Strategy of Target Marketing: What this brand got right!

beauty marketing Sep 30, 2026
Strategy of Target Marketing

In a modern world, it is very hard to stand out and keep customers engaged, but one brand tends to be able to make this happen one marketing campaign at a time.

Fresh ideas, colorful, engaging visuals, a niche marketing approach, unique marketing plans, and a stellar influencer list and campaigns featuring the hottest celebrities in entertainment. The skincare brand is Topicals! Yup, that is right.

All the it girls are wearing their amazing eye patches while sunbathing in Brazil or even clubbing in New York. There may be others carrying their popular lip glosses while they are out and about running their hot girl errands. They are able to stay at the top of the charts for 6 years, and they do not plan on going anywhere else; it’s due to the strategy of targeted marketing.

They not only grab their audience's attention but also run their pockets. In this article, we will dive into how Topicals went from a startup to a multibillion-dollar company and the strategy of targeted marketing behind it all.

Who are Topicals?

Topicals is a skincare brand started by Olamide Olowe and Claudia Teng that launched online and in selected Nordstrom stores in August of 2020. Due to their amazing marketing efforts, this brand is now sold at Sephora and offers science-backed and clinically tested products at an affordable price for those struggling with skin issues.

Their brand focuses on addressing chronic skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and hyperpigmentation, which 1 in 4 Americans struggle with at the time of their launch.

Olowe, who grew up with issues of hyperpigmentation and post-barbae folliculitis, and Teng, who struggled with eczema, recall countless skincare professionals not being able to help them due to their skin tone. So they wanted to create something they wished they had during their struggles treating it.

Olowe and Teng hand-picked ingredients carefully to address these conditions while keeping their promise to be all-inclusive to their potential customers.

Olowe once said” She wants topicals to be to the skincare industry what Fenty is to the beauty industry.”

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Their mission is to make skincare for those who struggle with skin conditions easy and stress-free for everyone, but especially for people of color. Who have, time and time again, been looked over in the skincare industry and doctors' offices. While also producing amazing results that other larger competitors may not produce.

With their and many other people's struggles in mind, they were able to initiate their strategy of target marketing.

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What is the Strategy of Target Marketing?

In the strategy of target marketing, a brand or business will create its ideal customer profile by gathering demographic information to find people to connect their products to. This focus group will have certain common characteristics such as marital status, age, race, occupation, geographic location, and lifestyle, among other things.

By narrowing down who the brand or business is selling to, they can make better decisions on marketing strategies that their customers may respond to the best.

They will have a better sense of what products, advertisements, packaging, and overall decisions to make within their brand to generate revenue and exposure.

This target market can be over- or undersaturated, but the main goal is to find a group and build your business around what the customer would like to see, what is missing in the market for your customer, and their overall customer experience and customer expectations.

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Why is it important?

The importance of the strategy of target marketing is exponential. Instead of selling to a broader audience, by identifying and targeting a specific group of people, the brand or business has more chances of creating a stable and reliable audience. An audience that will buy their products because they are specifically made for them, with them in mind.

This also brings more traction to the business, especially if they are selling products that their audience is strongly looking for.

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Who is Topicals target market?

Topicals' target market is young people in Generation Z and the millennial generation who struggle with acne, hyperpigmentation, and eczema, with an emphasis on the skin of people of color. The ideal customer has tried countless products, routines, and approaches to achieving their ideal skin. They are looking for something affordable yet effective.

An ideal customer is drawn to Topicals vibrant packaging, authentic display of skin, and overall brand presentation. The target customer cares deeply not only about their skin but also social change and advocacy.

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Ways Topicals leverages their target marketing strategies and how a business can too!

Topicals leverages their strategy of target marketing by appealing to their customers' needs in every way and building a strong relationship via social media. They grab their customers' attention with their young, fresh, and vibrant Y2K packaging.

They catch new consumers' attention with their chic campaigns with the hottest influencers and celebs in pop culture today. Topicals draws in their audience with their cool brand trips, helping them foster a sense of relatability and community.

They prioritize authenticity with photos of unedited and imperfect models, influencers, and celebrities. Allowing the customer to see themselves in their brand. They looked for a missing gap and an underrepresented demographic in the skincare industry and looked for ways to fill it.

They honored their personal experiences of not being able to find products for their issues and created a brand that is centered around resolving those issues.

Whether someone is starting a business, brand, or a fun new social media project, they can leverage their strategy of target marketing by thinking about what they wish existed in the market today. What problem do they wish would be resolved?

What product do they wish was out there? And who is the product for? By drawing on their personal experiences, the experiences of others, and finding an underrepresented community in the industry, the brand can narrow down their target audience to create a stable, lasting brand.

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🪽 Written by Naquil Ritter

 

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