“I’m under no illusions that anyone is ever going to care about Saint Jack as much as I do,” says Beth Wilson. Acknowledging the love and support that surround the brand, she turns her attention to the community: “So what can I do as the brand founder, and what can we do as people who work on the brand day in, day out, to make people feel special or recognised or honestly just make their day?”
Saint Jack is a rising Australian beauty brand known for their signature makeup brush cleaner and most recently, their follow-up sponge cleaner cleverly titled ‘Sponge Bath’. Backed by a raving fan base and impressive return customer rate, the brand’s customer acquisition strategy is social-first, using organic attention to build a ‘Saint Jack family’ of repeat purchasers and true brand advocates.
We talked to Beth Wilson, its founder and recognisable face, to uncover how the whole strategy works.
Attention is the first asset
Selling a product starts with the unaware customer — to set the scene, Beth explains what Saint Jack’s new-customer journey looks like. “We look for attention as the first asset. So we create content that speaks to our ideal customer. But it’s not necessarily about makeup brush cleaning. It’s adjacent to their interests to get their attention first, then we hold it with other engaging, usually funny content to keep things interesting. “
“Our content is relatable to who our ideal Saint Jack avatar customer would be. So we find a lot of success in, for example, making content about me being a millennial single girl and what that experience looks like. That’s perfect, because if we get 50,000 views on that video, a good 80 percent might be the ideal customer, because they’re just like me. So we focus on that, because that’s essentially the lead generation tool.”
Next, the brand mixes attention-grabbing content with product-focused videos on a scale that generally lies around 70/30: “At the moment, about 70 percent of our content is what we call cold content, which is trying to bring those people onto our social media profiles so they can discover the products, kind of on their own.”
“Once we get them on board as a follower or they’ve watched a few videos, after a couple of scrolls, they will encounter a video of the product and what it actually does. So after they’ve warmed up to us, they’ll see the product, and see it’s something they might want to incorporate into their routine.”
Simultaneously, their paid ads strategy kicks in. “I know they need many more touchpoints in order to actually make the purchase. I see people who have been on our website 10 times in the last two months before they make their purchase. If you think about a traditional marketing funnel, they’re sitting in the middle, towards the bottom of it. They’re aware of who we are. They want to get to know me more. They might be shopping around with brush cleaning brands or different options. They might think our products are too expensive and need a little bit more convincing.”
“It’s pretty hard to get people to convert immediately based on one interaction with one ad. What we really want them to do is click on the website, but continue to be served ads, engage, learn a bit more about what we do. So as soon as someone is in our funnel, they’re going to be served different ads that serve different purposes on an educational level.”
Saint Jack’s signature entertainment-first style is infused into every touchpoint: “However long that journey might be, you’ve got to keep it engaging and fun.”
A marketing strategy built on making genuinely good content
Saint Jack’s marketing funnel makes perfect sense on the surface, but it relies on one important facet: making good content. And not only good content, but content that regularly goes viral, builds a reliable fanbase and sells enough product to scale the brand bigger and bigger — a feat accomplished by only a notable few brands. Saint Jack is one of those few.
Beth explains: “Ideally, what we want to see is that people are coming over, if they haven’t already, to Instagram and TikTok, because that’s where the true nurturing happens.”
Her approach was built on an understanding of real human behaviour: “I’m under no illusions that anyone is ever going to care about Saint Jack as much as I do, right? So what can I do as the brand founder, and what can we do as the people who work on the brand day in, day out, to make people feel special or recognised or honestly just make their day?”
“Something we’ve done over the last two years, coming into Black Friday, is a millennial movie scene recreation. Last year we did Legally Blonde, and before that we did The Devil Wears Prada. It was just to say Black Friday is coming next week; it’s going to be 30% off. Like, we didn’t need to do that. The production level that goes into these things is crazy. It’s a lot of work. It costs a lot of money. We have so much fun doing it, don’t get me wrong. But what I realised this year was, customers know Black Friday is coming. They know Saint Jack is going to do a sale, but they love it, because it’s entertaining them. It’s adding value to their day. So, I think that that’s where a lot of brands fall down, because they’re constantly talking to their customers about why their products are so good.”
It’s a notable insight: customers already knew what the content was there to tell them. But they appreciated the reminder, because it comes packaged in a laugh-inducing Saint Jack box.
