Targeting salon professionals continues to be a dynamic marketing strategy for the hair-care sector.
In August, Olaplex announced a partnership with the beauty booking app Glamsquad to offer free Olaplex product add-ons to consumers, with a goal of engaging and seeding professional hairstylists. When Estée Lauder Companies launched its newest Aveda oil in June, it tapped pro hairstylists for a brand trip and content campaign to disseminate the news while educating prospective consumers.
In a similar vein, Japan’s largest professional hair-care brand, Milbon, partnered with the renowned L.A.-based hairstylist Anh Co Tran to creative-direct a range of products and host international masterclasses to educate stylists about the brand this spring.
Another is Innersense, a 20-year-old clean hair-care brand that has found recent success re-targeting professional hairstylists.
The company was launched in 2006 by two California-based salon hairstylists, married couple Greg and Joanne Starkman. But it initially struggled to meaningfully engage salon pros.
“We were light years ahead of [the clean] consumer trend, and stylists were not embracing the concept of safer cosmetics [back in 2006],” Greg Starkman, CEO and co-founder of Innersense Organic Beauty, told Glossy. “We found some early adopters [who became loyal customers and partners], but it was a really tough road to hoe, and so part of our journey was pulling back from focusing on the professional channel.”
Instead, the team targeted health food stores like Whole Foods and specialty retailers like Detox Market and Credo Beauty, catering the launch to the new “clean consumer.”
But a shift happened in 2018, and again this year, with salons and independent stylists prioritizing clean hair-care products. “Stylists’ consumers were really driving it,” Starkman said. “Today, we field around 1,000 inquiries every month, and we onboard 100-150 new salons every month.”
The team is accomplishing this through digital lead generation that geo-targets beauty professionals all over the world, Starkman said. “The other driving factor is our consumer community [which we know] is consistently introducing the brand to their stylists [by] requesting that those stylists use our products during a service; it’s a combination of the two.”
To capture the attention of stylists, the brand focused its content on educating about green chemistry, which involves formulating products without certain ingredients, as well as dispelling myths about the efficacy of clean beauty.
“[Today, we focus lead-gen content campaigns on] what sets us apart, what differentiates our commitment to quality, and the efficacies of the ingredients,” Starkman said. “It’s through that that we’re able to get products into their hands, provide them a great deal of education content and present partnership opportunities.” This journey takes between four and 10 weeks, Starkman said.
Starkman told Glossy that, since the founders began this strategy shift in 2018, the company has seen consistent year-over-year growth that averages around 32%. Its worldwide annual sales are approaching $125 million.
Growing its pro channel is also helping to reduce the pressure for discounting at retailers in Q4. “We’ll have a couple of offerings, but for the most part, it’s a challenge for us to compete at the level of discounts these other brands are willing to [reach],” he said. Instead of deep discounts, the company will lean into travel and full-size bundles, as well as value sizing.
The line sells at Ulta Beauty, Credo, Detox Market and Planet Beauty, as well as DTC and through Amazon. The brand entered the bond repair category in July with a clinically-studied bonding treatment mask designed to repair damage and strengthen hair for $34. It also expanded its scalp collection this year with a $52 shampoo and conditioner duo meant to clean and balance the scalp.
