Rare Beauty’s Use of Organic & Paid Social

Rare Beauty has mastered the balance between emotional storytelling and strategic visibility on social media. Focusing on their Instagram and TikTok, the brand blends organic content and paid promotion in a way that feels authentic, accessible, and intentional. Rather than relying solely on traditional advertising tactics (which they still incorporate well), Rare Beauty uses social platforms to build familiarity and connection, often before a consumer ever makes a purchase.

Organic Analysis:

On the organic side, Rare Beauty’s content leans heavily into product launches, tutorials, and founder-led storytelling. While Instagram has limited the public visibility of likes, engagement is still clearly reflected through comments and views. Most Instagram posts receive anywhere from 200 to 1k comments, with content featuring Selena Gomez frequently surpassing 1k comments. Reels consistently reach hundreds of thousands of views, often climbing into the millions, signaling that short-form video remains a key focus.

TikTok follows a similar pattern: views and likes vary widely, but videos featuring Selena Gomez consistently rank higher, earning between 50k and 2 million views and 2k to over 200k likes. These patterns suggest that Rare Beauty prioritizes visibility and emotional connection through recognizable faces and engaging formats.

Paid Analysis:

Paid strategy reinforces these organic efforts. A review of the Meta Ad Library shows over 30 active Rare Beauty ads, with many launching in January 2026. Most ads are video-based and focus on announcing new products or shades, frequently featuring Selena Gomez. While exact performance metrics like click-through rate or return on ad spend are not publicly available, the consistency, volume, and creative direction of these ads suggest a strong emphasis on awareness and conversion during key launch moments.

This aligns with Paid Attention, which emphasizes the importance of capturing attention quickly through emotionally resonant and recognizable creativity.

What the Metrics Suggest Rare Beauty Prioritizes

• Engagement metrics: High comment volume signals active audience participation, even without visible like counts

• Video-first strategy: Reels & TikToks consistently outperform static content

• Founder-led visibility: Selena Gomez content drives noticeably higher interaction

• Launch-focused paid spend: Ads cluster around product drops and seasonal moments

This balance reflects ideas from a Sprout Social article on organic vs. paid social, which emphasizes that organic content builds trust and community over time, while paid social accelerates reach and supports conversion-driven goals. Rare Beauty’s strategy shows how these two approaches work best together rather than in isolation.

One potential opportunity for growth would be incorporating more community-driven content, such as reposting user-generated videos or highlighting everyday customers alongside Selena Gomez. On the paid side, testing more varied creative could help determine whether similar engagement can be achieved while broadening relatability. Overall, Rare Beauty demonstrates how analytics can guide creative decisions, allowing the brand to remain visible, engaging, and emotionally connected to its audience.

Hey, I’m Ashley!

I am a graphic & interactive designer passionate about creating purposeful, fun, and engaging design. Whether it’s a brand identity, a responsive website, or a social media campaign, I love connecting ideas with strategy to make work that’s not only beautiful, but effective.