“When we’re creating organic content, we sometimes say to each other, this one’s for the fans. They love to see Beth being unhinged or hungover, or they love to see her complaining about a coffee cup. That’s because I’ve done it so much over time and been so transparent about, firstly, who I am as a business owner, who doesn’t take myself too seriously, but secondly, very much building the brand in public. The people who are really part of that Saint Jack family feel like they have buy-in to the experience I’m having as a brand founder who’s trying to build this thing.”
“And the results that I see from that… obviously not every customer is going to care enough to become that kind of person, right? But our return customer rate is really strong. And we know that our engagement is pretty good. Not in terms of likes; I don’t really care about likes. But comments, DMs, people messaging me.”
Beth sees her products as something of a bonus for people who enjoy the Saint Jack experience: “Customers aren’t coming to us because they love cleaning their brushes, because nobody does. I think they’re coming because they get something else out of the experience of being our customer. It’s more than the product. It turns into an experience of supporting a friend. They’re like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe the Saint Jack girls are doing this. That’s so funny.’”
The proof extends beyond the Saint Jack social handles: “I know that when we eventually start talking to retailers, the Saint Jack girls will go so hard on that, because they already do. There’s a retailer with a Facebook group, and they put up a post asking which brands people want to see stocked in their store. There were dozens of comments saying, ‘Saint Jack, it’s Australian owned, it’s female founded, it’s amazing.’ There were multiple people liking it, seconding it, saying they agree. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that that would happen — but I don’t think they would do that unless they were backing me personally.”
Is it possible to scale such a personal founder-customer relationship?
Founder-led brands have been a hot topic in marketing, notably for their reliance on the founder’s everyday existence within the brand — replying to DMs, showing up on Stories, creating and filming content — to drive sales and loyalty. What could potentially be an obstacle is something Beth plans to take in stride.
“As the brand scales, I think with the rise of employee generated content, or EGC, we’ll still do the same thing. It will just be with what I call ‘characters’,” she explains. “If the brand gets bigger, we start needing more people. The gold standard of that, in my opinion, is Fayt with Brittney Saunders. I think she has 60 or 80 employees now, including across her retail stores. But there are a few key characters, five or so, who are always in the content. So people love April now, and she’s the social girl. It’s not just about Brit.”
“From a logistics standpoint, for me as a business owner, it means that whoever I hire in these initial next few roles, they are going to need what we call, jokingly, show-pony energy. Not every day, but you’re going to have to be a part of it.”
Beth notes that this is a big ask of an employee, and one she would never take for granted: “I think there’s a really interesting conversation around that in general — what that’s worth to a business. It’s priceless, to be honest.”
How TikTok strategy differs from every other platform
Fans of the brand’s TikTok account already know two recognisable ‘characters’ by heart: founder Beth and her ‘right hand man’, Hannah.
“I feel passionately about the fact that TikTok was not designed for brands. TikTok was designed for people to come together, share videos that inspired them or made them happy, cute dogs, funny things like the tortilla challenge, or how to cook the viral feta pasta. People feel safe on TikTok because they’re enjoying it; they don’t feel like people are trying to sell to them, the same way as when you go on Instagram.”
How does she bring this approach into Saint Jack? “On TikTok, you want to seem as much like a normal person and as little like a brand as you can. It’s more about documenting and entertaining than selling.”
She notes the less sales-focused approach as something that resonates with her audience: “You have to respect your customer. You don’t need to put a call-to-action at the end of a TikTok like ‘go to Saint Jack’ or ‘online now’, because they already know you’re trying to sell them something.”
“We made a joke the other day, it’d be so funny to do a video where we’re just doing something nonchalantly, but holding the bottle of brush cleaner for no apparent reason. Because nobody’s just cleaning their brushes nonchalantly. Product placement is harder to do with our type of product, even compared to a lip balm or lipstick. It’s very different. So we do what we can.”
Known for crazy moments, and the BTS of crazy moments
“Do you remember the tube girl trend? I remember thinking to myself, ‘oh, my God, we’ve got to do Tube Girl,’” Beth references a public dancing-and-lip-syncing trend.
