Most brands start with a product. Glossier started with a conversation.
Before launching Glossier, Emily Weiss built an engaged audience through her blog, Into the Gloss, which featured deep-dive beauty interviews with celebrities and everyday people.
This blog fostered trust and created a two-way dialogue, where readers shared their thoughts on beauty, skincare routines, and product gaps in the market. Into the Gloss had over 1.5 million unique monthly pageviews before Glossier’s first product even launched.
By the time Glossier introduced its first product line in 2014, it sold out within weeks, proving the power of community-first marketing.
Most beauty brands rely on internal R&D teams to develop new products. Glossier asks its customers first.
A great example? The Milky Jelly Cleanser.
Before creating it, Glossier asked its blog readers: “What’s your dream face wash?” The post received over 380 comments filled with insights on what consumers wanted in a cleanser.
Glossier used that feedback to formulate Milky Jelly Cleanser, which became an instant bestseller within months.
Takeaway for Marketers: Involve your audience in product development. People support what they help create.
Turning Customers into Brand Ambassadors
Glossier didn’t rely on traditional influencer marketing. Instead, they built a grassroots brand rep program. Instead of paying big-name influencers, they empowered everyday fans to become Glossier Reps. These reps got personalized referral links and exclusive perks for promoting products to their friends and followers.
The result?
A community of passionate ambassadors, who collectively generated significant sales in just one year.
Key Lesson: The most powerful marketing comes from real people who love your brand, not just influencers with big followings.
Encouraging User-Generated Content (UGC)
Glossier turned its customers into its best marketers. Their Instagram is filled with customer photos, reviews, and real beauty stories rather than just glossy ads. Hashtags like #glossierpink (which has been used over 280K times) and #glossierIRL let fans show off their favorite products. They regularly repost customer content, reinforcing that Glossier is a brand by the people, for the people.
Additionally, Glossier’s Instagram engagement rates reached 10X the industry average, largely driven by UGC.
Takeaway for Marketers: Make your customers the heroes of your brand story.
Owning the Customer Relationship Through DTC (Direct-to-Consumer)
Unlike legacy beauty brands that rely on retail stores, Glossier went direct-to-consumer (DTC) from day one. This allowed them to own the customer relationship and collect valuable data. They could launch products based on real-time customer feedback rather than industry trends.
By taking this approach, a significant percentage of Glossier’s customers became repeat buyers, demonstrating the strength of their community-driven brand loyalty.
Even when they later partnered with Sephora in 2023, they maintained their community-driven identity.
Key Lesson: DTC gives you control over the customer experience, so you can nurture community connections without middlemen.
Glossier’s approach wasn’t just about building a feel-good brand—it translated into real business success.
- $1.8 billion valuation (before recent market shifts)
- 500K+ engaged followers across social platforms
- Over 5 million customers worldwide
- Retail expansion into Sephora
- 85% of growth driven by word-of-mouth and community-led efforts
- 90% of Glossier’s growth comes from peer-to-peer recommendations rather than paid ads.
Instead of pouring millions into ads, Glossier let its community do the marketing for them—and it worked.
Glossier proves that in 2024 and beyond, community is the new competitive advantage.
✔ Build a brand people want to belong to
✔ Make your audience feel heard (and act on their feedback!)
✔ Turn customers into marketers with authentic UGC and ambassador programs
✔ Own your customer relationship through DTC channels
✔ Let community drive business decisions—not just branding
The bottom line?
Glossier’s success isn’t about just selling beauty products. It’s about making customers feel seen, valued, and connected.
What do you think? How are you incorporating community into your brand strategy? Let’s discuss.
