOS or Android devices. Since launching in the UK in 2011, Blippar™ has expanded rapidly, partnering with some of the biggest and most exciting media owners and brands in the world - including Nestlé, Condé Nast, TIME Inc., Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Heinz, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Anheuser Busch, and Jaguar. To learn more, visit blippar.com.

About Covent Garden
Covent Garden is one of the most distinct and vibrant estates in London. The district is now home to Apple, Chanel, Dior, Balthazar and Ivy Market Grill and has recently unveiled some of the finest residential properties in London. Capital & Counties Properties PLC ('Capco') is responsible for the management and curation of over 1 million sq. ft. of space at Covent Garden. Under Capco's stewardship, Covent Garden has been transformed into a world-class shopping destination, welcoming over 44 million customer visits a year. Capco is a significant investor in the capital and aims to create and grow value through distinctive placemaking, innovation and enterprise.

About Hearst Magazines UK
Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of National Magazine Company Ltd, established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst Corporation.
Hearst Magazines UK publishes 19 magazine brands and five pureplay digital brands including Cosmopolitan, Digital Spy, ELLE, Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Harper's Bazaar.
It is the largest digital consumer magazine publisher in the UK with an online audience of 15 million monthly unique users. Hearst digital brands reach one in three UK online adults, one in three UK women and one in four UK online men. It speaks to 21 million fans and followers on social media*.
Hearst Magazines UK has interests in two joint ventures in partnership with some of the world's best publishers:
Hearst Rodale UK: A 50:50 joint venture with Rodale Inc, which focuses on health and wellbeing. Hearst-Rodale publishes Men's Health, Women's Health and Runner's World, their companion sites and pureplay site, fetcheveryone.
COMAG: A 65:35 joint venture with Condé Nast, one of the U.K.'s largest magazine distributors.

www.hearst.co.uk

* Sources: ABC (Jan - June 2016), Google Analytics (Jan - June 2016 average) Social impressions: Hearst social dashboard (June 2016)

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Covent Garden transforms into world's first augmented reality shopping destination this Christmas in partnership with Blippar and Hearst Magazines UK

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Visitors to Covent Garden can experience the Christmas shopping spree of the future this festive season as the area transforms into the world's first augmented reality (AR) retail district in partnership with pioneering AR and visual discovery app Blippar and Hearst Magazines UK.

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8 tech trends listed by Forbes

1/ One-to-one relationships will be possible at scale

2/ The bots will arrive (they have already)

3/ Frictionless brick and mortar retail will become an expectation

4/ You'll need to think about designing for the voice interface

Holition's magic mirror installation for Charlotte Tilbury as mentioned in no. 5. 5/ Digital realities will steam forward
"As far as emerging technologies go, it'd be hard to miss everything happening in the realm of virtual and augmented reality. Goldman Sachs theorizes retail will be one of the first industries to be disrupted by the two combined, leading to a $1.6bn market based around 32 million users. Already heavily played with across the fashion, luxury and beauty space, albeit largely for PR purposes, we've seen everything from storytelling to fashion shows, not to mention practical applications for things like make-up try-ons, as per the likes of beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury. It's the latter idea of functionality that will continue apace in 2017. Forget mere gimmick, or even gamification (as seen with Pokémon Go, which will arguably be referred to as the turning point for the mass adoption of AR) - these digital realities are set to help shoppers and businesses alike in numerous new ways, making them a highly relevant tool to explore. If any further indication was needed, just look to Alibaba - the Chinese e-commerce giant invited shoppers to not only visit a Macy's store using VR, but enabled them to pay merely by nodding their heads."

Rachel Arthur trying out the Charlotte Tilbury augmented reality mirror by Holition (Image: Holition)
6/ Blockchain will become part of business vernacular

7/ You're going to need a 'live' strategy

8/ We'll see more of a shift to visceral experiences

Read the full article.

Watch the (VIMEO) video of the Charlotte Tilbury magic mirror.

Other related blog posts:
[Holition] - BMW project mapping and innovative storytelling Augmented Reality Use Cases...Besides PokemonGo

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Holition #AR in Forbes: 8 Tech Trends That Will Shape The Future Of Fashion And Luxury Retail In...

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8 tech trends listed by Forbes 1/ One-to-one relationships will be possible at scale 2/ The bots will arrive (they have already) 3/ Frictionless brick and mortar retail will become an expectation 4/ You'll need to think about designing for the voice interface Holition's magic mirror installation for Charlotte Tilbury as mentioned in no.

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LONDON, United Kingdom - Charlotte Tilbury grew up on the Spanish island of Ibiza with no telephones and intermittent electricity. There were, however, other things for her to focus on.

"I remember, we were about 6 years old, we used to go through the back entrance of the Ku bar and be in the pool, sliding down the papier mâché dragon. You would have James Brown over here and Grace Jones over there and The Stones, or part of them, playing with another band," recalls Tilbury.

The Ku bar's raised platforms, curving bar tops and pool-traversing catwalk were perfectly designed for the showmanship of its hedonistic clientele, for whom less was definitely less as they paraded in fantastical confections of their own making, like living breathing Antonio Lopez illustrations. Tilbury, a wide-eyed child, "urchin-thin with a mass of straggly red hair," was at the centre of it all, utterly transfixed by "all the amazing characters" and the creativity with which they expressed themselves.

"When you are brought up around people who are very stylish, very expressive, you don't realise at the time, but those influences really go naturally into your library of references."

Through perseverance, hard graft and a good deal of luck, Tilbury has capitalised on her library of references to become one of the most influential makeup artists in the fashion industry - and one of the few with a personal brand capable of supporting a product line. Indeed, this month, Tilbury launched Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, initially rolled out across her own e-commerce site, Net-a-Porter and London's Selfridges, with plans to enter the United States in early 2014.

