Iconic beauty brand Revlon filed for bankruptcy and has been having a rollercoaster of a week. Whether their stock is up or down, it’s clear that Revlon is not going anywhere, and we have a hunch that their need to meet goals and grow will only become more important. 

We feel for you, Revlon. This has probably been a tough week for their marketing team, so we thought we’d help them out.

We applied the Primer method to create a hypothetical campaign, including ad creative and a landing page, that we’re sure would help Revlon drive sales for their ColorStay foundation.

Revlon, here are ads that are sure to acquire more customers. To help create more ads like this, we’ve broken down how and why we made these ads.

Disclaimer: Revlon is not a Primer customer, nor does Primer have any real association with Revlon.

How do we develop an ad strategy for paid social?  

When we first partner with a company, we kick off by learning their goals and developing their best customer persona. Then we dig into the most important buying decision questions – these are the answers that their customers HAVE to have before making a purchase. Next, we plug that critical information into key themes we have tested thousands of times over and know will help to generate results. 

Since we aren’t actually working with Revlon, we had to take some educated guesses. Here’s what we came up with.

 

A Best Customer Persona for Revlon

Taylor is a 33-year-old dental hygienist who lives in the suburbs of Chicago. After she graduated from college, she moved to Chicago to live in the city, but as her job has changed, and she has gotten a little older, she has been looking for a little more space that isn’t too far from the action. 

Fashion and beauty have always been important to her, but with student loans and rent, she isn’t able to spend as much on her makeup as before. She doesn’t want to trade quality, though, and is looking for the smartest choice in makeup that will still help her look young and trend-forward. 

Taylor has tried many makeup varieties, including the trendy, celebrity brands, but with higher gas costs and an increased cost of living, she is looking for ways to save that don’t involve much of a sacrifice. 

She wears foundation every day and knows Revlon from the drugstore, but she isn’t sure if it is as high quality as the other brands she has tried. She is about to run out of her current foundation and is looking at alternatives.

 

Buyer Decision Questions from a Revlon Customer 

  1. Is Revlon a good quality foundation? 
  2. How much does it cost? 
  3. How do I know what it will look like on me? 
  4. Where can I buy it? 
  5. What does it look like on other people? 
  6. Are other people happy with it? 
  7. Is it trendy?

What ideas should we test in paid social? 

Once we get a handle on who we’re talking to with our ads, we determine what we are going to say in the ads. This focuses on the key value propositions of the product and addresses those key buyer decision questions above. 

At Primer, we’ve tested thousands of ads and through our learning, we have developed several themes that we know are successful at driving conversions for our direct-to-consumer partners. For Revlon, we chose to use the “vs. the competition” theme because we saw that they have faced “increased competition from new brands like those backed by celebrities such as Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.”

In this theme, we position Revlon’s foundation directly against the competition. In this case, it’s the “trendy, celebrity brand.” Fortunately for us, Revlon has a lot going for it. Here’s what we came up with.

 

Image Ads That Answer Questions 

For our hypothetical ad campaign, we created two images, two videos, and a landing page. Of course, if we were really partnering with Revlon, we would significantly increase the volume of tests we’re running tailored to hit their goals.

This should give them something to get started with. 

Here’s why these image ads work: 

  • They directly contrast the Revlon foundation against the “trendy, celebrity brand” 
  • The headline speaks directly to the target audience using “dupe” and addressing the concept that Revlon could be considered an “old” brand head-on 
  • The testimonial image gives a great customer quote about having tried other brands and always coming back 
  • A longer testimonial tends to stop users from scrolling to read a bit more (note: this doesn’t work as well with brand copy, but it does work when it’s a customer talking)
  • The five stars visually reinforce the testimonial 

As a bonus, we also made them this gif:

https://goprimer-1.wistia.com/medias/2g01hbfbu6?embedType=async&videoWidth=381

 

Video Ads For Instagram and TikTok 

These two video ads are designed to feel native in Instagram and TikTok, positioning Revlon as the trendy foundation that wins over millennials’ hearts and budgets. 

https://goprimer-1.wistia.com/medias/psat1syox4?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=3 https://goprimer-1.wistia.com/medias/7z2eulr5dx?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=3

Here’s why these videos work: 

  • They are fast-paced, grabbing attention from the first frame 
  • Trendy, upbeat music feels native to the platform and entices you to keep watching 
  • Native-style text treatment makes it hard to distinguish if it’s an ad 
  • Opening copy “hooks” (e.g. Why millennials are switching to Revlon) grab attention  
  • Keeps Revlon branding to a minimum, again tapping into the organic feel of the platform
  • Directly positions Revlon against the competition 

 

A Landing Page Designed to Sell 

Landing pages are an often forgotten part of the conversion rate optimization (CRO) process. However, they can hold just as much value as the ads themselves in improving conversions and cost per acquisition (CPA).

It would be so easy for Revlon to run an ad campaign that leads to their website (which is pretty good, we think), but when you pair a landing page with ads that are focused on answering all of those key buyer decision questions, that’s when you find yourself with those smokin’ hot CPAs (the kind that I think the Revlon team would get excited about right now). 

So, to help out, we built out a fully functioning Revlon landing page. You can check it out here. 

 

Why this landing page works: 

  • The landing page continues the “vs. the competition” theme from the ads – what the user sees in the ad is being continued in the landing experience 
  • User testimonials and press logos validate the quality and trendiness of the product – two core buyer questions 
  • The page walks you through how you can try on the foundation and make a purchase 
  • Customer images validate the trendiness and popularity of the product 
  • CTA buttons are included throughout the page 
  • The price is included in the CTA button – reinforcing the key value proposition of price in every section 

 

Test More, Win More 

We don’t have insights into the real marketing strategy of Revlon, nor do we presume to know the real challenges they face, however, we can see the mountain of opportunity that awaits Revlon ahead. With such a vast consumer base, there are so many testimonials, user images, videos and experiences that can be incorporated into powerful paid social advertising campaigns. 

The best way to learn what works is to keep testing. 

We hope this inspired you. If you’re looking for more inspiration, we invite you to check out any of these resources: 

Looking for more growth marketing help? Primer delivers conversion-focused images, video ads and landing pages within 2 – 4 business days through our On-Demand platform for marketing creative. For brands looking to scale quickly, Primer also offers managed growth marketing services through our full-service agency. To learn more, book a complimentary growth consultation. 

Get Started Now