Since the brand’s inception, Sephora has lived by its values which are rooted in community and a celebration of fearless individuality. #SephoraSquad was an opportunity for Sephora represent their values in a bigger way, letting the entire community know that everyone belongs in the conversation about beauty. They will never stop building a community where inclusivity is expected, self expression is honored, and all are welcomed with open arms. 

We launched a one-of-a-kind program that started as a digital open call to all beauty lovers to apply for the chance to be accepted in the #SephoraSquad, an inclusive group of influencers contracted as ambassadors for 2019 to represent ALL of Sephora clients. We encouraged influencers of all races, ethnicities, religions, ages, body types, and sexual orientations to apply.

Instead of hand selecting the squad, we encouraged the influencer’s Followers to leave testimonials highlighting why their favorite influencer should be selected, the impact they’d had on their lives, and how their unique voice resonated with them. 

We leveraged social media to spread the word about #SephoraSquad, producing automated, customized Instagram Story frames for applicants to share across social and ask for testimonials, sparking fervid conversations within the Instagram community. 

To drive awareness of the launch we contracted four “Launch Partners” with larger followings who were aligned with the mentorship and inclusivity goals of the program. They posted to their audiences and their stories were also shared on Sephora’s IG account. We chose to have #SephoraSquad live mainly on Instagram as their Story feature’s real-time nature and swipe-up capability most adequately cater to spreading viral campaigns. This created a broad pool of applicants to the program.

The joint Sephora/Fohr team looked at impressions, testimonials, post numbers and engagement rates to understand how the influencers performed in promoting #SephoraSquad. Additionally, we tracked site and microsite traffic through Google Analytics. We also analyzed applicants’ testimonial-to-follower ratio, enabling us to easily identify influencers who over-performed for their following level. Lastly, we used the Social Standards analytics platform to analyze each influencer’s audience affinity for beauty and different product categories.

Applicants were prompted to connect their Instagram accounts to a designated microsite where they would also submit thoughtful responses to a questionnaire designed to shed light on why they should be in the #SephoraSquad. Upon connecting their Instagram via API, applicants then received automated, customized Instagram Story badges over email that they were encouraged to share on Instagram Stories, spreading word about the #SephoraSquad program and directing their loyal audiences to a webpage where they could leave testimonials, highlighting why their influencer was perfect for the #SephoraSquad. New customized story badges that included applicant’s current testimonial numbers were sent to their inboxes weekly, motivating applicants to post their freshly updated badge each week. Applicants’ social channels, questionnaire responses and testimonials were thoroughly reviewed by Sephora to appoint the #SephoraSquad. From the launch of the campaign to announcing the #SephoraSquad members, the application process ran for six weeks in duration.

#SephoraSquad’s results were compelling in both reach and engagement/sentiment. Between follower site traffic on microsites, number of testimonials, shared customized Instagram Story badges, and hashtags on Instagram, #SephoraSquad generated a staggering:

+15k applicant submissions

+256k follower testimonials 

+158 Million impressions across Instagram Stories, and Instagram posts. 

+1 million Sephorasquad.com site sessions 

+1.6 million pageviews

+10.6k In-feed Instagram posts

+350M total impressions

The social response to #SephoraSquad was organic and authentic.

In addition to compelling reach, #SephoraSquad evoked a passionate response from consumers that manifested beyond the numbers. The Instagram community expressed their general appreciation for an inclusivity-driven campaign on social. Follower-submitted testimonials were lengthy, profound and moving, recounting how applicants changed the lives of their audience members with their channels, and were therefore perfect for #SephoraSquad. After each round of finalists was announced, applicants recorded and shared emotional responses across their social channels themselves (see case film).