Phyto

Phyto, a botanical haircare brand and part of French-based cosmetics company, Ales Group,  was introduced in the US 30 years ago. Phyto is sold primarily online through their own ecommerce site as well as on Amazon, Revolve, and Dermstore. It’s also available in brick-and-mortar retailers such as Ulta, Blue Mercury, Nordstrom, and select salons.

As a French-based brand that’s been around for decades, Phyto typically attracts women aged 35-55 with disposable income. In an effort to reach a broader audience in the US, the brand recently revealed new, more modern packaging and price cuts, which make the products more accessible.

The market for hair care is highly saturated. To compete, Phyto knew it had to stand out by sharing an authentic and compelling brand story that resonated with US consumers. With this goal in mind, Isabella Cortez, Digital Marketing Associate, focuses on social media and influencer marketing to spread brand awareness and acquire new customers.

The US Phyto team receives content from their headquarters, however, content provided by the France-based headquarters was not always aligned with the interests of the US audience nor was it enough to fuel their various channels.

In an effort to keep up with the demand of US consumers, the team wanted to scale influencer marketing in-house. However, without the proper tools, influencer marketing was a time-intensive process. Between finding and contacting influencers with a specific aesthetic through email and Instagram DMs, and involving lawyers to draft contracts, the collaboration process was taking up too much valuable time. That is when Aspire came in as a streamlined solution.

Connecting With Diverse Influencers

Phyto hair care is known for botanical solutions to a wide range of specific concerns including thinning, curl damage, frizz. However, it manufactures a wide range of products that cater to all hair types and concerns. Because of this, the brand aims to target a diverse customer base. With Aspire, Isabella has access to millions of diverse influencers she can filter through by hashtag, keywords such as “curly hair”, influencer demographics, or audience demographics like age and location – ensuring she works with people with different hair types and concerns. Isabella also has access to influencers’ engagement authenticity and comment sentiment, so she feels comfortable knowing that she is working with influencers who have genuine followers. Isabella can either invite influencers to her campaign with a single click, or she can list her campaign brief in the marketplace. Influencers who fit her criteria can directly apply, saving hours of time each week.

Managing Long-Term Relationships

Isabella no longer has to worry about drafting the perfect emails or enlisting a lawyer to draft contracts. Aspire automatically guides each influencer through the steps of the collaboration process from negotiation, content review, and payment. Plus, knowing each influencer must complete each step of the collaboration before payment is granted gives her confidence that her budget is safe.

Scaling Content That Tells a Story

With Aspire, Isabella can quickly hover over each influencer to see a selection of their content, making finding influencers that fit the Phyto aesthetic a breeze. After collaboration terms are agreed upon, she can approve content before it’s posted with the click of a button. Influencers are also able to submit additional images. Each image, along with usage rights, are added to the team’s content library. Isabella can quickly download any piece of content to distribute internally for use on different channels.

Since working with Aspire, the team has sourced more than 600 pieces of on-brand content that they have repurposed on their website, product pages, owned social channels, email newsletters, Amazon storefront, and more. Influencer content currently makes up over 50% of their entire content archive because it is faster to create and much more flexible. Through influencers, the team can source the exact piece of content they need to promote a specific product to a targeted audience on a specific channel.

Isabella works with diverse influencers who can talk about how Phyto has helped them on their journey to healthy, beautiful hair. For example, the team partners with young moms going through postpartum hair thinning, or women with dry, curly hair talk to share how Phyto has brought their hair back to life. Unlike content shot in a studio, influencer content provides consumers with social proof because it comes from real people and resonates with those who share similar experiences