The brand has been a lifetime in the making - Charlotte's lifetime," Demetra Pinsent, chief executive of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, tells BoF. Pinsent is alluding not only to Tilbury's career, creating runway and campaign looks for the likes of Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Christopher Bailey at and Dolce & Gabbana, but also to the personal philosophy Tilbury has developed through her work.

Tilbury first discovered what a makeup artist is when she was 11 years old, sat on a beach on Formentera with a group of her parents' friends. "We were looking at a Vogue cover of Jerry Hall and they were saying, 'Look what Mary [Greenwell] has done.' I had never heard of a makeup artist before."

"In those days it was really about glamazons and celebrating women. It was all about curves, boobs, legs, hair and makeup and just beauty. Not this kind of weird, androgynous look which is more de rigueur today. In a way, me developing this brand is looking at Mary and thinking 'Oh my god she is like a magician, she can make you look beauuutiful.'"

"I remember being backstage at a runway show for the first time, when I was assisting Mary and every single supermodel was in a room: Claudia, Christy, Naomi, Cindy, Stephanie, Linda and Helena. In a way, it was intimidating, but it was also just sort of breath-taking. I was looking at them as if they were from another planet. Then you realise through what we [makeup artists] do, you can achieve a little bit of that - and that is going into my brand. That's what I love so much about it. Makeup really is a woman's secret weapon. It can totally change your life; it can empower you."

She is genuinely scandalised when she asks, "Do you know that 50 percent of women don't engage with makeup in this country? It kills me. It's crazy. They have this weapon in their arsenal and they don't use it."

The supposed frivolity and superficiality of beauty often belies the irrefutable role it plays in human interaction, a role Tilbury is eminently practical about. "The fact is, it's human nature, [people] judge you by the way you look, it's just a known fact. There are Procter & Gamble studies, Harvard University - before and after, the same women, with and without make up: 'I trust her, I don't trust her.' And it's the same woman! 'I fancy her, I don't fancy her.' Why would you not put your best foot forward in life?"

Tilbury's belief that beauty is an empowering tool is at the crux of her personal brand and product line. However, it's the experience she's gained through her twenty-year makeup career that lends them the necessary credibility.

Tilbury may have had a helping hand in landing her first assistant job, but her career has been hard fought for. "I used to think, 'Is this ever going to happen?' I started in a recession, so everyone wanted to [hold onto] their work, everyone was dropping budgets, no one wanted to open doors." Tilbury would flick through her Rolodex, cold calling editors, agencies and photographers, begging to test shoot. "It was tough, slow and very laborious. I used to have a card that an editor friend of my parents had written to me, saying 'Knock 'em dead Charlotte, I know you will be a star.' I read it all the time when I was disheartened."

Tilbury's perseverance would eventually pay off when, at 23, she was taken on by a photographic agency. "Like anything in life, it's sheer determination. I really believe in the power of creative visualisation and achieving whatever you want to achieve in life. I am tireless. I will put 200 percent in - and then get 400 percent back."

It can be exhausting but tremendously exciting. "February is fashion week - New York, London, Milan, Paris - going into the beginning of March," she begins, describing her annual cycle of activity. "March, April, May, beginning of June is the campaign season. June is couture and menswear. July is more editorials, then perfume campaigns. Then September is fashion week again. October, November is campaign season, until December, where again you are doing bits of editorial and a few cosmetics campaigns and then it starts all over again in January with menswear."

Tilbury's critical eye, inherited from her painter father, is the foundation of her work. "I study the face a bit like a surgeon; say one cheekbone is a little bit weaker than the other, let's match that up. Let's hollow those cheekbones, make that jaw, contrast these colours, widen her eyes and lift that. I literally sort of decode it and study it and, then, like a computer see where you can enhance. But I always retain the beauty.

I have taken Lichtenstein for example and covered different parts of Christy Turlington's face in dots, but she was still beautiful. I can't just lose the beauty for the sake of art."

Retaining beauty has led to consultancies at , Helena Rubinstein, MAC, John Frieda and Giorgio Armani, designing lines right down to their components. And after 15 years of experience with cosmetics laboratories, Tilbury has cherry picked the best formulas for her own line. Instead of BB ("beauty balm") or CC ("complexion corrector"), Tilbury's products are dubbed TT for "treat and transform."

"Everything is a hybrid, the lipstick has a natural antioxidant in it. Even the eyeliner is collagen-producing. I got lucky. They had these amazing revolutionary formulas that I really wanted."

Tilbury has designed five natural and five nocturnal looks, with names like The Golden Goddess and The Ingénue, to enable women to "recreate the iconic looks we count on like trusted little black dresses," says Pinsent. Tilbury, as is her nature, focuses on the human element. "People can feel scared, silly and clownish and generally look worse than they did to begin with. They don't know what to choose or what to use. That's what this brand does."

It's canny but justifiable positioning by Tilbury. "I am not trying to say I am a natural brand or a totally glamorous brand. Sometimes you want to look natural and sometimes you want to look glamorous. As a makeup artist, I have to have a breadth of looks in my repertoire, so I can do all of it."

She can do it all, but in an effort to ensure her customers can too, each product has been intuitively designed, with instructions. "Even if it is an eye shadow, you will open it up and the palette will say 'Prime, enhance, smoke and pop,' so you'll never be at a loss as to what to do."

Digital content and distribution will be core to the proposition from launch. "The digital revolution is really key and important, when I talk about holding someone's hand and making them feel safe, because they are being told by an expert that has a credible career that these are the colours that suit you, because you have blue eyes or brown eyes - it is almost like having a consultation with me," says Tilbury, who, everyday, sees the transformative power of makeup and its effect on those in her chair.

She believes in it. And when Tilbury says, "I don't just want to sell my product, I want to touch women and change their lives through makeup," you believe her. And you can't but hope that she will.
A version of this article first appeared in a special print edition of The Business of Fashion, published to accompany the launch of the BoF 500. To get your copy, click here or visit Colette in Paris, Opening Ceremony in New York, London and Los Angeles, Le Mill in Mumbai and Sneakerboy in Melbourne.

