Curious Case Study: What Is Nykaa’s Marketing Strategy That Makes It So Unique?

Big things happen when you have the motivation and, of course, the right tools. When channeled in the right direction, a simple idea in your mind can lead to an overwhelming result. We see it happen today with Ms. Falguni Nayar, the founder, CEO, and MD of Nykaa Fashion, a leading Indian e-commerce company of fashion, beauty, and wellness products. It all began when Ms. Nayar, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, was impressed by the diversity of beauty and wellness products abroad, identified the gap in the beauty market within India, and quit her job as a managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank at the age of fifty, to start her inspirational journey as an entrepreneur. She chose the label ‘Nykaa’ as a synonym of the word ‘Nayika’ (meaning – heroine) which stood close to her beliefs that every woman is a heroine of her own life. The company began in 2012 and became the topmost of India’s leading beauty retailers by 2019. A company’s success begins with well-formulated marketing efforts, which only the best digital marketing agencycan assist you with. Read on if you wish to take cues from Nykaa’s marketing strategy!

What We Cover In This Blog?

• Why Is The Nykaa Marketing Strategy So Successful?
• Key Takeaways From Nykaa For Entrepreneurs

Why Is The Nykaa Marketing Strategy So Successful?

This million-dollar question has several answers, one being the company’s content marketing strategy.

1. Nykaa’s Content Marketing Strategy

Ms. Nayar identified that most women in India needed help accessing the right information to help them choose and use beauty products. Instead of just selling, Nykaa believes in educating the target audience by buying beauty products online, bridal make-up techniques, and make-up tips with the top fashion products that give the audience exposure to the beauty and fashion industries and confidence in trying various products. a) Website Marketing: Nykaa Beauty Book</strong Nykaa produces blogs on fashion and introduces them to its audience through its fashion e-magazine, the Beauty Book. There are reviews of products, make-up tutorials, and interviews with celebrities. The magazine speaks of information that the user finds useful, and it is by such genuine prioritization of the reader’s interests over the promotion of its products that Nykaa is able to win the trust of its audience. b) YouTube Marketing: Nykaa TV Not all women are initially exposed to the beauty magazine. A better way to reach the social strata is by presenting watchable content through YouTube videos. With the help of young professionals who work in the field, the brand produces video content on its YouTube channel with beauty, personal care tips, cosmetic tutorials, and celebrity beauty secrets that appeal to a huge customer base and familiarizes them with the proper use of several personal care, beauty or wellness products. Awesome, isn’t it? c) Multi-lingual content distribution</strong Content that garners limited audience reach does not provoke business expansion in a multi-lingual market like India. Nykaa has overcome the linguistic barrier by translating its information-rich content into several regional languages to reach many audiences and appeal to their cosmetic needs. With its targeted customer base expansion by including girls, women of all spheres of life, and even men, Nykaa’s digital marketing strategies created a strong brand positioning. Nykaa acquired a lifestyle content platform called Little Black Book (LBB) in 2022 to reach more users through its content marketing strategy. Like Ms. Nayar, if you wish to unleash the power of a carefully curated content marketing strategy to promote your brand value, the doors of the best digital marketing services are open to your service.

2. Omnichannel launch for social media marketing

The interactive beauty website used search engine optimization services  to establish its brand visibility across various social media platforms through customized content. The online store presents modern infographics and short videos for Facebook readers, Instagram reels showcasing visual beauty gained through its products, and content-related wellness and work-life balance for LinkedIn users.

3. Strong direct-to-consumer relationship through network building

Apart from targeting affluent customers, influencer marketing strategies target the middle-class population, the cream of the Indian market, by focusing on budget beauty treatments and discussions with experts’ advice through its 500,000-member Nykaa network since 2018. Nykaa partners with social media influencers with a large fan following to participate in its network to popularize the launch of its new products.

4. Product variety and collaboration with international brands

While Nykaa endorses a series of in-house brands like Nykaa Cosmetics and Nykaa Naturals, the e-commerce apparel store has acquired some fashion brands like Twenty Dresses and Pipa Bella, to name a few, along with a few beauty brands, including Dot & Key, and Earth Rhythm, all of which contributed to its sheer variety and diversity of products. Additionally, online sales of some of the world’s class luxury brands like Huda Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, and The Ordinary are exclusive to Nykaa.

5. Unique shopping experience

Nykaa launched retail outlets in the name of Nykaa Luxe which sells premium and luxury products, and Nykaa On Trend, which sells the products available on the website. Beauty kiosks are set up with Beauty assistants who help first-time customers choose suitable products. The ‘Try and buy’ strategy, coupled with a variety of products obtained through brand collaboration, formulates the unique selling proposition of Nykaa that gives the user a unique shopping experience. The ‘Watch and buy’ provision also allows customers to purchase the products introduced in a video tutorial through AI systems.

6. Brand authenticity

Some beauty and personal care brands do not mention the product ingredients clearly. In contrast, a thumb rule that Nykaa follows is transparency in product composition, which declares its authenticity.

7. Strong brand endorsement campaigns

The company fixed a deal with leading actresses for its brand endorsement, like Katrina Kaif for its first celebrity partnership brand Kay Beauty, Tapsee Pannu for #BreakTheHashtag, and Jahnvi Kapoor as its brand ambassador. Also, a new line of beauty products has been launched in collaboration with designer Masaba Gupta.

An out-of-the-box initiative is that the company involved the acid survivor Laxmi Agarwal in its campaign #WhatMakesYouBeautiful, which resonated with the audience through an empowering message that beauty has no barriers and make-up is only a tool of expression of beauty.

8. Innovative business model

Nykaa based its e-commerce platform on the inventory model rather than the marketplace model. In the latter, the website acts as a platform between a seller and buyer to show the products while earning a commission. On the other hand, the inventory model lets the e-commerce store procure the products in bulk at low prices and sell it on its website for profit.

Since February 1, 2019, the Modi government has introduced a new FDI policy to benefit local entrepreneurs. The new policy exempts foreign national e-commerce stores like Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart from implementing the inventory-based model. Nykaa being an Indian company, is exempt from the regulation, which allowed it to take a huge leap and overcome these e-commerce giants in the beauty and fashion segment.

If Nykaa can do it, why not you? With the advantage that Indian entrepreneurs enjoy, be ready to plunge into the market with a flawless strategy designed by thetop digital marketing agency in Hyderabad.

9. Value-based pricing and regular offers and discounts

The sales season screams a lot of benefits to the buyers. The first day of the annual special Pink Friday sales of 2022 has witnessed a whooping 8 lakh online orders, which is 40% greater than the sales of the previous sales season.

10. Social Commitment and Reputation Management

The beauty giant undertook several corporate social responsibilities (CSR) partnerships with SPARSH India, Milaap, PM Cares Fund, and more. It contributed to an NGO named Planning Rural-Urban Development through Education (PRIDE), which focuses on the welfare of marginalized communities.

Key Takeaways From Nykaa For Entrepreneurs

Factors that entrepreneurs can learn from Nykaa to establish their foothold in the e-commerce industry are:

• Understanding customer needs by involving their participation through a solid network.
• Focus on the target consumers’ needs and bridge gaps by showing them solutions.
• Attempts to cater to all economic levels of the population in the Indian market.
• An effective digital marketing strategy coupled with strong value-added content.
• Transparency in business that wins customers’ trust.
• Implementing the right business model to boost profits.
• Adopting a unique selling proposition.
• Proper endorsement of brands to reach and influence the audience.
• Ensuring customer satisfaction by communicating with them and presenting attractive discounts and offers.
• Fulfilling corporate social responsibility that adds to a brand’s reputation.