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Thrive Causemetics Bigger Than Beauty – Small Startup To A Multi-Million Dollar Company In 3 Years

Thrive Causemetics is a beauty brand whose philosophy goes beyond makeup through women empowerment. The Thrive Causemetics Bigger Than Beauty initiative means that for every product you purchase, the company will donate a product to help a woman thrive. Karissa Bodnar created Thrive Causemetics after losing her close friend to cancer at 24 years old. For every product a customer buys, Thrive Causemetics donates one to a woman in need, including those fighting cancer, emerging from homelessness, or surviving domestic violence. Through their effective marketing strategies and techniques, Thrive Causemetics has gone from a small startup company to a multi-million dollar company in just 3 years.

Thrive Causemetics: Cause Marketing Strategy

Thrive Causemetics implements a cause marketing strategy. This is when a business supports a charitable cause or a social issue while simultaneously getting marketing benefits from it. Recently corporate social responsibility has become more important to consumers. Because Thrive Causemetics aims to help women going through different obstacles in their life including cancer, domestic violence, or homelessness they have the opportunity to create a connection with many different audiences.

This type of marketing is a great way to differentiate Thrive Causemetics from other brands on the market. It is also beneficial because since there are so many makeup brands that offer similar products, it allows a company to attract and convert customers by advocating for a cause that they are passionate about. Did you know that 81% of millennials expect companies that they purchase from to make a charitable contribution and 58% of millennials are more likely to buy from a brand that they associate with a cause?

Cause Marketing is also a great way to create loyalty and trust between a customer and the company. Customers are more likely to remain loyal to a brand that stands for something the customer also supports. According to ShoppingGives, customers grow more loyal to when they believe in its cause which can increase lifetime profits by 85%. This makes the investment into this type of marketing worth it for brands to implement into their marketing strategy.

thrive causemetics bigger than beauty

Thrive Causemetics Bigger Than Beauty Customers

Thrive Causemetic’s customers are cause-driven customers, like makeup lovers looking to make a difference in the lives of young women experiencing hardships. Because the products are vegan, cruelty-free products and free of parabens and sulfates they are safe for consumers who have health conditions that may be sensitive to other makeup brands. For example, their lash adhesive is perfect for individuals who have cancer, alopecia, trichotillomania, and whose skin may be more sensitive. “The lash adhesive is a holy-grail product for women with wimpy lashes or none at all — unlike most good lash glues, it’s long-lasting and contains no sulfates or latex.”

Cause-Driven Consumers

Did you know that millennials and Gen Z believe that brands should be involved in helping to make the world a better place? “Three-quarters say that they actively seek out brands that support the causes they believe in—and two in five say they do so always or often.” Consumers are willing to make the switch to a brand with a bigger cause. However, many consumers also believe that brands should aim to support causes that are related to the products they sell. For example, Thrive Causemetics sells makeup and they help women going through different obstacles to help them feel confident as they overcome their individual hardships.

Thrive Causemtics Marketing Channels

Thrive causemetics uses different marketing channels to promote its products. They use social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tik Tok to increase brand awareness. They also heavily rely on customer engagement to help grow their brand. Bodnar attributes much of the company’s growth to the relationships they have been able to create through customer engagement. The company uses cause marketing to advertise its products. They understand that individuals are more likely to support a brand when the brand supports a cause they are passionate about.

Social Media

Thrive Causemetics uses social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tik Tok to promote their products. They also collaborate with makeup influencers to promote its products. However, the company does not pay influencers to advertise their makeup products, but they do provide those influencers with free products to use in their promotions. Bodnar saw a sudden shift in the company when social media makeup influencers started to create makeup tutorials using their products.

social media influencer promoting thrive causemetics on ig

Customer Engagement

The company has had a lot of organic growth. While she acknowledges the impact that social media has had that helped accelerate the company, she also attributes the company’s growth to her online engagement. The company calls its loyal customers the Thrive Tribe. Bodnar responds to the company’s loyal customers, who comment on their social media pages which she feels has been significant and key to helping the company grow. “The key to standing out on social media, whether it’s Instagram or Facebook, is to respond to every customer that writes to you or everybody who’s in your community,” It is her way of showing her customers that she appreciates their business.

thrive causemetics customer engagement on social media

The company gathers input from customers when creating products. They ask customers questions on their website, social media, phone calls, and even video calls to ask them what ingredients they are looking for, colors, what type of products they’re looking for. They even send the customer’s lab samples so they can try products before they launch. This allows the company to confidently release products because their customers have approved them.

