Today, the company sells over 140 make-up products worth $200M per year. Huda Kattan’s net assets are estimated at $400M (June 2022). we break down Huda Beauty´s marketing strategies and give tips on how to improve your brand awareness on social media.

“The target audience of Huda Beauty is working women who usually do not carry cosmetic products because their bags are already filled with other things,” says Diana Koroleva, producer and founder of the communication company Koroleva Agency, ex ¨VOGUE¨ Russia Brand Manager. Business women can not afford to spend a lot of time fixing their make-up throughout the day.

This is why Huda Beauty’s marketing strategy emphasises the long-lasting properties of the products. The target group appreciates the fact that the products can be applied quickly and they do not have to touch up their make-up for several hours, Ms Koroleva notes.

“Peach Pie Powder”, “New Kayli Yum Pistachio Gelato” or “Kayali Lovefest Burning Cherry” – all of these products use sensory marketing in their naming, according to the experts at Influence Minds Agency. In this way, people can immediately imagine aromas or flavours.

Sensory marketing is able to profoundly influence customers’ emotions, memories and brand perceptions, according to Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan) in her book “Sensory Marketing: Research on the Sensuality of Products”. Influence Minds Agency uses that this type of marketing not only sells products, but also brings emotional satisfaction after the purchase. According to the experts, this contributes significantly to building a long-term relationship between brand and customer.

Huda Kattan was a popular blogger herself before she founded a cosmetics brand. Her own social media drove her business in the beginning. Cosmetics retailer Sephora supported the launch of her first product (faux-mink lashes) because of Huda Kattan’s influential platform.
Then bloggers and celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, started using them, catapulting the brand to worldwide popularity.

To this day, the brand relies on Huda Kattan’s personal brand, Ms Koroleva noted. Huda regularly posts on TikTok, for example, she tested makeup life hacks from other bloggers on this app. Her account is mentioned on all of the brand’s social networks. Kattan’s activity and expertise help to consolidate trust in the brand.

✖️Delete stories and posts. Moving them to the archive will not have the same effect.

✖️Mass cancellation of subscriptions.

✖️Maintain low level of subscriber engagement

according to Artem Skrebets, CEO of Yobidoyobi International

The future of your new startup is closely tied to the personal brand of the CEO or partners. But you won’t have a big budget for targeted advertising, SMM and PR at the beginning. A startup’s brand awareness starts with its founders and the way they tell people about their company.

A web designer, for example, can show the process of building the e-shop, or how you came up with the idea for a cool marketing campaign

As Ms Koroleva summarised, you should involve people in your business as much as possible by showing them your operational processes.

Huda Beauty often uses discounts as a promotional tool. For instance, in April, you can find products from the brand at a 70% discount at Sephora. The big discount can be explained by the fact that this was the time of Eid al-Fitr, an important Muslim festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The old but gold marketing technique is the sale of complementary products. These are products that are often bought together because they complement each other. So when a customer buys a powder on the brand’s website, they may receive testers or small versions of other products from Huda Beauty.

For other companies, complementary products may look like this:

Huda Beauty has understood that it is important to be active on all major media channels (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube). “There are different ways of consuming content, big brands know this and want to be accessible to their audience no matter what medium they prefer,” explaines Ms Koroleva.

Huda Beauty actively uses this principle in its marketing by offering products in limited editions. The brand launches limited-edition collections featuring celebrities or products for public holidays, such as the Lunar New Year. This helps to generate excitement and consequently increase sales quickly. “In this way, the brand also consolidates its reputation as something very desirable and valuable,” explain the experts from Influence Minds Agency.

🔹 In the property industry, you can create such an effect by highlighting quick property purchases due to the area’s popularity.  Create time-limited promotional offers such as “Special offer to buy/rent a property by the end of the month”. This will motivate customers to make a decision as soon as possible.

🔹 Limited time offers are also useful for dark kitchens. Create special sets/meals/menus for celebrations. Customers will be delighted with an exclusive offer and the business will make quick sales.

Influence Minds Agency recommends

This SMM technique was extremely popular in 2017–2020. Giveaways are useful when it comes to quickly increasing brand awareness. This marketing technique is quite cheap and can make a product go viral.

Huda Beauty has managed to run successful giveaways even in 2024, according to the experts from Influence Minds. Every month, subscribers can win products from new launches. This helps to avoid the loss of engagement that can occur after a giveaway ends.

Giveaways are particularly good for growing a fan base, but a more engaged audience can also be gained through targeted advertising, said Alexander Shevelyuk, marketing director at Electra & WOWBikes. This advertising method is very popular in the UAE and usually provides a good opportunity to discuss a collaboration with a new influencer who would not be interested in a campaign without this giveaway.

The downside of a giveaway is a high percentage of unsubscribes, which can have a negative impact on account visibility, although it is effective in quickly gaining a new audience, Mr Skrebets notes.