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LONDON, United Kingdom - Charlotte Tilbury grew up on the Spanish island of Ibiza with no telephones and intermittent electricity. There were, however, other things for her to focus on. "I remember, we were about 6 years old, we used to go through the back entrance of the Ku bar and be in the pool, sliding down the papier mâché dragon.

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Charlotte Tilbury could be in line for a payout of at least £500m as the beauty company she founded goes up for sale with a price tag of more than £1bn.

Unilever, the consumer goods company whose brands include Dove and Ben & Jerry's, and large beauty corporations including France's L'Oréal, Japan's Shiseido Corporation and Spain's Puig, are all reportedly vying to buy Tilbury's makeup and skincare firm.

Tilbury, a London-born makeup artist who grew up on the Spanish island of Ibiza, founded her namesake brand in 2013. The daughter of artists, she rose to fame working with supermodels including Kate Moss before developing products such as Pillow Talk lipstick and Magic Cream moisturiser.

She has said she wants to create a "limitless makeup revolution for all women".

Interest in Charlotte Tilbury comes amid a rise in personality-led makeup ranges which have won over the Instagram generation and provided heavy competition for traditional cosmetic brands.

In November, Kylie Jenner sold a 51% stake in her beauty business to CoverGirl owner Coty, in a deal that valued the reality TV star's company at about $1.2bn (£965m).

Luxury conglomerate LVMH, owner of brands including Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and Moet & Chandon, is the backer of Rihanna's Fenty beauty empire.

Charlotte Tilbury's sales rose 44.5% to £145m in 2018, according to the most recent accounts filed at Companies House, although it made a pretax loss of £2.1m. The accounts made clear that since then the company has launched in Space NK and Sephora stores in Europe and begun trading on Tmall, China's equivalent of Amazon or eBay.

While it is not clear that Tilbury, 47, will sell or reduce her stake, her backers may have recognised an opportunity to cash in.

Tilbury is listed as a "person with significant control" of Islestarr Holdings, her brand's parent company, on Companies House in a filing that makes clear she owns between half and 75% of the company's shares and voting rights.

The venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which also has investments in skincare firm Glossier and cycling and running app Strava, took a minority stake in 2017 and other investors include startup investment specialists Venrex, which previously put money into takeaway app Just Eat.

Other shareholders who could benefit from a deal include the photographer Mario Testino, the model Stella Tennant and Wendi Murdoch, the entrepreneur and former wife of Rupert Murdoch.

Charlotte Tilbury is working with advisers at Goldman Sachs and Jefferies Financial Group, according to Bloomberg, which reported that the company could choose a winning bidder as early as May.
Topics

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Charlotte Tilbury eyes £500m payout as makeup firm goes up for sale

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Charlotte Tilbury could be in line for a payout of at least £500m as the beauty company she founded goes up for sale with a price tag of more than £1bn. Unilever, the consumer goods company whose brands include Dove and Ben & Jerry's, and large beauty corporations including France's L'Oréal, Japan's Shiseido Corporation and Spain's Puig, are all reportedly vying to buy Tilbury's makeup and skincare firm.

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Summer in a jar! This 'life-changing' bronzing product has amassed a waiting list of 5,000 people in just seven days

Charlotte Tilbury's new 'Airbrush Bronzer has amassed a 5k wait list in a week

The 'life-changing' product already boasts a 4.9 star rating online with users

What makes the bronzer special is it is also infused with skincare ingredients

Charlotte revealed how best to apply it, and her legendary makeup secrets

A bronzer that claims to give users a 'perfect airbrushed look' has amassed a 5,000-strong waiting list in the past week since it launched.

The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Bronzer is available in four different shades and costs $75, with those who have managed to get their hands on the coveted beauty product dubbing it 'life-changing' and 'summer in a compact'.

While an expensive product, the bronzer isn't like others on the market insofar as it also boasts skincare ingredients that boost your complexion while you wear the makeup.

Why is the bronzer so special?

Some of the major ingredients include a hydrating hyaluronic acid - which moisturises your skin so it looks smoother and softer; mica - which helps to hydrate; and silica - which gives a rich and velvety texture and reflects the light for a soft-focused effect.

The bronzer also has micro-fine perfecting powders, which help to deliver an invisibly thin and silky filter on the skin to add depth to your colour and coverage.

The new Charlotte Tilbury product is sold in a golden sunbeam compact, which can be re-filled once you have finished the bronzer.

Those who have already tried the product online have given it rave reviews and an impressive 4.9 star rating.

'Absolutely love this bronzer!' one reviewer posted.

'The shade Medium is perfect for my skin tone as I don't like harsh or dark bronzers. The compact is stunning and so sleek... it's perfect for a glow and just glides on perfectly.'

Others highlighted that it is 'subtle, blurring and beautiful' and 'super long-lasting'.

'This goes on lightly and evenly!' another added.

To apply the bronzer, Charlotte Tilbury herself recommends that you apply it with a brush to your face and body 'where the sun naturally tans'.

'Think your cheekbones, jawline, the top of your shoulders, collarbone and the centre of your arms and legs,' she told FEMAIL.

'I recommend you use a skin-enhancing shade to add warmth to your face, neck, décolletage, the tops of shoulders and down the centre of arms and legs.

'Then, use a deeper skin-sculpting shade to contour the neck, above and below the collarbone, down the centre of the décolletage and down the inner and outer sides of your arms and legs.'

The bronzer has been inspired by Charlotte's Airbrush Powder, which is the best-selling matte powder in the United Kingdom.

What are Charlotte's tricks for ageing gracefully?

Speaking to FEMAIL last month, Charlotte shared her beauty secrets for women as they get older.

Charlotte explained that the most important thing is you make your makeup work a little harder, while also helping to make you look younger.

'Look for products that are makeup and skincare hybrids - like my Airbrush Flawless Foundation,' Charlotte told Daily Mail Australia.

'These sorts of products will work hard at nourishing your skin and reducing the appearance of wrinkles, while also hydrating and providing you with coverage.'