“I was so nervous, thinking, ‘We’ve got to do it in the next few days, otherwise it’s going to be a waste.’ If we wait, it’s not going to get us anywhere, because the trend will be dead. I remember being so terrified at the idea of turning my phone on 0.5 and filming myself inside a Mecca. Since then, the insane shit I’ve done, it’s exposure therapy. You’ve got to do crazy things to stop the scroll and get that attention.”
She reflects on some of the more unexpected moments: “The first time I wore the bacteria costume, we had videos interviewing people, and I was running up trying to scare them. We did a behind-the-scenes video of what it took to get that footage. The behind-the-scenes video performed better than the actual videos of me in the suit.”
“It was the same thing for the tube girl video. We had drinks beforehand because I was so nervous. The behind the scenes video actually performed better than the tube girl video itself. People want to know how you did it, because that’s interesting.”
“That’s also how you get bang for your buck out of creating a piece of content. If you have two phones rolling at the same time, you’re going to get double the content that you can turn into a behind-the-scenes thing. Or have some B-roll that would be great for a montage video or vlog in the future.”
How to make content not just consumable, but shareable
When a brand can achieve multiple viral videos, there must be some sort of repeatable strategy. A well-thought-out social strategy is integral to the brand, but Beth also attributes her success to instinct. “Some of the best ideas we’ve had, honestly, just came to us. There were three videos last year that got over a million views. We came up with them minutes before, because something was happening and we filmed it. There was no production value; we just threw it up and said, how’s this gonna go? And they performed so well. It goes to show that if you have an idea and enough agility to do it, that can go really well for you. Not everything has to be planned out.”
Beth shares an example. “I was in an Australia Post campaign, but I was not aware how big it was going to be. When they came to film it, there were 20+ people at my office. There was a massive truck of lighting equipment, bigger than a moving truck. It was insane. It was a real professional production. I had no idea it was going to be like that when I agreed to do it.”
“This turned into one of our viral videos. There was a director, a producer, a lighting assistant. And it’s so funny because I’ve come to work in my full-blown goblin attire, I look like dog shit, and I’m holding this Maccas coffee. The funny thing is that was probably one of the biggest meetings of my career. That’s relatable because we’ve all been there, right? We’re like, ‘Oh god, I didn’t know and I should have been more put together.’ And that’s how you know it’s going to go viral — when people would share it with someone and say, ‘Remember that time that you went to work and XYZ happened?’”
Beth was correct: the video received 3.4 million views on TikTok. But more importantly, it was shared over 4,000 times.
“Shareability is more important than anything else. In terms of virality, saving is great, but sharing is the biggest thing. Because if somebody shares a video, then the person who receives it watches it and enjoys it, they’ll go on your profile and start watching a whole bunch of videos. They’ll see something and think, ‘Oh, my friend would really like this one.”
“That’s huge, especially on Instagram. On Instagram, I’m a bit of a meme lord. I love memes. And if I see something really funny, I’m like, ‘I’m going to make a meme out of that.’ Because I know how far those shares will go. If the meme is about something to do with being a girly girl, or ice coffee, or something, that’s my target demographic.”
The strategy comes full circle: “So now they’re getting my ads.”
The numbers prove the pay off — beyond sales and revenue
“The reason I made our brush cleaner in an 800 ml bottle was because I was a makeup artist and that’s what I needed. And I wanted the value, because the bigger the bottle, the better economy of scale, and I can pass that onto my customers. But so many of my customers begged for a smaller size they could take with them when they traveled. A lot of people were like, ‘I would love to clean my brushes with this, but I would never go through an 800 ml bottle in my entire life.’ People all over the internet were begging me for this.”
“So we launched the spray version of the brush cleaner, which was essentially the same product, but in a smaller 200 ml size. On the day of that launch, our return customer rate was 67 percent. Which is crazy, because that means all those people already had that product in a different vessel, but they wanted it in the new one.”
“I think giving your customers what they’re actually asking for will be rewarded. It makes them feel heard. And that was reflected in that number. So we’re super, super proud of that.”
Beth’s strategy in a nutshell? Leaning into being herself. “It’s just fun to do fun things for people. And that’s all I actually like to do in my life, have fun. So that’s what we do. And that’s so tied into the Saint Jack brand.”
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Based on an interview with Beth Wilson, founder of Saint Jack
Written by Taryn Rapp of Lovenote