e.l.f. Cosmetic’s Secret to Massive Growth

E.l.f. Cosmetics (under the e.l.f. Beauty parent name) is one of the more impressive growth stories for any consumer brand in the last few years. They have grown revenue for 21 straight quarters. Let’s dig into the marketing secret that has led to their impressive growth.

Before we dive in, you can find similar marketing growth analyses about Stanley, Coach, Reformation, and True Classic.

E.l.f. Cosmetics has successfully executed an important three step formula that is simple to describe but very difficult to execute.

The three step formula is:

Know your customer at the deepest level possible so you can speak to them in a way they relate to.
Create brand partnerships with high visibility brands in very unexpected ways.
Generate massive press attention to the partnerships to amplify well beyond the co-marketing audiences of their brand partners.

This article is about points 2 and 3 above. If you want to read about point 1, here is a detailed article about how e.l.f. drives their culture of deeply understanding their audience.

Creating the right reach, frequency, and size of brand partners is the biggest key in all of this so lets look at seven of the bigger partnerships e.l.f. has done in the last four years.

But first lets cover amplification tactics and comparisons to how other successful brands amplify such as Fenty Beauty, Glossier, and ColourPop.

How e.l.f. Amplifies Partnerships Across Channels

A major reason for e.l.f. Cosmetics’ success isn’t just the partnerships themselves, but how the brand amplifies them across multiple channels to maximize visibility and engagement. Marketers can learn from these tactics to ensure their own collaborations reach the widest possible audience. Afterall, a partnership is only as successful as the reach it gets.

1. Social Media Mastery

Platform-Specific Strategies: e.l.f. tailors its campaigns to fit the strengths of each social media platform. For example, TikTok campaigns are often driven by challenges, influencer duets, and catchy music to ensure virality. On Instagram, e.l.f. uses polished visuals, Reels, and collaborations with beauty influencers for a more curated appeal to their focused target audience.
Real-Time Engagement: e.l.f. actively engages with user-generated content (UGC) during campaigns. It reshapes fan posts, comments, and videos into brand content, enhancing credibility and making consumers feel heard. This tactic not only amplifies partnerships but also boosts organic reach.
Using Influencer Networks: e.l.f. involves influencers early, leveraging their creativity to shape campaigns from the ground up. This ensures authenticity and natural promotion. For example, influencers who co-create campaigns are more likely to produce enthusiastic, genuinely engaging content that resonates with their followers.

2. Effective PR and Media Strategy

Headline-Grabbing Launches: e.l.f. uses bold, attention-grabbing announcements to maximize media coverage of new partnerships. They craft press releases that emphasize the unexpected nature of the collaborations, often framing them as “breaking the rules” of traditional beauty marketing.
Co-Branded Events: To increase media exposure, e.l.f. often hosts exclusive launch events tied to its partnerships. These events are designed to offer engaging visuals and viral moments that are highly shareable, encouraging press outlets and influencers to generate buzz.
Leveraging Earned Media: e.l.f. builds relationships with journalists, creating media kits that make it easy for press outlets to cover partnership announcements. These kits often include press-ready quotes, high-quality images, and clear messaging, making it simple for publications to turn stories around quickly.

3. Omni-Channel Integration

E-commerce Push: e.l.f. ensures that partnerships are prominently featured on its website, with dedicated landing pages that create a cohesive digital experience. These pages often include interactive features like quizzes, live streams, or virtual try-ons to engage users and increase time spent on the site.
Email Marketing: e.l.f. leverages its email list to push partnership announcements and exclusive offers, using targeted segmentation to reach different customer segments with tailored messaging. This personalized approach increases open rates, click-throughs, and conversions.
In-Store Promotions: In addition to digital efforts, e.l.f. uses in-store displays and promotional materials to extend the impact of its partnerships. Co-branded displays, limited-edition packaging, and even in-store events create a physical touchpoint that aligns with the digital buzz.

Comparison with Competitors’ Approaches

While e.l.f. has seen major success with unexpected partnerships, it’s important to understand how this strategy stands out from the approaches of other major beauty brands. This comparison reveals both what e.l.f. excels at and what marketers can adapt to their own strategies.