The makeup artist also said you should look at textures in your makeup at this time - she always looks for 'sophisticated' textures with subtle sparkle and a bit of pearlescence.

'Lighter, water-based textures are always better for our complexions too, as they hydrate and let the skin breathe,' she said.

Think creams for your eyes, lips and cheeks and brown eyeliner instead of black to soften your entire look.

If you could add one product to your regime at this time, Charlotte recommends a serum like her Magic Serum Crystal Elixir, which helps to add 'bounce, plumpness and elasticity'.

'This has been the perfect addition to my personal skincare regime and I use it by massaging just a few drops into my skin with my fingertips,' Charlotte said.

'The instant hit of intense hydration makes my skin look and feel so glowy, and it makes makeup application so much easier.'

She also said a feline flick works well into these decades too, as it will help to accentuate your eyes and draw the gaze outwards with your face.

For more information about Charlotte Tilbury's new bronzer, visit the website .

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'Life-changing' beauty product has a 5,000 strong waiting list

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Charlotte Tilbury's new 'Airbrush Bronzer has amassed a 5k wait list in a week The 'life-changing' product already boasts a 4.9 star rating online with users What makes the bronzer special is it is also infused with skincare ingredients Charlotte revealed how best to apply it, and her legendary makeup secrets A bronzer that claims to give users a 'perfect airbrushed look' has amassed a 5,000-strong waiting list in the past week since it launched.

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Arguably more important than Singles Day for US and foreign retailers who sell to China through cross-border e-commerce, this year's Black Friday showed the industry continues to adapt as the market becomes more competitive.

New niche verticals grew in popularity, and the top cross-border e-commerce platforms are investing more in logistics, partnering with more overseas brands, and introducing more interactive, gamified content to enhance the shopping experience.

We dig deeper to explain what happened this year.

Keyword search terms reflect China's consumption upgrade as niche verticals grow

This year's Black Friday reflected the continuing consumption upgrade trend in China, as consumers are spending more on discretionary products that enhance their health and lifestyle. Top search keywords on JD's cross-border platform included "protein powder," "face masks," "dieting," "watches," "milk," and "Apple."

Tmall Global saw growth in dental care-related searches, with keywords such as "tooth cleaners," "dental plasters," "dental instruments," and "electric toothbrushes" seeing an unexpected increase in demand. These results indicate that more niche verticals are starting to grow in popularity.

JD noted that sales of health supplements and vitamins grew 2.6x more than last year's sales, while sales of electronics and personal care products grew 4.5x and 3.3x, respectively.

Azoya's retail network saw strong performance from cosmetics and personal care this year. The top five brands were Charlotte Tilbury, Huda Beauty, The Ordinary, Aptamil, and Swisse.

Huda Beauty and The Ordinary were new top sellers this year, as Huda Beauty's New Nude color cosmetics set has skyrocketed in popularity, partly driven by its widespread use overseas and the celebrity personality of its influencer founder Huda Kattan, a former makeup artist.

The Ordinary's skincare products have sold well after its founder announced he would temporarily shut down operations, unable to settle a dispute with parent company Est é e Lauder.

Cross-border e-commerce platforms invest in cross-border logistics and global brand partnerships

Tmall Global opened its US warehouse for business for Black Friday, enabling new brands such as Hatley (kids apparel), Glamcor (makeup mirrors), Evereden (skincare), Baubax (outerwear), and 30 other new brands to partake in Black Friday promotions.

On a similar note, JD Worldwide set up procurement centers in Japan and South Korea this year, and plans to build more in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Little Red Book also operates 29 overseas warehouses in the US, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Europe.

Azoya's retail network also prepared extensively for this year's holiday season by stocking more inventory in Hong Kong. UK beauty & cosmetics retailer Feelunique partnered with Seko Logistics to open up a distribution hub in Hong Kong in October to facilitate faster fulfillment of its China e-commerce orders.

JD Worldwide is doubling down on cross-border e-commerce this year. In the days following Black Friday, it announced that international brands using JD Logistics should be able to deliver 100% of their orders to Tier 1 and 2 cities by the next day, with some deliveries as fast as 1.5 hours. JD Logistics' 300,000 delivery stations across China enable them to carry out last-mile delivery at a pace that its competitors can't match.

How are platforms enhancing the cross-border shopping experience?

Tmall incorporated games into its Black Friday marketing campaigns this year, encouraging customers to engage in a facial recognition game. Participants picked from one out of 16 product categories, scanning their faces with the Tmall app to receive gifts and coupons based on the results. Over 300,000 users participated.

Tmall also stationed offline facial recognition booths in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, inviting passing pedestrians to try out the game. This campaign reflects the growing gamification of e-commerce in China-as the market becomes more competitive, brands are investing in creative ways to keep customers' attention.

Content marketing is another method brands are using to vie for customers' attention. Content-driven social commerce platform Little Red Book partnered with leading overseas brands to launch limited edition product lines ahead of the holiday season. For example, both SK-II and Jo Malone sold limited-edition Christmas products on Little Red Book this year.

Tmall also stationed offline facial recognition booths in Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, inviting passing pedestrians to try out the game. This campaign reflects the growing gamification of e-commerce in China-as the market becomes more competitive, brands are investing in creative ways to keep customers' attention.

Content marketing is another method brands are using to vie for customers' attention. Content-driven social commerce platform Little Red Book partnered with leading overseas brands to launch limited edition product lines ahead of the holiday season. For example, both SK-II and Jo Malone sold limited-edition Christmas products on Little Red Book this year.

Los Angeles-based cosmetics brand ColourPop also launched its "This Is Not A Dream" holiday-edition line of color cosmetics on the platform. Little Red Book and ColourPop have an exclusive partnership in the China market, demonstrating just how crucial social content is to building brand awareness in the cosmetics industry.

