Your Fave Niche Beauty Industry Micro Celeb Has Arrived: Let's Talk Organic Marketing
The (Sometimes Tragic) State of Organic Marketing in 2025
Welcome to Brand Baby. Consider this your new favorite spot for all things beauty and marketing. My goal is to get into the real, the raw, and the ridiculously fabulous side of building brands, examining beauty culture, and working in this space. I’m Bethany, your go-to guide through the chaos, the highs, and the “wait, how did they do that?” moments of growing a business.
Think of me as your emotional support marketing consultant.
I’ve been in the game long enough to know what works, what doesn’t, and most importantly, what makes indie brands pop. This space is for founders, creators, marketers, writers, and anyone ready to make some noise in the beauty and wellness world with intention, heart, and style.
Let’s get into it — we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
First point of discussion? The state of Organic Marketing in 2025.
This is your real talk guide to organic marketing for indie beauty and wellness brands. Challenges you’re probably facing — and how to navigate them without burning out.
Realistically, I know you’re already burnt out. I know. I am, too.
But we persevere.
CHALLENGE 01: The Algorithm Is Not On Your Side
Instagram and TikTok are no longer discovery-friendly unless you’re either posting daily, or investing in paid to boost your best-performing content. For indie founders wearing all the hats? That’s just not realistic.
What’s Really Going On:
Your content is being shown to fewer people unless it hits quick engagement benchmarks. Even your own followers aren’t seeing everything you post thanks to content overload and personalization filters.
Actual Solutions:
Post less, but smarter. Focus on content buckets that serve specific purposes: community building, education, founder POV, social proof.
Pin your best posts. On both TikTok and IG, pin top-performing content to your profile so new visitors see your greatest hits.
Engage after you post. Stick around for 20–30 mins to respond to comments and interact with other creators or fans. This signals to the platform that your post is active.
Repurpose shamelessly. Turn one video into: a Reel, a TikTok, a carousel, a LinkedIn post, a Substack diary. You don’t need new content daily, just new contexts.
CHALLENGE 02: Visuals Alone Don’t Convert Anymore
The “clean beauty aesthetic” is oversaturated. Flat lays and shelfies just don’t stop the scroll like they used to. It sucks, I know. Your efforts are still appreciated here.
What’s Really Going On:
Consumers crave depth over polish.
Static visuals often lack story or emotional payoff.
Actual Solutions:
Bring in your POV. Show your face. Talk to camera. Share why you started. Even a messy desk tour or ingredient sourcing story has more pull than a curated grid.
Lean into storytelling. Instead of a product push, tell the story behind the formula, the customer win, or the cultural insight that inspired the launch.
Use text-over-video. TikTok-style overlays that share tips, quotes, or opinions can hook people without a high production budget.
CHALLENGE 03: You’re Not a Creator (But You Have to Be)
The best-performing brands feel like creators. But many indie founders didn’t sign up to be on camera 24/7 — and don’t have the time or confidence to show up like an influencer.
What’s Really Going On:
TikTok especially rewards faces, fast edits, and relatable storytelling.
Not everyone wants to show their whole life to make sales.
Actual Solutions:
Develop a brand persona, not just a founder persona. Think cult movie character, meme language, specific phrases your brand “says” — then embody that across content.
Batch-create in a “good energy” window. Film a month’s worth of lo-fi video in one go — outfit changes optional.
Use voiceovers and text-based storytelling. You don’t have to be on camera to be present — you just have to make it feel personal.
CHALLENGE 04: UGC Is Pay-to-Play Now
The golden age of unpaid user-generated content is over. Even micro-creators expect compensation. And they should. But that makes consistent UGC hard to scale organically.
What’s Really Going On:
Creator burnout is real, and content is labor. Most creators won’t post “just for product” anymore, even if they love it. The people are tired. The vibes are off. Can we blame them?
Actual Solutions:
Start a superfan group. Invite early customers or waitlist sign-ups into a community where they get product first in exchange for honest feedback, voice notes, and visuals.
Make it easy. Send prompts: “Film your first use reaction,” “Show us your before/after,” or “What does [product] replace in your routine?”
Give credit. Reposting UGC with clear tagging and thank-you’s builds loyalty — and encourages more fans to share.
Launch a low-lift affiliate program. Make it easy for fans to earn from sharing, even if they’re not full-time creators.
CHALLENGE 05: You’re Competing with Big Budget “Indie-Inspired” Brands
Legacy and VC-backed brands now mimic indie aesthetics with everything from lo-fi videos, casual founder content and sometimes even poorly executed Gen Z humor. This is making it harder to differentiate.
What’s Really Going On:
Your authenticity is being mimicked at scale. Consumers don’t always know what’s truly indie vs. just “indie-coded.”
Actual Solutions:
Claim your story. Talk about the realities of being small: bootstrapping, hand-labeling, sourcing with care. Make “indie” a feature, not a footnote.
Build slow and sticky. Prioritize depth of relationship over breadth of reach. A smaller, more engaged community will beat a big but shallow one over time.
Create rituals and language. Think inside jokes, product nicknames, emoji combos, and callsigns your community will adopt and spread.
Bonus Tactic: Shift Some Energy to Overlooked Channels
Don’t pour all your soul into IG and TikTok:
LinkedIn for founder storytelling and industry credibility
Substack for deeper brand world-building and thought leadership
Pinterest for evergreen discovery (especially for skin, hair, and wellness)
Geneva or Discord for tight-knit community building
And as we wrap up, let me just say this: Brand Baby is going to be your best friend in the beauty business world. We’re not just going to talk about trends… we’re going to dissect them, explore how to make them our own, and own them. You’ll get actionable insights, respectful tough love, and a 30-something behind it all with nothing to lose.
Think of it like a cocktail of strategy, creativity, and insider knowledge.
Shaken, not stirred, of course.
I hope you’ll stick around, kiki a little, and feel free to share your own insights. If you’re here for the real deal, for inspiration that’s as smart as it is chic, and for a peek into the strategies behind successful brands, you’re in the right place.
Let’s make some moves, babes.
Brand Baby is a 1-woman passion project written and developed by Bethany Paris Ramsay, a self-employed beauty marketing consultant and writer. If you’re interested in supporting her work, you can subscribe, pledge for future paid subscription options, or buy her a “coffee” here.
To book a free discovery call with Bethany, you can set up time via Calendly here.