Where To Find Makeup Geek In A Target Near Me

When Makeup Geek founder Marlena Stell started producing makeup tutorials for YouTube more than a decade ago, she had little idea of the bear upon social media would have on the dazzler manufacture. It catapulted brands like hers, transformed beauty marketing, and provided a machinery for consumers to communicate directly with companies. Makeup Geek has tapped influencer partnerships, solicited client feedback and expanded its social media reach to several million followers to lift almanac sales to over $22 million. "I love getting my audience involved," says Stell. "Information technology's been a huge aspect of growing the visitor."

Now, the dynamics of social media are shifting rapidly, and beauty brands are existence forced to reconsider their digital strategies every bit influencer sponsorship costs increase and visibility on social media platforms decreases. "With the ROI non being very good, everyone is scrambling to effigy out how to market," says Stell. "We don't want to go back to magazine and television advertising, that doesn't work. Trying to predict what's going to happen in the next couple of years is very frightening." Beauty Independent talked to her about efforts to build Makeup Geek offline for the uncertain time to come, including at Target and possibly with its own stores, extend her concern to multiple brands, create products suited to the ascendance of skincare, evolve her role internally and externally on YouTube, and commit to causes bigger than cosmetics.

How did your brand begin?

Information technology was born out of social media. I was a music teacher for many years and, in 2008, I started to put my makeup tips on YouTube. It was a hobby. I just loved makeup. I decided that I loved it then much that I quit teaching in 2010 to focus on makeup. I launched the make in 2011. At the time, there was a huge gap between drugstore and loftier-cease makeup. In that location wasn't anything that was actually loftier quality that still had an affordable cost indicate. I started my brand with eyeshadows because that's what I was actually passionate virtually. It was made in the U.S., had high quality and wasn't super expensive similar the luxury brands.

Did you see information technology as just selling digitally?

I had no thought it was going to exist what information technology became. I just wanted to have something to sell to my audience. I was spending so much time promoting other brands, and I wasn't able to financially survive off of that. I wanted to create products to make myself financially secure and be able to showcase them to my audience in videos.

I knew the audition was there because I was educational activity them how to use makeup in videos. Information technology was an easy transition to sales because I could demonstrate the products I was making. I was able to feature the products I made and show how to utilize them. That automatically brought in sales. I did things backward from a traditional make. I built an audition kickoff and, and then, started to sell product every bit opposed to building an audience equally you become.

I started with eyeshadows because I beloved color. I obsess over different colors. At the fourth dimension, the only brands doing eyeshadow pans were MAC and Make Up For Ever. No i was doing them with lower price points. I reached out to several labs, and I got kicked out by some, but I was very persistent. It took two years of driving all over the country with my mom to finally find a factory that would work with me.

When did the brand get-go to gain traction?

It was past 2012. Influencers started using the products and, because they started their YouTube channels shortly after I did, I would mention several of them. Nosotros were i of the beginning brands—Sigma was some other 1—to offering an chapter program. I wanted to make sure the influencers could brand a living.

At what bespeak did retailers reach out to y'all to conduct Makeup Geek?

We had several retailers accomplish out to us in 2016. We had Sephora, Ulta, Old Navy, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and Target reach out to u.s.a.. With our turn a profit margins beingness much smaller than larger companies, information technology was hard to make happen. We could have raised prices or cut quality, but that wasn't something I wanted to do. When Target reached out to us, I felt it was a great fit because information technology had a similar audience to ours looking for mid-level cost points. It'south known for having a skillful selection of products with good quality, and I like what they stand for. 1 of the reasons they wanted to work with us was because of our focus on inclusivity.

Personally, I've ever been a huge Target fan. I have a quick story to share. When I launched the Makeup Geek brand, it was in November of 2011, and that was the month my dad passed away. I lived in a small boondocks in Michigan at the fourth dimension, and Target was my safe haven. When he passed, I was actually in Target, and I've always had an emotional attachment to information technology. It's a very positive place for me to be. Part of the reason I wanted to start with Target is I already loved it.

What was it like to have your brand enter Target?

It was pretty intimidating, especially with it being such a massive retailer. We started with Target concluding year as part of a airplane pilot program they did where nosotros were one of eight indie brands that went in, and we sold out of products online within a couple of days. Nosotros went into stores this year, and we are in almost 400 stores. They've let the states know we will be expanding to 200 more stores by the stop of this yr. In Target, nosotros have small quads and little eyeshadow palettes—that'south new for us, we commonly sell singles on our site—and nosotros accept the face drove with brushes, bronzers, highlighters, lip products, brow pencils and faux lashes. In total, nosotros accept over 300 SKUs, and our unmarried eyeshadows are our bestsellers. Our foiled eyeshadows practise really well considering they have a unique formula.

