Check out my top 7 brand trends in 2020 that will be sure to elevate your beauty business.

Storytelling will win you friends, fans and raving brand advocates

Your brand isn’t actually about you (shocking I know), it’s about your audience. The key thing to remember when building relationships is that you’re building them with another person. We interact with humans because we want to feel that human connection, your brand is no different. 

People will relate to your brand far better through connection and authenticity. Show the world the humans behind your brand, the brand personality, meaningful conversations, celebrate the wins, listen and respond to every single enquiry, DM, comment, tag, everything.

Start focusing on the listening part, create conversations that are genuine and care-driven, this is what creates brand trust. Brand trust ultimately equals sales.

Switch out your selling sales pitch for conversational storytelling, open up and share a little bit about yourself and why you do what you do (your brand and your fans will thank you for it).

Online communities are where it’s at

Connection is key and as you read on you will notice a pattern in these predicted trends – that pattern is called human connection.

Communities are bigger and better than ever online, why? Because we are all so easily accessible, literally at the push of a button.

The reason why customers love a good online community is that it is a space where they can talk about industry-related topics, get advice, network and pick up great tips. How many times have you asked for a recommendation on Facebook or asked for advice from a really great Facebook Group and received some amazing insights?

Where does your brand fit into this? Start your own online community or contribute, connect and share in a variety of others – it’s all about showing up for your brand.

Chat bots are so 2019

We’ve seen the bots taking over left, right and centre – and whilst they’re amazing at saving us time and super efficient, they still aren’t human enough. Whilst artificial Intelligence continually evolves and tools are developed to create conversation (even as I’m writing this article, I am sure there is a bot being developed to put my words to shame), it’s still that good old human interaction our audiences are craving.

Consider a live chat plug-in on your website or when your brand represents on the socials scene, inform your audience there is a bot talking to them first up. Once you get the gist of the client’s enquiry (from said bot), it’s time for the humans to take over. Sure it might take you an extra five minutes out of your day, but the real cost is five minutes with a sale and long-term, loyal client versus all bot, no time invested into that person by a human and a lost sale and continued sales until the end of time.

That was a bit dramatic but I think I made my point.

Are you environmentally aware?

This one isn’t so much a trend, as it is a scientific fact, if you keep up with the media I’m sure you will be all across what is currently (and has been for quite some time) happening with the environmental issues all around the world. Customers will trust and remain loyal to brands that care about the causes that they do.

It is important for your business to care about people just as much as you do profits. Remain up-to-date with the social issues of the world, I’m not advising you to get political, just care for a cause and share it with your community.

Content is KING!

With so much consumable content readily available, 2020 isn’t likely to slow the content train down. Rather what we will see are masses of audiences seeking honest, authentic and relevant content on social media, blogs, articles…all touchpoints!

If you know your audience really really well – the problems they want solved and what their expectations are of you solving them, only then can you start to create engaging content that they will find valuable.

It’s the little things that count

When was the last time you checked in on your client’s experience? Creating customer loyalty thrives on your client’s experience, going far beyond discounts, freebies and perks. Something that makes you stand out amongst your competitors.

In 2020, customer experience is expected to overtake product and price as a differentiator. Everyone likes to be different and your clients want a personalised, extra-special experience when they come into your salon.

Live and on-demand

Get in front of that camera because the world wants to watch you, Big Brother style (of course that’s a joke). But seriously, in such a “technologically connected” world, we as humans are processing countless pieces of information at any one second. The demand for live content is increasing and if it isn’t fresh, your audiences don’t want it.

Challenge yourself (and your team) to create one live feed video per week and watch the difference in the engagement levels across your social channels.