I recently used substalties to find new music to hear them. This is probably not quite what his founders had in mind, but it has a lot of newsletters written by people who really love music. It is less professional music criticism and more “Hey, this album was great, listen.”
This is not the only off-label usage for Substack. Today’s marketing master is also a substance fan -and it has taken a great risk.
Meet the master
Mackenzie Kassab
Director of creative strategy, Rare beauty
Right to fame: Started rare beauties “semi-autorized” Susge newsletter
Lesson 1: make you curious about your own product.
The novelty can be lost quickly when they are in the trenches.
“Working in the office (our product) is something” – a new blush, let’s say that we are nearby all the time. We go to meetings about how products are manufactured every week, “says Kassab.” It doesn’t necessarily feel exciting from the inside if you are there for a year and a half. “
But your audience’s first look at a new product? That is magical.
If you have new content with brainstorming, you can think about it from the perspective of your consumers. What do you know that you don’t do it? If you market a new product or a new service, what excited you about it?
Although Kassab may visit weekly meetings through a new product, it is not necessarily there on every step of the path. For her newsletter, she takes the opportunity to “find out some of the blooper or (other) things that have happened”.
For a newsletter, Kassab sat down with the Chief Product Officer from Rare Beauty to record the shovel How the latest blush was created. One reason why they developed a powder blush? Some customers found Rare Beauty’s famous fluid blush to pigmented. Not something that you listen to most beauty companies.
“To share them and see how excited people become (about this information) – that is really rewarding and makes it interesting.”
Lesson 2: Hear the imperfections.
Like a middle student with her first palette, the road is lined with some highly pigmented errors.
It is tempting to brush those under the carpet, but remember: everyone loves a bloop role. Regardless of whether it is your FAV TV show or a new lipstick, and the plastic breaks down between consumers and the producer. A kind of “celebrities, they are just like us!” For your marketing strategy.
It also brings a human element to your newsletter.
“We show the attempts and difficulties of making a product. So I think we accept the idea that we are not perfect as a big brand either – We hit bumpy roads and in the end the things are fine, “says Kassab.” I hope that something is encouraging. “
Lesson 3: Respect the platform.
Kassab’s idea of starting a rare newsletter for beauty columns had a simple origin: it was already a substance fan.
The supenzin was developed to publish individual voices and has built up a community that reminds me a bit of early social media – when everyone had a good time instead of having us to sleep every evening. It is a place where a good letter about self -promotion appreciates. The introduction of a branded voice into this ecosystem has always been a risk.
But in a way not a branded voice. This is underlined by your cheeky Gossip-Esque signoffs, the anonymous byline of the “semi -autorized” and even after how slim is her team. (“It’s a very shabby team,” she says.
Don’t worry, the lesson here cannot be reduced all Their content to a person. (Unless you are a very small company, please not do that; I ask in the name of writers everywhere.)
If you take a risk like Kassab and rare beauty, Think about the value, get the user from the platform – and work with it, not against it.
Questions
The question of this week
What is your favorite activity in marketing that cannot be easily measured? – Brenna Loury, CMO, Doist
The answer this week
Kassab: The emotional connection. I love how marketing can make people feel something. It could be inspiration, motivation, curiosity, nostalgia or just a moment of joy. For us it depends on self -acceptance and belonging. This connection drives everything we do, no matter how impossible to quantify (although I am sure that Ai is trying).
I even help a person in our community to feel and feel comfortable in their skin – I love it so much about my work, but that’s really what makes sense.
The continued question of the next week
Kassab asks: What is your least favorite part of your job and how do you motivate yourself to get through?