My main goal for being in Target was to become the products in the hands of people in person, especially those not comfortable buying online. It definitely made united states of america seem more than legitimate, and it gives us substance. Before, I recollect people thought, "Oh, it's a social media brand that will come and become," but, to exist in Target, it gives us depth, and it makes usa more accessible to people.

How are you driving sales to both Target and Makeup Geek's channels?

Nosotros utilise similar strategies for both. Social media is definitely our strong point, and we use that as a ground to get people to get to the store and check out what we are selling. Now, we are focusing more energy on paid advertizement on Instagram, Facebook and Google. We didn't used to practise that every bit much. We relied by and large on influencers and YouTube videos, merely we accept diversified quite a scrap. One-half of our upkeep goes to traditional social media and the other one-half goes to paid advert.

We are focusing on paid advertising because the influencer world has become saturated and the ROI isn't equally stiff equally when we do paid advert. When we do paid ads, we run into a 12 to one return. Ordinarily, if we spend $1,000 on ads, we will see $12,000 in sales. When we become the traditional route of [influencer marketing with] Instagram and YouTube posting, the ROI isn't as potent. It's still a cracking style to market, but nosotros don't depend on its solely because we demand that ROI.

When did the ROI of influencer marketing dip?

The ROI was better up until 2016. After 2016, information technology started to take a pretty skilful dive, and there are many reasons that could be. One is the oversaturation. Besides, the consumer started to realize that influencers weren't equally organic as they used to be, and they were being paid to talk about products. They are less probable than they were to buy a concealer, for example, but because an influencer raves about it. In the back of their minds, they are thinking, "It's a commercial. It's no different from a commercial on Telly where Halle Berry is saying she loves a product." The promise [of the ROI] is higher than what brands are getting, and that'due south why there's a chip of disharmonize now between brands and influencers.

Do y'all think the current influencer marketing ROI dynamics could change?

If the overall community of influencers went dorsum to being more than organic, it would help some. I don't call up it could completely go back to how it was before 2016. If the pay per mail was more in line with what a visitor was making, everyone would exist happier. The rates accept go so inflated that the ROI makes it not a good investment. If the rates were to come down to reflect the sales that are actually happening for a visitor, the ROI would be ameliorate.

What are your thoughts on TikTok?

I'chiliad watching it closely. I've seen the rise of TikTok, but it's tricky for usa because you never know which [social media platform] sticks, which ones don't and which ones resonate with our audience. When Snapchat took off, I tried to exist involved in it, but it didn't translate at all considering its audience was younger than our audience. Nosotros always try to get an account started and post on each platform, only we have to expect a good year to come across if the platform is good for us, and if it's worth investing fourth dimension to have content on it. For us, the all-time ones have been Instagram and YouTube. I call up TikTok is similar to Snapchat, where people see our products, but it'south not necessarily a sales-driven platform. Information technology's hard to convert people watching TikTok videos into people buying products. It'south adept for us to arrive the easily of people that exercise these videos, simply nosotros aren't expecting sales from it.

How has your personal approach to social media changed?

It's changed a lot this yr. I decided to non do videos anymore as an influencer because the climate on YouTube has changed dramatically since I started eleven years ago. Plainly, it'south still a great platform, but the videos that are popular now are the more dramatic ones, not the educational ones. Information technology'southward not nearly makeup education as much. Tutorials don't do also because everyone has seen them and are a bit tired of them. I've decided to use YouTube to announce launches and keep everyone updated on the company, but non to provide educational content.

What's the growth of Makeup Geek been like?

Our growth has changed in the last couple of years because it's non just coming from direct-to-consumer, and we are seeing our acquirement come from international wholesalers as well as Target. Our acquirement is divide 70%/xxx% with 70% coming from directly-to-consumer, and the rest coming from retail and international wholesalers. We used to be 100% direct-to-consumer through our website. About 40% of our sales come from international, whether people are buying directly from our site or through others. Nosotros are in the U.Grand., Australia, Europe and Canada. In the U.M., we piece of work with Dazzler Bay and, in other countries, people purchase directly from u.s.a., and we ship to them straight-to-consumer.

I definitely see usa becoming more than retail-driven because I think, with the massive shift in social media, I want to diversify as much as I can to ready for time to come changes. I think that some of the audience is going back to buying in stores such as Target. They are already buying their baby wipes and toilet paper there, and are throwing their makeup in their cart as well. We are hoping to expand to other retailers in the future. My guess is that, long term, half of our revenue will be through direct-to-consumer and half through retail.

Where do yous see opportunities for the brand at retail?

