From 3L per month to 25L+ per month for Perfume Brands (Learning for all niches)

We have worked with multiple perfume brands from ?500 per 100ml to ?2000 per ml all sizes of brand.

The strategies used are different at each stage so, here is

A detailed article on insights to grow a Perfume/Fragrance Brands

Contents?

1. Challenges
2. Creatives
3. Website
4. Retention
5. Ads
6. Questions
7. Insights?

Challenges

• Fragrance cannot be experienced online (Japan is developing some tech for this)
• Fierce Competition
• Customers skeptical of ingredients used
• Scent Allergies and Sensitivities

Creatives

We have worked with both kinds of brands where on used UGC content, a feature/benefit approach while others were more story-based. The former had 600 AOV, and the story-based one 1500 AOV, even though the revenue was higher for the latter

So, success with ad creatives for perfume is determined by how well can your creatives evoke inspiration from the audience.

Your brand should set the right chord of being affordable but aspirational. Being just affordable makes the person wearing the scent come across as cheap in their social circles, as just aspirational decreases your TAM

Angles/Messaging types to use in ads

• Storytelling - This angle breaks or makes your journey. The Visuals and voiceover in a creative largely dictate this more than copy. The associations or the photo shoot of the product, background setting, and theme (not Shopify backend theme) on the website all contribute towards being perceived?as ?as a premium brand
• Personality driven - Associate a typical personality to each creative to attract that kind of audience group. Segmenting customers this way?might decrease your TAM but push you revenue up as the conversion volume is higher?
• Give me a feel - Yes audience cannot smell the fragrance but they can perceive it by showing the ingredients and notes the fragrance is made of. If it’s a rose image behind the product gives a fair idea of the notes of the product
• Education on fragrance - Every brand reveals their ingredients but few share the importance of the ingredient, to differentiate share the “History” behind the ingredient……Why is this rose from Italy is better??Images
• Big bold font, and bright colors are all the core of this category ads.
• Image must contain information on notes, flavour, and name (if catchy)
• Use-case-based image ads such as the "Dinner-Night" fragrance works well.
• A model-based fragrance do capture higher attention but has produced mixed results?Single-line educational images with aspirational product copyVideos
• Quick cuts, smooth transitions, quirky poses are core of this type of creatives
• Personifying a particular personality in the ad as per the fragrance?
• Historical or cultural based frarances edcuating on the importance of such fragrances generate a higher perceived value of the product among the consumers?

If you need more info on our research technique to create creatives, check this doc here

Website

The primary emotion the website must exude is aspiration, this is the driver of all storytelling in fragrance category. Many wear fragrances to show they have made it in life, only a few wear for the self

Images

• The photo gallery on the website occupies the biggest real-estate on the customer’s screen.
• Apart from just lifestyle based images, your photo gallery must have text-based images, mentioning the notes, tones, and fragrance Example?
• In case there is an offer live on website, the 1st image must clearly mention the discount or the offer clearly to maximize the conversion rate and get customers excited as soon as they land on screenContentOn Home page
• Must be populated with visuals and minimal but impactful text
• Explain the orgins/history/inspiration behind the fragrance
• Go heavy on storytelling focused on fragrance, origin and inspirational emotionOn Product pages
• Apart from standard product description, images.... include the origin story of the fragrance or the inspiration from which the fragrance was born
• This product is about the feel
• Provide as many cues as possible of what kind of fragrance to expect by associating with ingredients used (in background of product), simili in the description. Clear communication of top notes and bottomStructure?
• Push for a discovery set effort as most purchasers are first-time buyers hence want to know the variety of fragrances you offerAbove the price, in 3 quick points answer these objections
• How long does the fragrance last?
• What are the top notes in this perfume?
• Key Ingredients of product?

Check the high-converting add to cart structure here (video)

Retention

Selling discovery set (It contains 4 best fragrances in sampler 8ml or 5ml bottles) of 1st purchase helps in retention, as the question shifts from “Should I buy a second one” to “Which fragrance to reorder?”

Once ordered always send regular updates to customers on

• How to use the product?
• How many times to use?
• What are the common mistakes to avoid?

Action plan

• Launch seasonal variations to make sure customers keep coming back

• If you offer a removable fragrance then get them back via refills?
• Offer personalized scent wardrobe recommendations based on a customer's existing fragrance preferences

Ads

Structure

• Each category of product must have a separate campaign, this avoids the nightmare of data mixing up and different margins for each product
• Create a separate campaign for both remarketing and scalingAlways exclude your customers (using customer list from Shopify) from all of your non-remarketing campaigns so the platform delivers incremental gains and doesn’t juice simply from existing customersTargeting
• Basic interests like Fragrance, perfume, odor….
• Also target high end legacy brands like Dior, Chanel, Guicci
• Big changes - married, engage, child… and run through them big change angle creatives

Please take a minute to fill out this Anonymous Content Feedback Form on the content provided in this doc

Questions

1. What are common pain/objections in people trying a new brand?

• Current perfume doesn't last long
• Allergies with current perfume
• A particular fragrance is trending
• Desire for Variety in wardrobe
• Big Life Changes - Getting married

2. What product should I go to market first?

It's your discovery set, a set of 4 sample fragrances, either 8 ml or 5ml bottles. Let the 1st time customer experience all fragrances and come back to buy the ones they love the most

3. What is the other best medium to grow apart from ads?

This might not be a conventional one, but organizing a community event on the perfume geeks is a good way to spread the word out. Let this event be about them and not your brand/product Host virtual or in-person fragrance workshops where customers can learn about scent notes

4. What are the common mistakes brands make?

Neglecting reasons on why customers would switch to a new fragrance

• Exclusive collection
• Collaboration of someone with brand whom they idiolize
• ?Current perfume doesn’t last long?
• Brands cannot stand out in ads without a good inspirational storytelling narrative

Insights

• Marketing will create your differentiation as the fragrances can easily be replicated and launched by any brand
• Reason why people wear fragrance is to?Make them confident?Be different They want to signal in their social circles this is the fragrance? I wear and it says this about my personality
• State clearly how long the perfume lasts, especially in the Indian market with humid weather be aggressive in this communication
• The best time to get someone to use your perfume than their routine ones is to launch a mood/occassion based perfume
• Use your normal one for every day, but use ours for special date night/ Festive celebrations

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Thank you for reading

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