Key Takeaways

1. This year's Black Friday results reflected consumption upgrade trends in China amid growing demand for cross-border e-commerce products. Health and food-related products were popular on JD Worldwide this year, and dental-related search keywords saw an uptick in growth on Tmall Global. Azoya's retail network saw strong performance in cosmetics.

2. The top e-commerce platforms are investing in more overseas procurement centers and warehouses, setting up more direct partnerships with brands. Tmall Global opened its overseas warehouse in the US for the first time, enabling customers to purchase newer niche brands such as Hatley, Glamcor, and Evereden. JD Worldwide set up warehouses in Japan and South Korea this year, while Little Red Book has warehouses in 29 countries worldwide.

3. Gamification and content marketing are helping e-commerce players enhance the shopping experience for their customers as cross-border e-commerce becomes more competitive. Tmall Global introduced a facial recognition game to award coupons to customers, while social commerce platform Little Red Book partnered with brands such as SK-II and Jo Malone to launch their holiday-edition product lines in the weeks leading up to Singles Day and Black Friday.

assists retailers and brands as they expand into China via e-commerce.

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How Black Friday online sales in China shifted for foreign brands this year

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Arguably more important than Singles Day for US and foreign retailers who sell to China through cross-border e-commerce, this year's Black Friday showed the industry continues to adapt as the market becomes more competitive.

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Having previously enjoyed a high profile role in Sports Sponsorship working with organisations such as Nottingham Forest FC and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Matt embarked upon a whole new venture, co-founding Feefo March 2010. Feefo is a global reviews and customer analytics solution to boost business & build trust. Feefo collects reliable customer feedback to deliver up to date insights so businesses and consumers can make better decisions. Feefo does this on behalf of 3000 companies, providing reviews and customer analytics for more than 5000 websites.
(c)iStock.com/SrdjanPav "Beauty is not an exclusive club-there are no unattractive women, just some that don't know they can be beautiful. They don't understand the power of makeup and how it can transform their outer beauty, but also their inner confidence." Charlotte Tilbury for Byrdie.
Charlotte Tilbury aims to make "every woman the most beautiful version of themselves" and her luxurious products reflect this message. Not only that, the eponymous brand now prides itself on providing a dutiful and diligent customer service.

Charlotte Tilbury competes against the big retailers within the beauty market, including the likes of Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, and as such needs to set itself apart. The brand has been able to do this by providing superior customer service. It has primarily achieved this by inviting its customers to leave feedback, via the global reviews & ratings company, Feefo, and listening and responding to what they have to say. Charlotte Tilbury has collected over 7,500 pieces of customer feedback and boasts an impressive customer service rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Harnessing the voice of the customer

To achieve and maintain such an industry-leading level of customer service, Charlotte Tilbury needed to not just capture customer feedback, but also respond and make changes. To do this, the retailer's marketing team created a quarterly 'Voice of the Customer' report that it shares, and continues to share, across the whole of the business. A huge proportion of this report is informed by Feefo customer reviews, and from this report, a list of actions is set for each department going forward.

Every attribute is taken into consideration, including the overall impression of the product and its formula, pricing, and even operations and logistics. As such, the opinions of Charlotte Tilbury's customers have the power to influence the entire business.

Importantly, the customer service team at Charlotte Tilbury responds directly to all customer feedback, and most notably takes on board any negative comments they receive. Under this mantra, the company needed to be sure that all feedback was real and authentic. It was this reason that Charlotte Tilbury selected third party reviews provider, Feefo, which an un-moderated invite-only platform so only customers that transact with the company are invited to leave feedback, and all feedback is published (good and bad). This provides the assurance that every review is genuine and uncensored, and therefore credible.

Use of reviews in marketing campaigns

Charlotte Tilbury is available globally and is currently retailed through six country specific websites. It is essential that the brand can hear individual feedback from each of these countries, so the use of international reviews is crucial to their business.

The use of international ratings and reviews also helped to construct marketing campaigns. For example, the US marketing strategy for the 'Magic Foundation' launch was conceived by listening to the reviews and feedback from the previous UK launch. The brand encouraged user-generated content and imagery to be submitted through to the #tagyourtilbury content feed, and used this in conjunction with Feefo product reviews in the main campaign.

Customers trust Charlotte Tilbury

Recent research, conducted by Feefo, revealed that UK consumers are 75% more likely to make a purchase based on good reviews, over recommendations by parents, friends and celebrity endorsements. It is therefore evident that people are more trusting and eager to get recommendations from real consumers who have first-hand experience, and genuine reviews provide a reliable way to gauge the quality and value of a product, as well as customer service.

Charlotte Tilbury uses an invite-only reviews platform that only invites genuine customers to leave feedback after making a purchase. Potential customers can therefore see for themselves how Charlotte Tilbury's products and service has made a lasting impression on others, without doubting the review's integrity.

Google Stars

The ability for the reviews to gain Google Stars for Charlotte Tilbury also instils a sense of trust within the customer. 85% of UK consumers say that they 'always' check reviews online before making a purchase, making it evident that Google stars are hugely valuable to a relationship with the consumer.

These Google stars in AdWords can also increase click-through rate by an average of 17%. Through collecting ratings and reviews through a verified Google Licensed Content Partner such as Feefo, businesses are able to increase the effectiveness of their online advertising and conversion rates.

Reviews now the driving force behind achieving and maintaining great customer service

The influence of customer reviews cannot be ignored. For Charlotte Tilbury, harnessing the power of its customer feedback has been a key driving force behind curating and upholding excellent customer service, and now helps inform the strategic business.

The product reviews inform the product development team; the pricing reviews inform the merchandising team, and the service report informs the operations and logistics team. Together, they help Charlotte Tilbury deliver the best possible product offering and customer service.

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How Charlotte Tilbury listened to customer feedback to transform customer service - Marketing Tech News

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Having previously enjoyed a high profile role in Sports Sponsorship working with organisations such as Nottingham Forest FC and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Matt embarked upon a whole new venture, co-founding Feefo March 2010. Feefo is a global reviews and customer analytics solution to boost business & build trust.

