With so many beauty products all claiming to be the best at whatever it is they are supposed to do, it’s understandable why the average consumer is a little wary. Time after time, they put down their hard-earned money only to be disappointed that they don’t get the benefits they were promised.  

As a manufacturer of beauty products, this puts you in an awkward situation. Consumers are often apt to doubt anything you say about your products before they even try it out. On the other hand, if you can convince them to give it a try and then actually deliver on your promise, you’ll effortlessly win their loyalty. Moreover, they will probably share their discovery with everyone in their inner circle.  

In order to become the honest manufacturer that consumers will quickly come to love and trust, you must begin your new product line with sufficient beauty industry research.

Here are four questions to ask to help you think through the process of creating beauty products that your buyers will want to continually renew once their supply begins running low: 

1. What do your buyers desire? 

What, in the final analysis, do your buyers want from your product? A simple solution to common beauty problems? Affordability? Quick, noticeable results within a week of product use? Do they want glowing, flawless skin? Do they need perfectly manageable hair? Do they desire a bewitching, subtle fragrance? While you may be able to hazard some fairly accurate guesstimates based on your years of experience in the beauty industry and based on quantitative and qualitative proof that your brand delivers on its advertised promises, you will still need some objective marketing data to either confirm your assumptions or force you to reevaluate your approach to how you are planning to launch your product. You will need to use interactive consumer studies, focus groups, and beauty product testing methods to carefully listen to the voice of the consumer. 

2. What are your competitor’s doing right now? 

Your business does not exist in isolation, but is part of a social system. Even if you believe that your product is far superior to what your competitors have to offer because you use all-natural ingredients and have thoroughly tested results under laboratory conditions or according to clinical study protocols, does not mean that you can ignore what your competitors are saying or doing within the beauty industry. Their success or lack of it will affect your offer, your message, and your pricing.  

3. Who can help you stay objective? 

In your consumer and competitive research, you will be better off if you use a third-party to conduct your inquiries. Although you may have all the in-house resources you need to do the job, and it may even be more cost-effective, one thing that nobody in your company has is objectivity. While every decision maker may try to offer unbiased assessments, the fact that conclusions could affect jobs, promotions, and the company’s bottom line will skewer the interpretation of results. So, it’s important that you find a company that will do beauty product testing and consumer research and competitive analysis on your behalf. 

4. How should you market your products? 

If you have a wonderful beauty product, something that does everything you claim it can do, something almost miraculous in how well it works, it’s easy to want to shout out the good news from the rooftops. However, this is the last thing you should do when marketing your product. One idea to test out is to understate your products and to appeal to logic rather than emotions. Remember, you want to avoid sending out the same hyped up, emotionally-charged messages that your competitors have consistently been using, messages that have made the alert consumers suspicious of the beauty industry. 

So, hire copywriters, graphic designers, and spokespeople who know how to provide information in a clear, lucid, and convincing way. Remember, the purpose of your advertising, regardless of what media you use or what advertising strategy you adopt, is not to convince your audience that your product is the best possible choice when it comes to delivering desirable results. Rather, it is to just get people to try out your products. Since the results will speak for themselves and spontaneously create word-of-mouth promotions, you may want to try more subtle approaches to persuade people to buy.  

In conclusion, one thing to note about all these questions is that they are all based on appreciating the value of market intelligence. By focusing on what the market says it wants rather than what you think it desires, you will be able to win people over without much effort.