Let's talk shop. In addition to the growing number of black female entrepreneurs out there, many of us in the beauty community are creators. If you have your own YouTube channel, dedicated beauty Instagram page, or Twitter account, you have a brand. Our latest Beauty Branding series will focus on tips and tricks to strengthen your beauty brand.

While things like Instagram algorithms and shadow bans can be discouraging, having a strong brand presence will help your brand continue to expand and grow in the long haul.

Today's topic is all about finding & growing your audience. A common misconception is that you should try to make your brand reach as many people as possible, however, a small but loyal fan base is much more impactful than a large one that doesn't engage with you or your products. Not even Apple can reach everyone. The following tips will help you find which people to target so you can effectively grow your business.

1. Stay true to yourself - Watching YouTube videos all day can make you feel like you have to have a certain type of personality to get views or engagement. While there are people who may have the "x factor," being true to yourself will be much more beneficial to you in the long run. Can you imagine becoming insta-famous based on a fake personality? Your life would soon become torture and your brand will eventually seem disingenuous. Trust me, there are people out there who are going to resonate with your aesthetic, and your personality. 

2. Find your niche - Whenever you start a brand, you should establish something you feel like you do really well to get people in the door. For me, it was swatches on my complexion. For others it may be creating cool liquid lipsticks shades, or creating innovative cut creases. Find out what you are really passionate about and then find the tribe of people who are passionate about the same thing. Search reddit groups to see what people are saying about the subject you are interested in. Follow influencers whom you look up to. Join communities on Facebook that discuss your niche. Once you have a grasp on what you a really good at, you can invite others who are super passionate about whatever it may be to follow you and/or buy from you. 

3. Pay attention to your analytics - Checking your statistics can help you determine what types of content does well and where your audience is located. These days, most social networks and website hosts offer a basic level of analytics. These stats can help inform what types of content or products you should continue producing, and help determine what you should ditch. Let's say, for example, you post a YouTube video about a Swedish brand and it does super well. You might want to check your statistics and see if you have a large following in Sweden. If so, it might be worth it to invest time in reviewing/utilizing more Swedish products. Your analytics can tell you a lot about who your current audience and give you the clues you need to grow.

4. Concentrate on more than just demographics - To expand on the point above, demographics (someone's ethnicity, age, marital status, location, etc) are important, but as your brand grows, you are going to want to dig deeper. Behavioral and psychographic traits is extremely important when honing in on who your true audience is. 

For example:

For a beauty brand that sells eye shadows, behavioral traits would mean looking at your audience's shopping patterns. Are they more likely to shop online or would they rather purchase beauty items in store? Are they more likely to purchase new beauty items once a month or once every six months?

This type of knowledge might help you plan out your product releases or help you determine what type of brand partnerships you want to go after. 

For an Instagramm-er who posts lip swatches, psychographics would mean looking at the way your audience thinks and paying attention to the attitudes they have toward certain things. It might help you determine whether or not you would do something drastic like get lip injections. Or let's say your audience cares about black owned makeup brands--that might be a sign that you should start posting more of them.

It will be harder to obtain this type of info, but it might be as simple as surveying your audience through a Twitter poll. Learning these key insights can help you really hone in on who your true audience is.

Hope y'all enjoyed the first of our Beauty Branding series! Let us know if you have any further questions below or any topics you might be particularly interested in.

And remember, contrary to popular belief, its not all about the numbers. A small but mighty, loyal audience will serve you better than thousands of bought followers.