Tarte Cosmetics Brand Analysis

For my social media brand analysis, I followed Tarte Cosmetics, a high-end American makeup company founded by Maureen Kelly.  Some of their products they are known for include the Shape Tape Concealer, the Maracuja Lip Plumps, and their Amazonian Clay Eyeshadow Palettes. I followed the brand on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter for a quick analysis. When looking at these, I noticed some differences in their posts across the three platforms. On Instagram, there are 2-3 reels or posts a day.  All of these are typically professional photos or videos highlighting their products. Whereas on Tik Tok, they have more of a mix in videos. Some are similar reels that showcase their products, and others are trends or funny moments in the office that give customers a behind-the-scenes of what it’s like to be a Tarte employee. On Twitter, there are quick makeup videos with captions showcasing what products were used, in addition to funny makeup related questions or gifs to get their customers engaging in content. Since they post content that is interactive, I responded to a few of their prompts, however I did not get a response back. Since they have lower engagement on Twitter, I thought maybe they would respond to my tweets but they did not. 

All of their content usually relates to their makeup products, however on Tik Tok they also heavily focus on influencer content. Tarte is well known for #trippinwithtarte where they invite a handful of the top influencers on a luxury trip filled with brand goodies and fun activities. In return, these influencers post loads of content from the trip and using their products. This past year, Trippin with Tarte took some of Tik Tok’s favorite stars such as Alix Earle and Monet McMichael to Dubai and Turks and Caicos. These events broke the internet and everyone was running to Tarte’s website to buy their products and post about them, hoping they could go on a trip too.

In addition to brand trips on Tik Tok, they also go live on Instagram for new product launches. They don’t launch new products toooften, but when they do they are sure to make a big deal of it. Yesterday they went live and had a whole crew announcing their new Amazonian Clay Tinted Serum. They craft their posts to be visually appealing, with shorter and easy-to-read captions followed by emojis. They keep their content light-hearted and aim for their target audience on teenage-younger adults.

The purpose of these social media accounts for Tarte is to build brand awareness through making content that is engaging and combines the internets love for influencers with makeup. They have gained many followers and customers through utilizing influencers such as Alix Earle, who swears by their Shape Tape Radiant Concealer. They also are reaching their audience out to teachers, providing a large back-to-school sale on their website with a teacher discount, and starting Tartelette U, an internship program for college seniors interested in working in the beauty industry.

I would consider Tarte’s biggest competition to be Benefit Cosmetics. They post a lot of similar content to Tarte, except for the brand trips. They utilize Tik Tok for information makeup videos mixed with fun trends they put a spin on,  and use Instagram for all professional photos highlighting their products. One thing both have done is collaborate with Alix Earle. While Tarte brought Alix on brand trips, Benefit created limited-edition makeup bag and hair clips with Alix. They were in Ulta stores for a limited time when you spend $60 on their products, urging customers to run and buy. While this was a good strategy, I believe Tarte’s brand trips and teach discount have gotten more customers to engage with their brand. I would grade Tarte’s social media strategy a B, it’s good but I think it could do better.

Personally, I would suggest for the brand to be more inclusive with their brand trips. Trippin with Tarte has become incredibly popular, and it would be very rewarding for the brand if they were to hold giveaways for people to come on the brand trips or a lower-level giveaway with just the products.  Aside from these suggestions, I think Tarte has done a great job with their social media.