1. E.l.f. vs. Fenty Beauty

Approach to Partnerships: Fenty Beauty often emphasizes cultural and social inclusivity in its collaborations, while e.l.f. leans into unexpected, often humorous partnerships that surprise and delight consumers (e.g., e.l.f.’s collaboration with Chipotle). This focus on lighthearted, fun pairings makes e.l.f.’s approach feel more playful and buzzworthy, capturing a younger, Gen Z audience.
Amplification Tactics: Fenty relies heavily on its celebrity founder, Rihanna, to drive the initial buzz of partnerships. In contrast, e.l.f. emphasizes community-driven amplification, using challenges, hashtags, and user stories to expand reach, which tends to feel more grassroots and organic.

2. E.l.f. vs. Glossier

Approach to Partnerships: Glossier has built a brand based on minimalism, skincare-first beauty, and often collaborates with like-minded brands or influencers in the wellness space. E.l.f., on the other hand, deliberately picks unexpected partnerships that generate surprise and excitement (e.g., e.l.f. x Dunkin’ Donuts). This approach makes e.l.f.’s campaigns feel bolder, grabbing more headlines.
Amplification Tactics: Glossier typically drives buzz through its own community of die-hard fans and email marketing, while e.l.f. combines earned media with aggressive social pushes, often leveraging real-time trends and memes to increase shareability.

3. E.l.f. vs. ColourPop

Approach to Partnerships: ColourPop is known for rapid, trend-based collaborations, often focusing on pop culture icons or nostalgic themes. While both brands excel at unexpected collaborations, e.l.f. tends to lean more into humor and playful branding, whereas ColourPop’s collaborations are typically more pop culture-oriented.
Amplification Tactics: ColourPop uses limited-time drops to create a sense of urgency, while e.l.f. often ties its partnerships to viral social campaigns that encourage user participation. This difference in amplification means e.l.f.’s campaigns can have a longer tail, fueled by ongoing consumer engagement.

Who do you think does partnerships and amplification the best from the above comparisons? Let’s look deeper into seven of the more prominent e.l.f. partnerships.

E.l.f.’s Partnerships

Chipotle x e.l.f. Cosmetics

In 2020, these two brands created a limited-edition make up collection that had beauty and burrito lovers salivating. The collection featured an eye shadow palette with shades named after Chipotle ingredients like “Pinto Bean” and “Hot Salsa”, as well as a makeup bag designed to look like Chipotle’s famous paper bag.

This very unexpected pairing generated significant press in both the beauty and food categories. Major publication slike Allure, Refinery29, and large food-focused publications covered the launch, praising its creativity and playful approach. The collaboration demonstrated e.l.f.’s knack for thinking outside the box and tapped into cultural relevance. It also showed how unexpected cross-industry partnerships can create a unique, attention-worthy moment that resonates with younger consumers who value experiences and the unexpected.

Twitch x e.l.f. Cosmetics

In 2020-2021, e.l.f. Cosmetics became the first beauty brand to launch a branded channel on Twitch, the popular live-streaming platform primarily known for gaming content. This was a risky and unexpected move by e.l.f. E.l.f. began collaborating with popular Twitch streamers and hosting live events that blended gaming culture with beauty tutorials. e.l.f. created a “Game Up” contest which gave aspiring content creators a chance to win prizes and potentially become an e.l.f. brand ambassador.

This creative approach got attention from both beauty and tech media, with coverage in Glossy, WWD, and gaming focused publications. The savvy and smart partnership reacedh Gen Z consumers where they were already spending time. It highlighted e.l.f.’s willingness to explore new platforms and take risk. E.l.f. also showed that they understand the overlap between gaming and beauty communities, which other beauty brands were not pursuing. This collaboration was a marketing case study for how consumer brands can successfully enter unexpected categories and create connections with new audiences. It was a risk and it paid off.

Viral Content on TikTok

e.l.f.’s presence on TikTok has been viral to the core. The brand’s #eyeslipsface challenge, launched in 2019, became one of the platform’s most successful branded campaigns ever, getting billions of views and tons of user-generated content. e.l.f. didn’t stop there – they’ve continued to create viral content, collaborate with TikTok creators, and releasing original songs tied to their campaigns.

