Cuura Beauty, created by Sarah Shah Nor, has utilised its omni channel strategy to create its beauty empire. What you should understand is that a brand cannot survive in just one platform. It will get lost and forgotten. Instead, your goal is to be everywhere!
Of course, this takes a lot of resources, and if you are starting out, you can’t afford to do them all. Cuura, of course, did not start with millions of dollars either. They took it step-by-step, and only grew their presence when they were able to afford it.
So how can you be like Cuura?
Be On All Marketplaces, But Focus On A Brand Webstore
We know Cuura, because Cuura partners with Flybear for their fulfillment! So we can tell you this – Cuura receives more orders from their website than any other marketplace. Yes, having presence in Shopee, Lazada and Tiktok Shop are necessary. Some people prefer to buy on these sites.
However, Webstores like Shopify and WooCommerce give you the freedom to advertise on social media and search engines. You can market better, and thus, attract more customers. You can create advertising funnels and ad more information and media to help promote your products. You can create reward programs and accumulate a list of customers you can contact later.
I’m not saying it’s easy, though. Not any website will work. Like Cuura, when you build a Webstore, make sure it is;
- It loads fast
- Easy to navigate
- Has great photos
- Have integrated payment gateways and options
It doesn’t take much to open a good store. Easystore, WooCommerce and Shopify are all great options.
Digital Presence Is Now A Given
Cuura fully utilises digital avenues.
- Simply being presence in every popular social media platform is important. However, if resources are an issue, focus on the social media where your market is present. If you target the young Malay crowd, push TikTok. If you are looking for the 30 – 45 age group, try Instagram, etc. Once you gain more resources, push into the other platforms.
- Continuing the above sentiment, Webstores allow you to directly market your products on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Run ads to drive people to your website. This will be cheaper than driving people to Shopee and Lazada pages.
- It’s not just about being present, it’s about what you present to your audience. As a former marketeer, I can say that the biggest mistake made by most companies is posting content that does not benefit the end user. A lot of the content is self-indulgent – “This is my product, it is pretty”. When creating posts, think about “How does this post benefit the person watching?”
Cuura does a great job at ensuring its content is relevant for its followers. They have the fun videos to past the time. They have tutorials and how-to videos to help show best beauty routines. Some posts highlight feedback and reviews from customers, ultimately leading to followers trusting the brand. And they all do this while having a sincere and real voice.
On-Ground Presence Is Still Important
As much as the digital world is part of our lives, nothing helps more than an on-ground presence. Cuura now has a permanent pop-up in the TRX and this helps push their name amongst a whole new crowd of possible customers.
If you are just starting off or if you have limited resources, start small. Look for relevant pop-up booths, bazaars and markets. Spend a weekend at an event. The initial cost might be high, and the sales might not be so great, but you might have introduced your logo and brand to someone new, which might one day lead to consideration in the near future.
Niche Markets for True Omni Channel
So digital marketing gets you out to a wide audience, and on-ground marketing gets your presence through footfall. What Cuura and many other beauty brands also do is utilise sales and marketing channels not very common in the urban market – stockist. Malaysia has a wide flourishing market of individuals and small business owners in Malaysia who act as resellers for your brand.
These resellers often make their money by targeting the large market of individuals that do not utilise digital media, and are often times too far away to be targeted by your on-ground activities. We are talking about the small towns and villages that are relatively far away from city centres. It’s a tedious (and often times expensive) process, but this channel does really well in getting your brand out there.
So, the question is, what niche marketing and sales channel works well for you?
Connect Everything Together
Finally, to truly utilise the omni channel tactic to build your empire, you must connect everything together. Cuura does this through marketing and sales tactics.
- Use social media to promote your on-ground activities.
- Use your on-ground activities to promote your social media.
- Drive buyers from Shopee and TikTok shop to your Webstore (to gain higher margins) through promotions and even loyalty programs.
- Push on-ground shoppers to your Webstore through the same method. Slip them a physical coupon and just get their emails to send them something nice to get a repurchase.
There are so many tactics to use to help increase your sales.
An Omni Channel Conclusion
Omni channel marketing is not easy, nor is it cheap. However, like I said, you don’t have to do it all at once. Do what you can with what you have, and when you grow, increase your efforts. The amazing thing about this is that you will see an exponential growth in sales with the more you do.
And when you have so many channels, remember, take care of your fulfillment! Of course, that is where we come in!