Sephora Drives Referral Sales With Facebook Promo

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Executives at beauty retailer Sephora are pleased with the results of an Earth Day-related Facebook campaign it launched back in April. Orders and referral traffic to Sephora.com more than doubled during the campaign, which also yielded it more than 10,000 new Facebook "friends," according to the company.

During the campaign, Sephora offered a virtual tote bag, called the Sephora Pretty Planet Shopper, that was capable of being sent from one Facebook friend to another. People who participated were given promotional codes that could be redeemed, with any Sephora.com purchase, for a real, limited edition bag. When the campaign began, Sephora VP of Direct Marketing Bridget Dolan said the goal was to increase customer awareness of the company's natural and organic products, promote the brand and boost Sephora fan Facebook participation.

"Through our Facebook page, fans can share everything from product suggestions to beauty tips, so we thought that a virtual gift, letting fans share their love of Sephora and the environment, was a perfect fit," Dolan said in an e-mail. "Due to the success of the Sephora Pretty Planet Shopper campaign and our fans' growing desire to interact with Sephora on the site, we will continue to look for new and interesting ways to engage with our fans on Facebook."

Sephora now has more than 220,000 Facebook friends and Dolan said organic impressions spread via Facebook friends increased Sephora's reach by 440 percent. The company is also using Facebook to publicize store openings, weekly discounts and free item offers as well as to notify fans when makeup designers, such as Kat Von D, or famous models will be in a store. The page allows fans to vote on names of new lipstick colors, join Sephora's rewards program and watch clips of the movie "Fame."

Sephora is involved in other social network marketing, including Twitter, where it has more than 22,000 followers.