If I Had $2,500 to Spend on Marketing for Bare Roots Skincare, Here’s Exactly Where I’d Spend It

Let’s be honest - most emerging beauty brands don’t need more marketing ideas, they need better prioritisation.

And with the cost of campaigns, agencies and paid media placements rising fast, many small-to-mid-sized skincare brands are left wondering: where will my marketing budget actually make the biggest impact?

So, I’ve decided to launch a new series: “If I Had $X to Spend on Marketing With X Brand.” No fluff, no vague strategy. Just real, budget-smart marketing decisions - mapped out dollar by dollar.

This week, we’re diving into Bare Roots skincare.

Who Is Bare Roots?

If you’ve never heard of Bare Roots before, they’re an Australian-born, holistic skincare brand founded by Suzanne Smedley.

Their product range is:

• Certified organic

• Microbiome-friendly

• Designed to support the skin barrier without unnecessary synthetics or filler ingredients
  

With a clinic-first philosophy and a dedication to skin health over skincare trends, Bare Roots has quietly built a loyal following among skin professionals since launching in 2019.

But in recent years, the brand made the deliberate decision to pull back on marketing spend to focus on product development, foundational strategy and internal infrastructure.

For this series, they told me the would be working in the $2500 budget category, which makes this moment (and how they re-enter the market) even more important.

Here’s How I’d Spend $2,500 to Make It Count

This isn’t about flashy brand campaigns or influencer deals. This is a community-first marketing approach designed to:

• Rebuild brand visibility

• Engage existing stockists

• Generate usable content

• Create a story worth sharing
  

A) Awareness – $500

Objective: Build an engaged online stockist community that delivers immediate value.

1. Create a closed online community (e.g. Facebook group or Circle).

   • Name it something aligned with the brand tone — think The Bare Circle or Rooted in Skin.

   • This becomes the brand’s owned space to connect, educate and activate stockists.
     

2. Before inviting stockists to join, film 8–10 short educational videos (3–5 minutes each) focused on:

   • Product benefits

   • Application and treatment pairings

   • The brand philosophy and formulation story

   • Keep it lo-fi — recorded via iPhone or Zoom. Raw and real works better in today’s content world.
     

3. Launch a competition inside the group:

   • Offer 5 x $100 Visa gift cards (total spend: $500)

   • Entry: Submit a video showing a Bare Roots facial treatment in action

   • Outcome: Creates brand-aligned user-generated content, engages therapists, and gives the brand usable, relatable footage without the cost of a studio shoot.
     

B) Advocacy – $2,000

Objective: Reward loyalty and capture real brand storytelling

1. Behind The Scenes with Bare Roots Tour — $1,000 spend

   • Invite the five UGC winners to Melbourne

   • Tour the Bare Roots manufacturing facility and warehouse

   • Host a lunch with the founder ($700)

   • Hire a branded 7-seater luxury vehicle (approx. $300) for the day

   • Create memorable, behind-the-scenes brand moments
     

2. Content Creation — $1,000 spend

   • Document the full day with iPhone footage

   • Professional editing and post-production

   • Capture testimonials, product shots, BTS brand moments, and the founder story

   • Content is repurposable for EDMs, website, social media and PR
     

C) Earned Media – $0

Objective: Share the story in a way that naturally earns attention

• Publish the story across owned channels (socials, EDM, community group)

• Use lead-up and post-event content to create a narrative arc

• When interest builds, pitch the story to relevant industry media as a stockist-focused brand comeback piece

• No PR spend needed — just strong storytelling
  

Why This Marketing Mix Works

• It leverages the stockist audience, re-engaging advocates who already believe in the brand

• It creates usable content without needing a studio, thanks to UGC and lo-fi production

• It builds emotional brand connection, with moments like lunch with the founder and factory tours

• It works across multiple channels, from social and email to PR and referral campaigns

• It’s budget-smart, investing in high-leverage experiences over once-off paid placements

What I’d Avoid

At this stage, I’d skip traditional paid media.

A single full-page ad in an industry magazine could cost $2,000+ - and with no guarantee of conversions. That same amount can be stretched further across video content, community engagement, and stockist activation, all of which have longer shelf lives and deeper impact.

How I’d Measure ROI

To ensure the budget is working hard, I’d track:

• EDM open rates and click-throughs

• Engagement and activity inside the stockist group

• UGC content reach and shares

• Organic brand search lift

• Referral traffic using UTM links

• Stockist-specific discount code redemptions

This gives both quantitative and qualitative insights on what’s working.

This strategy isn’t about throwing money at trends - it’s about creating trust, building momentum, and generating real brand stories that resonate with your most important audience: the people who already love you.

And that’s a solid place to grow from.

Want Use to Map Your Marketing Budget?

If you're feeling unsure where to start, we can help. Whether you're a founder, emerging, or legacy brand ready to get strategic — book a call or DM Tamara. Let's make every dollar count.