*** This case study, featuring one of our favorite brands, Blume, is purely conceptual for illustrative purposes. While we admire Blume's approach, please note that this post is not in partnership with them.

The app images here are not real screenshots from Blume's site; they're our mockups to show how our app could potentially look and function.

A huge shoutout to the Blume Team for their exceptional marketing strategies - some of which we reference here as educational examples to guide and inspire. ***

In our Community Case Studies series, we delve into the examples of successful e-commerce brand communities. Our goal? To discover the strategies of what makes a community thrive so that you can replicate this success. Today, we spotlight Blume, a brand that's not just selling products but also building a self-care movement.

What makes Blume special?

A key prerequisite for a strong community is a potent combination of a great product and a powerful purpose. Blume, created by Taran and Bunny, was born to make self-care easier and healthier while destigmatizing normal things like acne, puberty, periods, and sex education. Everyone who has been a teenage girl at least once will tell you that this is huge! 

“The next generation will know healthy skin rather than perfect skin,” Blume proclaims, and their products, beloved in customer reviews and on social media, effectively tackle one of the biggest pain points for their audience - acne.

Blume's community strategies and engagement are deeply intertwined with its core values of authenticity, transparency, and empowerment, especially appealing to its primarily Gen Z and millennial audience. The brand uniquely focuses on breaking societal taboos in beauty and skincare, fostering a community that values genuine conversations and inclusive sex education.

Blume’s Community Values

• Mission-driven: Blume's mission is to destigmatize periods, puberty, and other female-oriented topics, creating a safe space for women. Their products are biodegradable, clean, eco-friendly, and vegan.
  
  

• Empowerment and social justice: Committed to female empowerment and social justice, Blume maintains a blog dedicated to these themes and partners with organizations like Days for Girls.

• Safe space for learning and growth: Blume aims to be a supportive presence in the lives of young women, offering advice and a platform for discussing both the challenges and joys of womanhood. In other words, they are delivering value beyond what is being sold which is another key characteristic that distinguishes a strong brand community.

Community Engagement Strategies

1. Fostering genuine conversations: Blume excels in sparking authentic conversations around often-avoided subjects. This openness has cultivated a space where community members feel understood and connected, making these discussions central to Blume's community-building efforts.
   
   

   

2. Showcasing User-Generated Content: UGC stands as a cornerstone of Blume's engagement strategy. By showcasing real, unfiltered experiences, Blume encourages its audience to be more than just passive consumers; they become active storytellers in the brand's narrative. Blume's transparent approach to showcasing product effectiveness, especially through UGC, builds trust and credibility within the community. This honesty in communication is key to their community engagement strategy.

3. Navigating the social media landscape: Blume's adept use of social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, demonstrates their understanding of the dynamic preferences of Gen Z and millennials. Their content strategy is a mix of UGC, testimonials, and adaptable, responsive posts that keep up with the ever-changing trends of these platforms. The engagement is truly impressive.
   
   

4. Highly personal email marketing: Blume's approach to email marketing redefines the typically one-sided nature of such communications. They excel at crafting emails that are highly personal and engaging, making each message feel like a conversation with a friend rather than a generic marketing blast. This personal touch in their emails not only strengthens the bond with their audience but also reinforces the community feeling, making each subscriber feel valued.
   
   

5. Educational content: Blume focuses heavily on customer education, not just about their products but also broader wellness and personal care topics. This includes partnerships for initiatives like thestatesofsexed.com, which offers comprehensive sex education​​.

6. Loyalty and Referral Program: Blumetopia is an extension of Blume's community and plays a crucial role in cultivating loyalty through compelling rewards. By offering rewards that go beyond mere transactions, Blumetopia deepens the sense of belonging among its members. Plus, it deepens customer loyalty by simply allowing customers to save money.

   The cosmetics industry is perhaps one of the strongest community-fostering industries out there. With beauty buffs constantly seeking out product recommendations and reviews, having brand advocates vouch for you is absolutely essential.

   Word of mouth plays a significant role in Blume’s growth strategy. Campaigns like the #BlumeBuds Friendship Campaign encourage sharing and community involvement. A typical call-to-action post might read: "As a small business, word of mouth is our lifeline. If you love Blume, share your passion with a friend. Tagging just one friend and sharing your thoughts on Blume means the world to us."

How Blume’s Community can benefit from the HouseParty Community Feedback App?

Blume founders place high importance on customer feedback in shaping their products and services, ensuring they align with consumer needs and preferences, so adding a HouseParty as a new medium for fostering these types of interactions will be a natural add-on.

• Collaborative product development: Customers can directly contribute to brand development, offering ideas that align with their needs and preferences. Other community members will see this feedback and will upvote on their favorites. Over time, the most upvoted ideas will move to the top giving the Blume team insights on how to further improve customer experience.

  
  

*** Not a real screenshot from Blume's website; it is our mockup to show how our app could potentially look and function with its seamless integration into the Shopify theme and customization.

• Intermember communication: A key advantage of HouseParty is fostering customer-to-customer interactions. Blume's younger target audience isn't active in Facebook groups, often lacking a space to interact. HouseParty provides this platform, meeting them where they are more likely to engage. This inter-member engagement is a huge value add, as it allows customers to support and connect with each other, enhancing the community feel.
  
  

• More transparent communication: HouseParty's open-concept community feedback board matches Blume's transparent approach, promoting open and honest interactions between the brand and its customers. The posts will spark meaningful discussions between customers and the team, allowing for collaboratively finding the best solutions.

*** Not a real screenshot from Blume's website; it is our mockup to show how our app could potentially look and function with its seamless integration into the Shopify theme and customization.

Bottom Line

In summary, Blume stands out in the beauty and skincare industry for its authentic engagement with its community, focusing on education, real conversations, and incorporating customer feedback into its products and services. This approach, aligned with the brand's commitment to transparency and social values, has garnered a dedicated and enthusiastic customer base.

Additionally, if they were to add HouseParty, it would offer even more ways for customers to talk and engage with each other, strengthening their community, especially among younger users. This step will make Blume even more of a leader in building a strong, interactive community in their industry.