Two things the DTC Newsie loves most: our readers and make-up tutorials.

I mean, who doesn’t? It’s like everyone’s guilty pleasure, and ColourPop gets that. That's why they’ve taken their makeup tutorials to TikTok, where they’ve amassed nearly 1M followers and 18M impressions on the platform. 💥

But it isn’t just tutorials that have brought them success…

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Keep reading to find out what surprising content crushes it for this makeup brand and how you can use the same tactics on your own TikTok channel.

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💄 Makeup tutorials

ColourPop has a huge variety of makeup tutorials on their TikTok that cover a wide range of looks, skin tones, and face shapes—likely helping them appeal to a very broad audience. Plus, they all use ColourPop products, which helps gain brand awareness.

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This video is a simple yet effective makeup tutorial. It shows what product is used, where it’s used, and produces a high-quality end result.

Salesy ads do not perform well on TikTok—they usually get a quick scroll.

ColourPop differs from salesy ads by successfully showing off their product by creating content built for TikTok users’ enjoyment.

Users can sniff out an ad within 0.5 seconds of seeing a product being sold to them on screen. ColourPop utilizes tutorials to draw viewers in with educational content while simultaneously showing or selling the product.

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In this video, ColourPop teamed up with a fellow TikTok makeup influencer in a video tutorial. This influencer (Tashi Rodriguez) has a high engagement rate—which indicates that they’re well known/well-liked in the makeup space on TikTok.

ColourPop collabing with an influencer that represents the space they wish to occupy is a great tactic to cross-promote the brand and reach a larger, more interested audience. 👍

The copy for this ad reads, “For those quick eyeshadow days! 5 minute eyeshadow look with @Tashi Rodriguez”. You know we love numbers in copy, especially when they represent product convenience!

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We love that ColourPop sets a precedence with creator representation. Their TikTok content shows that their makeup isn’t built for one skin type, tone, or gender—making their space inclusive for everyone.

ColourPop comes out with a lot of different collections and products, including holiday makeup tutorials on their channel, which helps the brand showcase its seasonal products!

This specific post is an Easter collab with Peeps. The collab is fun and interesting… but the TikTok content could benefit from a voice-over and text that includes the nature of the brand collab or a product testimonial.

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📦 New product drops

ColourPop is notorious for launching a ton of new products every year. In fact, they even made a TikTok video for all the launch haters. 😆

But we say keep on keepin’ on since these product drops are some of the best performing videos on their channel! #hatersgonnahate

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Offering a sneak peek of a new product before it launches helps build hype with your audience. This drop of their Avatar the Last Airbender Collection attracted a whopping 500 comments.

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This sneak peek of their Disney Hocus Pocus line gained 1.1M views! The quick snaps of both the Avatar and Hocus Pocus makeup line highlight the brand collaboration by displaying products in their fun and unique packaging, keeping viewers engaged and interested.

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Here’s another drop of their seasonal PEEPS®️ line just in time for Easter. Notice how ColourPop utilizes simple and quick videos that display the product in its branded packaging!

They match the energy of their creative in their copy. They have such an organic ad style, and the lack of sales talk and upping the light and conversational copy makes the brand approachable.

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🔎 Behind-the-scenes (BTS)

Here’s the real kicker: ColourPop’s best-performing videos on TikTok are not actually makeup tutorials at all…

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They’re simply a behind-the-scenes look at how their products are made!

The brand often uses the hashtag #oddlysatisfying on these videos, which probably captures the essence of exactly why they get so many views. Virtual eye candy. 👀

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ColourPop’s very first video on TikTok was a 15-second BTS video on how their Super Shock Eyeshadows are made. It’s received 12.7M views since it was posted in 2019 (more than any other video on their channel!) 🤯

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And here’s another example of a BTS video that has over 2M views!

You can find dozens of these videos on ColourPop’s channel, and all of them seem to get crazy views despite being incredibly short and simple.

So if you’re a brand that’s looking to grow your Tik Tok and you have an #oddlysatisfying production/manufacturing/packaging process, try testing some short BTS content! 💡

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Pro tips from Pilothouse:

• Behind the scenes has shown to be top performers for a ton of brands!
• It gives viewers insights into things they would not usually see (value adding) as well as putting a bit of trust and a human touch behind their products.
• This is great for small businesses, and products with production/packaging within their country of origin.

Makeup brands inherently have an advantage when it comes to organic content. The nature of the makeup and cosmetic niche is to show off the product and how it works!

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If you’re a smaller DTC brand, it’s time to put on your thinking cap and find innovative ways to collect content without going "Hey! Look at this product". If you’re a shoe company, test out a dying technique on shoelaces (using your shoes). Get creative, thinking outside of the box is key!

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The Takeaways

OK, ColourPop is clearly crushing it on TikTok.

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👉 They showcase their products in almost every video, even in the most subtle ways.

👉 They produce a broad range of content, including makeup tutorials for a variety of different looks, face shapes, genders, and skin tones. This likely helps the brand appeal to a large audience base.

👉 Some of their best-performing videos are incredibly simple and probably took just a few minutes to film. Just goes to show you don’t need huge production value to do well on TikTok!

👉 A pro-tip from the Pilothouse  team: Many brands try and make their content super refined like an Instagram feed. But that is not needed as much on TikTok. You can test out super rough content, and if it lands, it lands!

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So, how can you apply these winning strategies to your TikTok channel?

👋 That’s all for this Brand Breakdown, fam! Catch ya next week for part 4.