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Along with growth in online, travel retail and skin care sales, the Asia-Pacific jump propelled the cosmetics company to a quarterly net sales high of $4.01bn, executives announced on the company's earnings call.

The company achieved this milestone despite global trade tensions and "softness" in the US and UK, its largest markets.

"We delivered an excellent performance in our fiscal second quarter. Importantly, this was our eighth consecutive quarter of impressive net sales growth that met or exceeded our long-term goal, all while navigating many global macro issues." ​ said Fabrizio Freda, President and CEO of Estée Lauder Co.

Freda added: "Our sustained progress is the result of our multiple engines of growth strategy, and demonstrates our agility in moving resources to the best global opportunities." ​

Luxury leads in China

Luxury brands continued to be in high demand in China, and the company's strong sales mirrored the trend. The company's prestige beauty portfolio accelerated and gained market share as every brand, category and major channel grew by double digits.

" Demand for Prestige Beauty from Chinese consumer has remained strong, in spite of macro issues and potential risks to the economy, including higher tariffs... and more oversight on Chinese travellers who buy goods offshore for resales domestically," ​said Freda.

Make-up in particular has been growing in popularity among Chinese consumers, and now represents one-third of the company's prestige sales.

"With the growing interest in make-up, M.A.C. was the number one prestige make-up brand on Tmall during the entire calendar 2018 and has become number two in prestige make-up in the total market," ​ said Freda.

Within the brand portfolio, Estée Lauder, M·A·C and Tom Ford are now the company's most popular brands in China.

Online sales of prestige brands have continued to increase sharply, and now accounts for more than one-third of Estee Lauder Co. sales in China.

"We now expect sales growth of 8% to 9% and EPS gains of 14% to 16% for fiscal 2019 ​," said Freda.

The growth of the category in China is due to the "passion of consumer" ​he added.

"China is a very special market, where the young generation is consuming more than their parents in many areas, but particularly in Prestige Beauty, where the market share of prestige and luxury in the young generation is bigger than the market share in prestige and luxury in the more adult consumer." ​

Freda concluded that Estee Lauder Co. remains optimistic about the "long-term health and resilience" ​ of the prestige category in China.

"The industry will be driven by favourable demographics, and we are confident that the large growing middle-class in China will remain passionate about high-quality beauty products," ​ he said.

However, Freda also added: "At the same time, I want to emphasise that historically, Prestige Beauty has been less sensitive to economic downturns because it is an affordable luxury, driven by repeated purchases and loyalty." ​

Asia beyond China

While China led the advance, it is not the only market that is powering Estee Lauder Co. in Asia.

" From a geographic standpoint, our Asia-Pacific region had robust net sales growth this quarter. Net sales overall rose 20%, with many markets experiencing double-digit increases," ​said Tracey Thomas Travis, executive vice president and CFO.

"We also achieved excellent mid-single digit sales growth in Japan and Korea, with growth across all channels, including department stores, specialty, multi, and online," ​she added.

Travis added that other markets across APAC such as Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia, contributed to the region's growth.

Freda highlighted strong growth in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, where he noted that sales accelerated. "Virtually every brand generated higher sales in the region, both net and retail, boosted by the hero products and successful locally relevant innovations." ​

Freda attribute the success in Asia beyond China to the company's efforts in diversifying its growth engines in the region.

The skin care category was another big winner this year with a growth of 18% and is currently the company's fastest-growing category globally.

Travis revealed that the category saw the greatest drive in Asia thanks to the company's investments into skin care.

Freda added: "In the next two quarters, we plan to invest more behind our innovation to further build our share. To continue fuelling our innovation success, we expect to invest behind important new product launches such as Clinique iD, upcoming innovations and popular products..." ​

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Estée Lauder sales soar past $1bn in Asia as China spends big on beauty

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Along with growth in online, travel retail and skin care sales, the Asia-Pacific jump propelled the cosmetics company to a quarterly net sales high of $4.01bn, executives announced on the company's earnings call. The company achieved this milestone despite global trade tensions and "softness" in the US and UK, its largest markets.

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Chinese consumers keep French beauty brands on their toes

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French luxury cosmetics need a compelling brand story to sell in China, and innovation, to feed a demanding clientele's desire for novelty. Sephora's China Red, a niche line created in China for an international clientele, goes a step further.

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In 2019, the Toyota Prius regained the top position as the best-selling car model in Japan. The Nissan Note slipped to second.

In 2019, the best-selling car model in Japan was the Toyota Prius. Last year's favorite model, the Nissan Note, slipped to second. The Toyota Sienta was third while the Toyota Corolla surged to fourth. Seven of the ten most-popular car models in Japan in 2019 were made by Toyota. The top-selling minicar, the Honda N-Box, sold twice as many cars as the Prius. The Japanese new vehicle market in 2019 contracted by 1.5% to 5,234,166 vehicles.

Best-Selling Car Models in Japan in 2019 (Full Year)

The 20 top-selling car models in Japan in 2019 were as follows:

Note: The numbers exclude foreign car (irrelevant anyway) and minicars (kei) - see below for the combined list.

Top-List of Japan's Favorite Car Models in 2019 (Full Year)

There was only one new entrant on the list of the ten best-selling car models in Japan in 2019 but remarkably not a single car model was in the same rank position as a year ago. Seven of the ten favorite car models in Japan were produced by Toyota.

The Toyota Prius was the top-selling car model in Japan in 2019. The hybrid-only Prius regained the top slot that it also held in 2016 and 2017. Prius sales were up by 9% to move up to first from third.

The Nissan Note, the best-selling car in Japan in 2018, slipped to second place in 2019 with sales down by 13%.

The Toyota Sienta moved up from fifth and the Toyota Corolla up from eighth. Both Toyota models increased sales strongly. The evergreen Corolla was the best-selling car model in Japan for the final three months of 2019.

