The Success of Tarte’s Influencer Marketing Strategy

We’ve all seen it: Your favorite influencers in a gorgeously curated photograph, laying on a beach and having the time of their lives. How did they get there exactly? Well they’re #TrippinWithTarte and are a part of Tarte’s influencer marketing strategy. 

Tarte Cosmetics has been making a huge splash on social media by creating a 360-degree experience for influencers with its successful influencer marketing strategy.

From trips to Bora Bora to gifting 500 influencers with a new Roomba, influencers everywhere simply cannot resist joining in on (or posting about) Tarte Cosmetics. With Instagram’s algorithm continuing to change in favor of users over brands, a strong influencer marketing strategy is more important than ever to place your brand in front of the right audiences. 

Tarte’s strategic three-pronged approach includes: a strong mailer program, immersive events and trips and a focus on creating strong long-term relationships with influencers.

With more and more brands recognizing the power and importance of influencer marketing, beauty influencers now receive tens, if not hundreds, of boxes every month filled with products that brands send in hopes of getting featured on influencer social pages for free. How does Tarte break through the noise?

By creating mailers that are both extravagant and/or memorable enough that it almost guarantees influencers will give them a shout out. Some of their past boxes include gifting influencers with a Roomba along with every shade of their Shape Tape concealer and a curated box filled with rom-com DVDs, popcorn, candy, two sets of branded sweatsuits and, of course, Tarte beauty products for influencers to have the perfect night in with their BFF in celebration of National Best Friends Day.

From Bora Bora to Costa Rica and Hawaii, Tarte has become infamous for their influencer getaways to tropical coastlines around the world. Tarte invites influencers on all-expense paid luxury trips to exotic locations and for the most part, influencers will take these trips and accept the terms without additional compensation.

From the moment they board the plane to the time they land home, the experience is completely curated by the brand. This allows for every moment to be picture perfect and extravagant enough for influencers to want to share on their IG stories and vlogs, in addition to more curated content being posted on their feeds featuring the brand’s famous hashtag and tagline #TrippinWithTarte. 

Beyond travel and luxurious gifting, Tarte creates a complete experience for influencers by becoming involved in day-to-day life in such a way that influencers appreciate and become loyal brand lovers. Tarte taps into key influencers’ interests and personal lives that the brand becomes an integral part of it.

This has included giving influencers box seats to see their favorite artists, gifts on their birthday and even giving something as simple as flowers to commemorate big social media milestones or life events. The brand taps into even the smallest details to make influencers feel appreciated and heard, which they then share with their followers to further break down barriers often created between brand and consumer.

Over the past few years, Tarte Cosmetics has truly dialed in its influencer marketing strategy to constantly amaze and entice influencers to want to join in on the brand experience. This is not to say that all brands must take a group of influencers on an extravagant trip in order to stand out from the noise, however there is something to be said of creating an influencer strategy that breaks free from the mold. 

There are also plenty of other ways to ace influencer marketing, even when you’re on a budget.  The most important takeaway is to prioritize curation and personalization in your influencer marketing strategy to help turn influencers into loyal brand lovers and drive waves of online awareness for your brand.