How my Small Business Captured Gen Z’s Attention during COVID and Became Big Business

Former cybersecurity expert, Enrico Frezza searched for an effective solution for his acne for years before deciding to invent one himself. With no background in skincare, he created the very first acne dot to combine a hydrocolloid polymer technology with active acne ingredients, launching Peace Out Skincare in 2017 as an exclusive to Sephora.

Most of us think of Gen Z as the internet generation, those who never knew life without a cell phone, but at Peace Out Skincare they are “skin-champs,” sharing their struggles and triumphs with skincare on social media. This group also makes up 32% of the brand’s customers and continues to grow. During the last several months, Peace Out’s strategies have cut through the digital noise and reached this engaged, curious, at-times demanding consumer. Here are four ways that the company successfully plugged into Gen Z’s needs and grew from the experience.

1. Function over Form
   Data in March showed a dramatic shift in our Gen Z customer’s mindset. They weren’t responding to our upbeat photos of models demonstrating skincare products. Instead, this customer started searching for specific ingredients and information on products and their efficacy. This shift to substance over style required a rapid pivot on our part. We flipped our content and started providing ad copy and imagery focused on what our products did and how they worked. These adjustments resonated and pushed us to our best month of sales ever for peaceoutskincare.com, March sales in 2020 were 300% larger than those in March 2019. We listened to what Gen Z was saying and responded quickly. Both actions — hearing what this consumer needed and reacting to what we learned — were essential to keeping Peace Out Skincare in business during an anxious and uncertain time.
2. Digital Word of Mouth
   TikTok was on our radar months before the pandemic, because more than 50% of the audience on this platform is under 24 years old. We tested the waters to see if TikTok truly was engaged with this community by sending our skincare to a few influencers, including Kaelyn White. While we do advertise on social media, we prefer to send free products directly and allow influencers to respond naturally and honestly to their results. In June, sales for Peace Out Skincare’s Pores product unexpectedly shot through the roof. Unbeknownst to us, the largest skincare influencer on TikTok with 6.5 million followers, Hyram Yarbro, organically picked up a TikTok Kaelyn posted that showed the gunk our Pores product removed from her nose. Hyram created a side by side duet video that went viral and was viewed more than nine million times and received almost three million likes. Sales of Peace Out Pores quadrupled the day the video debuted and in three weeks the brand sold six months of inventory and the product continues to sell out. We subsequently ramped up our influencer program and partnerships on the platform and launched an ad program too. We see the power of TikTok and how third-party recommendations can drive awareness and sales.
3. Authenticity
   Launching our newest product, Acne Serum, during a lockdown was one of our biggest challenges and necessitated a new strategy entirely. Instead of using models, we turned to real people who suffer from acne and shot images and video over Zoom. Their stories were so compelling that we created a docuseries that detailed their struggles and the diminished self-esteem that acne can cause. Talking about the mental health struggles from acne opened a new dialogue in our community. Like the TikTok video, we’re specifically seeing a huge response from Gen Z, who is looking for credibility and real people in their marketing. While the pandemic changed our approach for this launch, going forward advertising for acne products will highlight actual product users. Peace Out Skincare has also pledged not to retouch any images and show real skin in all of our marketing. Acne Serum pushed Peace Out Skincare to the number one acne brand at Sephora. We are so proud and excited to continue our mission of bringing peace to our customer’s skin through innovative solutions and good, effective, clean, fun products. We promise to keep championing real skin and bringing positive vibes to acne journeys everywhere.
4. SMS & The Mobile Consumer
   Peace Out Skincare started testing SMS in July of this year, as more people turn to their phones to make purchases, particularly during quarantine. We hoped this approach would appeal to Gen Z in particular, but we prioritized building trust first before sales. At our checkout, a customer chooses to opt-in to this system. Messages are personalized and range from advice on your skincare regimen to special offers tailored to your purchasing history with Peace Out Skincare. SMS offers a chance to use data to individualize our approach for each segment of our market. In August, the return on our SMS investment was 1333%, covering our costs and turning a significant profit. The success of this new program continues to drive sales and build stronger connections with our Gen Z customer. The best part? These are all new found orders, 29% placed by Gen Z consumers, making up 30% of our total transactions. Going forward, we’re working on integrating other forms of media and AI to provide a one-on-one consultation for your skin, to deepen the knowledge we offer consumers. This period of time will go down in history for the challenges we’ve all faced. I’m grateful that Peace Out Skincare will be able to continue developing exceptional products that meet Gen Z’s needs. The expectations of this generation have pushed Peace Out Skincare to change our approach and expand our marketing, all in service of our message of skin positivity and community.

I look forward to the moment when we can collectively put COVID-19 and its grip on our economies and psyche behind us. But I’m grateful for the knowledge I’ve gained and the special rapport we’ve developed with Gen Z.