The Toyota Aqua slipped from second to fifth with sales down by nearly a fifth. The Nissan Serena slipped from fourth to sixth. The Toyota Roomy improved from tenth to seventh while the Toyota Voxy slipped from sixth to eighth.

The Honda Freed was the only new entrant on the top-ten list - it was eleventh a year ago. The Toyota Vitz slipped one place to round out the top ten.

The Honda Fit slipped out of the top ten - from seventh to twelfth. The new Fit is due in February 2020 and should have a positive impact on sales.

The Honda Vezel and the Toyota C-HR were the only top-20 cars in Japan to have maintained the same rank positions as a year ago. The Toyota RAV4 and Suzuki Sorio were the only new entrants on the top-20 list.

Top-Ten Car and Minicar Models Sold in Japan in 2019

Honda N-Box © Honda

JADA's sales data of the best-selling car models in Japan does not include minicars (kei). Mini cars (kei-jidousya) in Japan are vehicles defined by amongst others being shorter than 3.4 m with a maximum height of 2 m and a maximum width of 1.48 m. The engine capacity is restricted to 0.66 l measured by the Japanese standard.

The combined top ten best-selling minicar and regular car models in Japan in 2019 were as follows:

Source: Zenkeijkyo & JADA

Only half of the ten top-selling car models in Japan were minicars but that included the four best-selling cars. Honda sold twice as many N-Box minicars than Toyota sold Prius cars in Japan in 2019.

See also Best-Selling Minicars in Japan in 2019.

The Japanese new vehicle market in 2019 contracted by 1.5% to 5,234,166 vehicles.

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2019 (Full Year) Japan: Best-Selling Car Models - Car Sales Statistics

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In 2019, the Toyota Prius regained the top position as the best-selling car model in Japan. The Nissan Note slipped to second. In 2019, the best-selling car model in Japan was the Toyota Prius. Last year's favorite model, the Nissan Note, slipped to second. The Toyota Sienta was third while the Toyota Corolla surged to fourth.

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Implications - The adoption of gamification in the application and/or selling of makeup is increasingly common as cosmetic brands seek to engage consumers in an oversaturated market. The adoption of gamified ads, pop-ups and apps in the cosmetic industry caters to consumers seeking brand experiences, rather than only the products or services being offered.

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cosmetic brands adopt gamification into their campaigns to boost engagement

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Cosmetic brands adopt gamification into their campaigns to boost engagement

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Implications - The adoption of gamification in the application and/or selling of makeup is increasingly common as cosmetic brands seek to engage consumers in an oversaturated market. The adoption of gamified ads, pop-ups and apps in the cosmetic industry caters to consumers seeking brand experiences, rather than only the products or services being offered.

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(5th May)
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Augmented reality (AR) is changing the retail game. Retailers across the board are using AR to drive sales and improve the customer experience.

One way brands are improving conversions, in particular, is by bringing AR technology into stores. It's a strategic move: 61% of consumers prefer stores that offer AR experiences, 40% will pay more for your product if they can experience it through AR, and 69% expect retailers to launch AR apps within the next six months.

But how can retailers with little experience in this high-tech tool best use AR to boost conversions? While there are multiple tactics, one of the methods more retailers are using is to create a more immersive shopping experience for customers.

And to give you some ideas of how retailers can do this successfully, we got a little help from an expert. Below, find out what we learned when we chatted with Nathan Pettyjohn, CEO of AR platform Aisle411 and president of the VR/AR Association about how brands are enhancing the in-store experience through AR.

In-Store Navigation

Retailers have made in-store navigation easier and quicker for shoppers with a little help from AR. And while many studies and experts will tell you that the longer customers are in your store, the more they will spend, AR is turning this statement on its head.

"We found that we can reduce time spent in-store while also increasing the number of purchases made," Pettyjohn says. He points out that more time spent in-store means more time getting lost or confused while trying to find products. Through AR, retailers can make the purchase process more convenient.

One example of such technology being put to use is in Lowe's stores. The brand's In-Store Navigation app (powered by Google Tango) uses AR technology to create a mobile experience that guides shoppers through the store. Shoppers create a shopping list, and the app identifies the quickest route possible to check off all the items.

Walgreens is another retailer that's incorporating AR technology to drive sales by helping customers find what they need more easily. Aisle411 used Google Tango technology to create the AR-powered experience for the major retail brand.

Similar to Lowe's, the Walgreens mobile app created an AR-powered, in-store search and navigation tool for shoppers. Customers would search an item, and the app will tell them where it is, as well as related information such as pricing and description.

Despite what you may think, AR technology doesn't make human sales associates obsolete in terms of helping customers find their way around. In fact, retailers can find success by integrating the two to help customers navigate their stores. You can arm associates with the technology to better assist customers.

Pettyjohn cites AR glasses as an example. Associates could look up an item for a customer and be guided to the exact spot on the shelf where the product sits. "It creates a more seamless, more efficient customer service experience," says Pettyjohn.

Product-Focused // Product Experience

In many cases, AR is focused specifically on enhancing shoppers' experience with your actual product. Two key ways retailers are using AR to do this are through letting shoppers virtual "try on" your products and by providing detailed product information. Let's look at each:

Virtual Product Testing

In apparel, accessories, and cosmetics, many brands are playing with the idea of allowing customers to virtually try on their products. And while this technology is effective anywhere, it can be a game-changer when implemented in-store.

One common way of virtual product testing is through AR-powered mirrors. Brands like Rebecca Minkoff, Topshop, Timberland, and Uniqlo have all allowed customers to try on their apparel products this way. Customers don't have to go to the fitting rooms; instead, they stand in front of these smart mirrors to see a virtual version of themselves wearing the clothing of their choice. Oftentimes, this experience is complemented with additional product information.

GeekWire reported that Amazon has patented a "blended-reality" mirror, which will use a combination of AR and other technologies to create virtual fitting rooms.