The brand’s TikTok strategy has been widely covered in high profile publications, such as AdWeek, Forbes, and The Drum. It’s been a masterclass in how to effectively use the platform your audience is on for brand building and engagement. e.l.f.’s success on TikTok shows the power of understanding platform-specific content styles, leveraging user-generated content, and staying agile in the fast-paced world of social media trends. E.l.f. wasn’t afraid to go all in on the platforms their younger audiences frequented the most, understood what type of content has viral features, and intelligently went after creating it.

Dunkin’ Donuts x e.l.f.

Who said you can’t have your donut and wear it too? e.l.f. Beauty’s collaboration with Dunkin’ Donuts in 2021 brought the beloved coffee and donut chain into the beauty world with a collection that was as sweet as it was surprising. The limited-edition line included eyeshadow palettes shaped like donuts, coffee-scented lip scrubs, and makeup brushes designed to look like straws. It was a feast for the eyes (and nose) that perfectly captured the fun, accessible spirit of both brands.

This collaboration made news across beauty, food, and lifestyle media, with coverage in Elle, Food & Wine, and PopSugar, and others. The collection sold out quickly, reinforcing the power of the unexpected to drive consumer interest. This partnership showed how brands can create buzz and drive sales by tapping into consumers’ affection for familiar, everyday brands in very unexpected ways. It turned heads and made people click the headlines to see what these two brands did together. What a great way to grow brand awareness.

NFL x e.l.f.

In 2022, e.l.f. Beauty became the first official beauty partner of the NFL. This unexpected move brought together the worlds of cosmetics and American football in a way that challenged traditional notions of both categories. The partnership included the launch of a limited-edition collection of NFL-inspired makeup products, featuring team colors and football-themed packaging. It also involved e.l.f. sponsoring events and creating content that celebrated the cross-section of beauty and sports.

This partnership gained significant media attention, with coverage in sports publications like ESPN, beauty magazines like Allure, and mainstream news outlets. It was widely discussed for its potential to bring more female fans into the NFL and to challenge stereotypes about sports and beauty.

This collaboration was a masterclass in finding unexpected synergies between unrelated brands. It was so unexpected that it allowed e.l.f. to tap into a massive NFL fanbase while helping the NFL appeal to a broader demographic. It serves as an inspiring example of how thinking outside the box can lead to partnerships that expand brand reach and challenge industry norms.

Liquid Death x e.l.f.

If this article highlighted two of the fastest growing consumer brands, Liquid Death would be that second brand. We are working on a marketing deconstruction of the highly effective marketing playbook Liquid Death is running.

In the meantime, lets just enjoy the fact that these two brands have collaborated.

Super Bowl Commercial with Jennifer Coolidge of White Lotus Fame

e.l.f. Beauty struck marketing gold in 2023 when they partnered with beloved actress Jennifer Coolidge, fresh off her career resurgence with “The White Lotus.” The collaboration kicked off with a Super Bowl commercial that featured Coolidge in a humorous skit about e.l.f.’s cult-favorite Power Grip Primer. The partnership extended beyond the big game, with Coolidge appearing in subsequent campaigns and social media content for the brand.

This collaboration received massive media attention, from entertainment publications to marketing industry outlets. The Super Bowl ad, in particular, was widely praised for its humor and for effectively leveraging Coolidge’s quirky persona. From a marketing standpoint, this partnership showcased e.l.f.’s ability to tap into popular culture and create buzz around their products. By aligning with Coolidge at the height of her renewed popularity, e.l.f. was able to attract attention from a broad audience and add a touch of celebrity glamour to their affordable brand. For marketers, this serves as a prime example of how effective celebrity partnerships can be when there’s a genuine fit between the star’s persona and the brand’s identity. It also demonstrates the power of humor in creating memorable marketing moments.

Summary

No one of these partnerships has led to e.l.f.’s cultural relevance and significant revenue growth. It’s the compounding effect of consistent execution of unexpected and relevant partnerships with brands with some of the highest awareness levels; then the amplification of these partnerships through top tier media, paired with mentioning impressive business metrics to create the marketing flywheel that is driving e.l.f.’s awareness, revenue, and establishing strong cultural relevance.