Kylie Jenner is an online powerhouse. Kylie doesn’t sell her cosmetics in stores – and she doesn’t overly promote her products online either. Yet, she sells out regularly. So, how can eCommerce brands #RiseAndShine like Kylie? Let’s find out!
You can be sure Kylie’s team is listening carefully online. And that’s where we’ll start.
It’s Easy – And Unwise – To Be Tone Deaf
It would be easy for someone with Kylie’s fame and fortune to ignore online conversations. And suffering for it. Feeling over-confident is always a brand killer. Too big to fail is really never true, particularly in this digital age. Kylie obviously has some smart folks working for her though – and they understand the importance of monitoring social sentiment.
And although much of the hate is good to ignore, and we can be sure that she does, for the most part – like her big sister, Kim, there are times when it’s valuable. And her recent #RiseAndShine viral video offers a ready example.
After the eight second clip of her singing “Rise and Shine” to her child went viral online, with celebrities joining in. Kylie extended its life with her own rendition as her team worked behind the scenes to secure a trademark for the term.
Unfortunately, the name already belongs to another company. Even more unfortunately, that company was a small retail shop owned by a single mom who has had this to say about it to news networks:
Beggan has taken issue with the fact that Jenner has already used the phrase “without the legal license or permission to do so and without any offer of compensation.”
“I’ve spent years developing this product line and the Rise-N-Shine brand,” Beggan told The Blast.
Kylie’s team had her get out there on Twitter as it started to gain traction:
And some businesses even claimed to have received cease and desist letters for using the common phrase. She had to hop online to assure everyone that she was not trying to hurt anyone’s business, and was just enjoying the fun that was happening online.
Whether or not she was secretly seething is irrelevant (and feels unlikely for one so influentially astute), as the end result had fans still loving her just as much, haters still annoyed by anything she does – and a new product launch that sold out immediately. Kylie created hoodies for $65 each that said “Riiise” and “Shiiine” on each sleeve.
Your brand needs to do the same – get out there before the conversation gets away from you and you can shape it. Even better, head it off as fast as it’s spiking!
Kylie had to resist any temptation to fire back, defending her right to trademark her viral song snippet, likely learning a thing or two from her sister Kim’s Kimono trademark drama.
Not that anyone can blame them for wanting to trademark their work. Each has offerings that sell out to millions of clamoring fans within minutes of launch. But knowing when to back off is super important too. And social listening helps brands make those important determinations ahead of a fall.
How do they do it?
They pay attention to negative sentiment and sort out what’s valuable from what isn’t. That’s huge. But also – they’re very much on top of trends and online conversation.
And they exploit relevant trends in ways that make sense for their audience.
Kylie Embraces & Exploits Trends
As she’s been in the spotlight since the tender age of 10, everyone knows how she looks. So, it was a jarring to some to suddenly see her appearing with plump lips.
Although she attributed the change to clever makeup (which turned out to be true), followers were not convinced and #KylieJennerChallenge was born. It’s where fans – mostly young girls, adopted DIY ideas to plump their lips like the mega-influencer:
Horrifying? Sure. It doesn’t reach “drinking boiling water” challenge, but on the same spectrum of ill-advised.
Kylie’s response is what ultimately launched her empire and made her the highest paid in the Kardashian/Jenner brood . . .
The Lips That Launched an Empire
Kylie insisted followers could create her look by “over-lining the lips and filling in with a natural-looking matte base.” And to prove it, she started selling three-shade lip kits via Instagram and Snapchat.
The initial stock launch sold out in less than a minute, crashing the website.
Bloggers offered suggestions of “dupe” options for those not lucky enough to grab their own, and the $29 (£22) dollar sets were bootlegged online for hundreds of dollars.
After launching the debut kits, she relabelled her business Kylie Cosmetics and sales continue to soar, making a reported $19m in one day in late 2016.
And there’s been no stopping her since.
But how can your eCommerce brand emulate something this dramatic short of being a Kardashian? Take note of where she sold her makeup – where she still sells it today – via social media channels. And today, Instagram has made it easier than ever to bring consumers through your purchase funnel with just three clicks. Expecting them to navigate beyond that these days is a tall order. The more you can simplify a purchase, the more likely they’ll convert. So make sure you’re selling to them where they are!
Are you taking advantage of your social channels as a sales channel as well? Do you know which ones make the most sense to focus your efforts on? We offer detailed (free) reports on how to make the most of each social channel. Be sure to check them out and start implementing ideas today!
To recap:
- Get out there before conversations get away from you, so you can shape it. Even better, head it off as fast as it’s spiking!
- Pay attention to negative sentiment and sort out what’s valuable from what isn’t. That’s huge.
- Monitor trends and online conversation.
- Exploit relevant trends in ways that make sense for your audience.
- Understand where your audience is participating online and sell to them there.
Your brand can do all of that in real-time right now, can’t it? Harnessing accurate – and transparent – next generation AI-powered social media insight, as well as structured and unstructured data from a significant number of sources, then aggregating all of it immediately for analysis? Well, if not – we need to talk. There’s so much more on offer beyond what we’ve detailed here.
Reach out and we’ll show you what’s possible. You don’t have to be a Jenner to have Jenner-esque popularity online, but you do need social listening in your corner to plump those lips!