One particular way this can help retailers drive conversions is by making more products accessible to in-store shoppers. One downfall to the brick-and-mortar experience is the limited stock availability. Pettyjohn notes the opportunity: AR fitting rooms and mirrors can help you drive sales by taking an omnichannel approach and enabling online purchases right then and there.

"The idea is that you could have an increased conversion rate on an omnichannel strategy in buying products that might not be physically in the store," Pettyjohn says. "It extends the store shelf."

Cosmetics is another key industry that has used AR to allow customers to try on a variety of their products. Customers could try 10 signature looks through Charlotte Tilbury's "magic mirror" AR technology, and Sephora has played with the technology through many iterations of mobile app experiences.

Charlotte Tilbury Westfield London Magic Mirror from Holition on Vimeo.

Detailed Product Information

AR has allowed retailers to provide customers with detailed information about products (and related products) while shopping in-store. This may be a standalone component or a feature of the virtual fitting rooms and mirrors.

"[AR allows for] object recognition and shopping comparison inside the store," Pettyjohn says. "[You can] overlay content on top of the real world about the product and its benefits. It extends the screen that you might be looking at in front of you and turns it into a bigger, more engaging experience in AR."

American Apparel is a great example. When customers scan in-store signage and displays, they'd see product details, such as customer reviews, color variants, and pricing to help them make an informed buying decision.

While effective, this technology does not come without its challenges. Creating the content, especially the visuals, is one of the most important and difficult tasks to complete. "Making sure that their databases are up to date and accurate [has been] the largest challenge that we've had in being able to scale up a solution," Pettyjohn says. "But a lot of the bigger retailers have been working on this for five to 10 years and are getting in the 95% plus accuracy rate."

Gamification // Just for Fun

More than half of shoppers say that AR makes shopping more fun and exciting, according to Forbes. Think Pokemon GO meets retail customer experience. And there are a few ways brands have leveraged this approach.

Walmart has used AR a few times to add excitement to their stores. They've introduced mobile app experiences in conjunction with major campaigns, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series and Justice League movie. Interactive elements with in-store signage, printed flyers, and the online store paired with the timeliness and buzz around the campaigns for a successful AR experience.

Skatewear brand Tillys also created a fun and interactive in-store experience through the use of AR technology. Shoppers would download the Tillys mobile app to participate in an in-store scavenger hunt.

The more tasks completed in the hunt, the more discounts users would receive. All in all, more than 80% of the rewarded coupon codes were redeemed in-store. The brand also leveraged influencer marketing to spread the word about the campaign.

In Shanghai, Starbucks is also using AR to add an extra fun element to the in-store customer experience.

"Stand in front of the roasting cask at the first Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Asia and you'll see a staggeringly beautiful, two-story copper vessel adorned with nearly 3,000 hand-carved traditional Chinese chops, or stamps. But hold your phone up to it, and new worlds reveal themselves," Starbucks announces in a press release.

Essentially, customers can hold their phones up to the display and see an animation of the journey coffee beans go through before they become the liquid product in your cup.

Moving Forward: How Retailers Are Using AR to Enhance the In-Store Experience

When implementing your own in-store AR experience, there is no single solution. Pettyjohn says the answers to how you should frame your approach lies in testing. "Test these different use cases and engage with the consumers to see how their feedback comes into play," he says.

Which retail brands are changing the in-store experience through AR? How do you want to use it in your biz?

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High-Tech Helpers: How Retailers Are Using AR to Enhance the In-Store Experience

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Augmented reality is changing the retail game. Retailers across the board are using AR to drive sales and improve the customer experience. One way brands are improving conversions, in particular, is by bringing AR technology into stores. It's a strategic move: 61% of consumers prefer stores that offer AR experience.

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Charlotte Tilbury, the luxury cosmetics retailer, has launched what is claimed to be Westfield's first ever interactive retail installation, to drive excitement and awareness of its new flagship store before it opens in Westfield White City later this month.

The campaign, which was created for Charlotte Tilbury by NexusEngage, is running for eight weeks in the West London shopping mall, and had been designed to drive customer excitement and footfall and to capture consumer data. Using the latest in retail technology, the two-phase campaign occupies a 127 square metre frontage of the new store location during the time the store fit is being carried out.

The installation offers a fully interactive experience allowing consumers to learn about and engage with the Charlotte Tilbury product range. Nexus Engage created two 'magic mirrors' for Charlotte Tilbury, which speak to passers-by encouraging them to take part in the activities. Mirror one captures consumer data by allowing them to enter a prize draw to win products each day. Mirror two invites the consumer to take part in a quiz to determine 'their look' from Charlotte's revolutionary 10 looks wardrobe. The mirror then takes a photo and prints it with a golden ticket and a unique code that gives them access to a £15 Tilbury Transformation for the corresponding look, bookable via the custom-built LookBook. The idea is to encourage consumers to come back once the store is open.

Emily Bromfield, Director of Marketing and Communications at Charlotte Tilbury, says: "Charlotte Tilbury has not only revolutionized the global beauty industry, she is also a digital revolutionary. That is why we wanted to bring too life a unique, fully-immersive 3D 'holding page', rather than a traditional store hoarding, for the unveiling of our new Westfield Beauty Boudoir. It not only functions as an awareness building billboard but it also enables us to start a conversation with our future Westfield customer by capturing their personal details and engage them in a quick and fun makeup lottery game. As Charlotte always says, 'You have to be IN it to WIN it!': Our brand is about empowering women to achieve their makeup destiny. Nexus Engage created and implemented a bold and exciting campaign that has really helped us to achieve those objectives."

Simon Ellson, CEO at NexusEngage, adds: "Using this space during a store fit is perfect for those looking to raise brand awareness and reach a targeted audience who may not be familiar with their products and services."

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Charlotte Tilbury Westfield 'magic mirrors' - IPM Bitesize

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Charlotte Tilbury, the luxury cosmetics retailer, has launched what is claimed to be Westfield's first ever interactive retail installation, to drive excitement and awareness of its new flagship store before it opens in Westfield White City later this month.

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