I definitely don't want to practise drugstores because I experience that Makeup Geek is not a mass brand. Information technology's masstige. It'due south at the mid-level, where it's not as high terminate as prestige as far as the price points, but information technology'due south loftier end in terms of the quality. If I were to pick the adjacent retailer, I would practise an Ulta or I would practise our own stores in various cities. They would be hubs for our unlike companies. I'd take Makeup Geek, [wearable brand] Marste and Adelina Jewelry. I had a miscarriage last year, and nosotros were going to name the infant Adelina, so it'due south in honour of her.

Why do you believe color cosmetics sales are slowing?

Trends e'er come up and go. What I've noticed is that, whatever was popular for a few years, what's popular following that is going to be the polar reverse. We are humans and get bored. There was the liquid lip tendency for then long and, now, there are tinted lip balms. Because color cosmetics were potent for several years, people are going back to the more natural await where information technology'southward all about glowy skin and only a little mascara. If companies are aware of that, they will focus on foundations, concealers and hybrid skincare products. I'm definitely working on those products for 2020 to make certain nosotros stay ahead of the trends.

You have been song virtually your commitment to addressing domestic abuse. Exercise you feel a responsibility to telephone call attention to causes that are important to you lot?

I feel a personal obligation because I accept a platform of 1.five million people. If yous include the company as well, information technology's over 4 million people. I've made a decision to focus on something bigger than only makeup. I want to use my platform to bring awareness to certain things I've gone through, and domestic corruption is the main i. I'1000 a college-educated owner of two businesses, and people may not think someone similar me could exist in an abusive relationship. I never thought I'd be in an abusive human relationship, but information technology happened. I felt that there wasn't plenty data out there breaking the stereotypes, and I felt a personal responsibility to do that. Going forward, a percentage of all Makeup Geek sales will get to shelters that help people leaving abusive relationships.

I want to have each business I start to partially fund projects that are close to my heart. For Makeup Geek, it will be focused on domestic abuse. For Marste, I'yard trying to figure out what I want to contribute to. My husband and I are starting the jewelry line Adelina, and we are hoping a portion of its sales will assist fund kid care, foster homes and orphanages in Sri Lanka. I also program on speaking at conferences about women'due south empowerment.

How do you split your time betwixt your diverse businesses?

I have to divide my time very strategically. I know that Mondays, for instance, I'm going to focus on Makeup Geek. On Tuesdays, I'grand going to focus on Marste. I have built out a great team that handles a lot of the tasks, and that allows me to focus on product development and the artistic aspects. I let my team manage the rest. I have forty people working for me at present.

Has Makeup Greek brought on exterior funding?

We haven't. We grew from null to $22 million in sales without a single loan or investor. What I tried to do is grow organically. Nosotros are now starting to get lines of credit to help. In a year, I will exist set up to bring on investors to abound each of my brands. I want to see if we can get more than solid in Target, just the main reason I delayed having investors is because of the vision for the visitor. I didn't want Makeup Geek to turn into another make mixed in with everything else at Target and Ulta. I don't desire it to become a cookie cutter brand. When I'm certain an investor will keep it unique, I will sign on.

There's a rebrand in the works. When will it be completed?

It's slated for November. The purpose of the rebrand is educational. We will accept what we call the matrix system. It'south rows of colors that people choose from. We volition still have the unmarried eyeshadow pans, but they volition exist laid out from light to nighttime. Each row will exist a dissimilar tone. You will accept rows of warm red browns, warm taupes and mauve browns. It makes sure that every colour is complete, instead of only making 150 random colors that overwhelm people with option. For the boilerplate customer that doesn't know what to pick, it will be all laid out for them.

I will take a core group of 56 mattes and 56 metallic shades and, out of those core sets of singles, I create hundreds of colour combinations that people can choose from. It's less wasteful because you'll be able to take your shadows and create a ton of palettes on your ain. There will exist a booklet that goes with information technology, which is pretty much a catalog of the palettes y'all can create. We will also accept different combinations you can buy pre-made. Y'all will be able to buy those with an inspiration gallery of looks already done. It's using the same cadre group of products, but having different combinations of all the different shades put together.

Makeup Geek is going through a rebrand that volition include a matrix system to organize eyeshadow colors and enable customers to easily create their own palettes.

How has your role evolved?

I've been wearing many hats for a long time. Once I'm able to build out a strong executive squad, I want to somewhen pace away from being the CEO and exist the creative director. I would like to do overall strategy and non focus on but Makeup Geek, but be the creative visionary for each of my companies.

Where practise yous think Makeup Geek will exist in five to x years?

I don't plan on keeping the company forever. Somewhen, I will sell it, and I hope it will be in not bad hands with whoever buys information technology. I want it to exist an international brand accessible to everyone.