Another key component of Thrive’s marketing strategy is that cause marketing also creates authentic engagement within a brand. Thrive Causemetics views social media engagement as one of its strongest and biggest customer service channels. Another way they keep up and communicate with their customers is through a chatbot on their website.

Giving Program and Events

Thrive Causemetics gives back to women in need, when a customer buys a product, Thrive donates a product. The company partners with hospitals and non-profit organizations to host their giving events. They even helped in natural disasters like wildfires and they donate to help animals in need. For International Women’s Day, the company donated 100% of its profits from certain products to campaigns supporting young women.

The fact that Thrive Causemetics gives customers the opportunity to support a greater cause influences customers to choose their products over those of their competitors. “In today’s socially-conscious marketplace, it’s good business. Millennials care a lot about where their money goes. More than 90 percent of them would switch brands to one associated with a cause.”  Another way the brand engages with their customers and promotes the idea of giving back is by inviting customers to their giving events so that they too get to experience the feeling of helping women in need. Bodnar strongly believes that the sense of community the company has established around its brand has helped the brand grow and become successful.

how thrive causemetics gives back

Thrive Turquoise

When creating the brand and contemplating on the color that would represent their brand and packaging color the owner started to research the meanings of different colors. She found that turquoise stood for joy, and that is how Thrive turquoise came to be. She was told by colleagues in the luxury industry that if she wanted to be a luxury beauty brand she would need to choose a more sophisticated and neutral color like black or white. While Glossier sells aspiration in a minimalist package, Thrive exudes relatability from its signature turquoise tubes.

Marketing experts and creative experts have even advised the brand to rethink its famous turquoise color. Also, one key aspect of Thrive Causemetic’s packaging is that aside from their bright color, the product packaging even has an inspiring quote on the inside.

thrive causemetics color and packaging

Thrive Causemetic’s Growth

Karissa Bodnar started Thrive Causemtics after losing her friend to cancer. She wanted to create a brand that stood for something that was bigger than beauty. She created vegan, 100% cruelty-free ingredients and products, free of parabens or sulfates. Bodnar began running Thrive Causemetics out of her apartment and the company launched in 2013.  but saw its big breakthrough in 2016. Back then the company was selling $1,000, but quickly saw a shift in their sales when they started to pull more than $100,000 in sales daily.

After launching the company she attempted to get retailers to carry their products, but no retailer picked up the company. She found the only way to build her business was direct to the consumer. The relationship she built with her customers is what helped build and grow Thrive Causemetics. Today the company is the fastest-growing profitable direct-to-consumer beauty brand. She attributes the company’s success and growth to her loyal customers.

Conclusion

Through their effective marketing techniques, Thrive Causemetics has gone from a small startup company to a multi-million dollar company in just 3 years. The company relies heavily on its cause marketing strategy to help grow its business. The company’s mission is to empower women through beauty. They use social media, giving programs and events, and customer engagement to grow their brand over the years.

The company aims to reach cause-driven customers. These are customers that would rather purchase products from a company supporting an issue that they too believe in. Thrive Causemetics achieves this by donating a Thrive Causemetics product to a woman in need whenever a customer buys one. This includes women fighting cancer, emerging from homelessness, or surviving domestic violence. Their cause marketing strategy has allowed the small startup makeup company to transform into a multi-million dollar company in 3 years.

Read about another makeup company and beauty influencer and how she rebranded her company, in the article Michelle Phan: Surviving the Rebrand of Em Cosmetics E-commerce.

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