How to deliver value, purpose and generate demand for your business today
Increasingly being top of your game to grow revenue and profitability faster has accelerated significantly since the start of this year.
Like a marathon race, those out the front are increasingly stronger, fitter and know where they are going.
Clarity of purpose and value to their ideal buyers assists in building better culture and performance,
For the rest, the race conditions have just gotten harder. Being in the middle of the pack is more brutal – it’s harder to cut through, rise above the noise and know how to win.
Content creation for many businesses is part of their differentiation from competitors. Content for
- educating future buyers,
- inspirational and engaging content,
- telling a story that is bigger than just your products and services,
- how their business solves problems and gains solutions and results for clients,
To rise above the noise, we are seeing new levels of content creation performance – where one article or newsletter takes more than 40 hours and more than 5000 words to create.
This trend – beating everyone else with more detail on a subject is finding new demand. People are paying to access the detailed reviews weekly.
It’s a global change – a deep focus on research to learn everything about a company, framework, industry, or trends.
The 4 Growth Levers – for the high achievers
1. Writing the most comprehensive articles about a topic of interest for a niche audience. Anywhere from 5000 words to over 15,000 words – weekly,
2. Collaborate – to amplify the content’s quality and reach, working with other creators who are not in direct competition and sharing each other’s content magnifies audience and potential.
3. Super-connectors provide access to people and research that otherwise may be difficult to access. It also provides access to systems and processes that accelerates content creation. In some cases, a specific article might have a dozen collaborators working on writing the best article – newsletter on a subject – on the planet.
4. Audience engagement is a critical ignition point. Writing short and boring content is one thing – writing long-form, highly engaging content that subscribers pay for is elite performance. Engagement with powerful insights from evidence and research is critical.
As the market tightens, are there growth opportunities?
Mckinsey recently reported on the likelihood of above-market growth for the beauty industry.
Critical Points:
- The beauty industry sales growth is 6% annually through 2027, McKinsey reports on the business.
- Global retail beauty sales will grow from $427 billion in 2022 to about $583 billion by 2027.
- North America and China, with estimated sales in four years of $115 billion and $96 billion, respectively, will remain the global industry drivers.
- E-commerce beauty sales should account for 26% of the worldwide market by 2027, representing a steady increase that spiked during the pandemic and continues to rise.
History:
- Between 2015 and 2022, global e-commerce beauty sales grew at a compound annual growth rate of 20%, leaping from just 8% of the market to 21% last year. The covid factor had an impact.
- E-commerce sales now exceed those of specialty retail which, in 2022, was 20% of the overall industry.
The beauty industry has grown both domestically and internationally.
Direct To Consumer brands like Glossier have expanded their reach by opening brick-and-mortar stores and signing wholesale partnerships with Sephora.
I have written several times about how Glossier started with content creation before starting a business. Social Media Management – organic posts across multiple platforms about the beauty industry led to significant followers, turning them into new customers when their DTC business began.
The marathon race of DTC has made it more challenging for start-ups. Those out the front, like Glossier, have a significant lead.
The market is very crowded with competitors making it challenging to thrive.
Clarity of meaningful differentiation – is essential.
Answer why your ideal customers should only buy from your business, not your competitors. Know it – test it – build your moats around your business.
The beauty industry is extending into the wellness industry.
McKinsey report – there is a steady march into wellness, already a $1.5 trillion industry.
Key insights
- Beauty and wellness will become more connected,
- The report projects a compound annual growth rate of 10% for the wellness industry,
- Wellness, beauty, and mental wellness are shifting the market. A trend in covid 2020 has accelerated since, contributing growth to the sales of beauty products.
Opportunities abound everywhere.
If your business has not had a significant step change in the last six months to keep up with your competitors and its industry – it risks falling quickly behind, impacting total shareholder returns, profitability and culture.
What is your business doing to leapfrog and stay ahead?
Regards
David
