Hers is here to fix the flaws of the women’s healthcare system. 

The telemedicine company offers a suite of products, specializing in hair loss and acne. But if you’ve ever tried finding a healthcare provider (especially one in your network), you understand how abysmal the process can be. Hers makes clinical health easy by bringing it to where people are: online.

But advertising on the internet? Well, that’s an entirely different story.

Hers came to Ubiquitous to run a TikTok influencer campaign. But, because their skincare products required a prescription, it came with tricky advertising restrictions. 

They were also eager to promote their haircare line but weren’t sure how to run a TikTok campaign centered around a sensitive subject — hair loss. 

With the help of Ubiquitous, Hers launched a successful TikTok campaign that generated over 5 million impressions, a $5 CPM on traffic campaigns, and funneled over 11,000 new users — in just 30 days. 

Here’s how it happened: 

Walking on (Digital) Eggshells 

Hers came to Ubiquitous to promote their skincare and haircare products; except one of them was much more difficult to advertise. Their skincare line had advertising regulations, such as being unable to say the word “prescription.” 

Plus, potential customers had to hand over their card information, sign up for a consultation, and visit a dermatologist in person – all before receiving the product. It’s a lot of hoops. 

The haircare side was easier since one could scoop the products in any major outlet, such as Ulta or Target. But, finding the right influencers centered on hair-loss stories proved niche.

The first step for the influencer campaign was to identify Hers’ “North Star” metric. 

For Hers, this was site traffic for retargeting. In September 2021, Hers collaborated with Miley Cryus and were recycling those assets with a massive retargeting campaign. This meant the TikTok campaign had to focus on getting tons of impressions and funneling those potential customers to Hers’ website.

Once the influencers were selected, it was time to roll up the sleeves and get to work. 

Here’s how Ubiquitous went about their campaign strategy: 

1. Harnessing the Power of Spark Ads

Spark Ads – TikTok’s version of white listing — are powerful in influencer campaigns. But few people know what Spark Ads are; even fewer understand how to place them in an influencer campaign. 

Yet according to TikTok Business, Spark Ads have a 30% higher completion and a 142% higher engagement rate than standard In-Feed Ads. Paired with a 43% higher conversion rate and 4.2% lower CPM, using Spark Ads is a no-brainer. 🧠

Ubiquitous employed Spark Ads to amplify impressions and click-throughs for both the Hers Hair and Skin campaign. But, a key component is to negotiate with a creator and obtain their Spark Ads code before the campaign starts. 

“If you know you’re going to be using Spark Ads, request the code at the initial start of the campaign. You’ll be able to get it a-la carte – a discount, basically – if you package everything together upfront.” – Anna Siler 

In one video in particular, a creator demonstrated her loc repair routine using Hers. Ubiquitous then used TikTok’s hashtag targeting to amplify the content toward a specific audience interested in loc hair care. Hashtag targeting works best for a more focused audience, and provides special tools to cater an ad to the right viewer. 

2. Reframing the Language 

Remember how Hers couldn’t use the word “prescription” on TikTok for their skincare products? 

Rather than let this be an obstacle, it was an opportunity to reframe the languaging around the product. Ubiquitous got creative, for example, titling the products a “skincare journey” instead. 

A language shift transformed the product from a prescription into an integral component of the customer journey. 

3. Nimble Team 

Unlike traditional advertising channels like emails or billboards, influencers are…people. 

This means campaigns need to account for a margin of error because people can be very unpredictable. 

Hers and Ubiquitous experienced this firsthand when an influencer didn’t show up to their dermatologist appointment – three times in a row. 

Instead of panicking, Ubiquitous’ nimble team was able to quickly allocate their leftover budget to another influencer, Christen Dugger. Her second TikTok captured another 136,000 (!) views.

Quantitative 

The Hers campaign ran for 30 days. 

During this sprint, the Hers Hair campaign generated 1,453,900 total impressions, a $11.01 CPM, and a 4.48% engagement rate. The Hers Skin campaign did slightly better, capturing 3,414,400 total impressions, a $5.13 CPM, and a 2.24% engagement rate. 

Both campaigns brought over 11K people to the Hers website, at a 0.62 CPC – 20% lower than the industry average. And most impressively, the Spark Ads brought in a $2 CPM on awareness campaigns and a $5 CPM on traffic campaigns. 

The math is looking good.  

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Qualitative 

Hers was surprised that its more complicated product – a skincare line operating in a restricted advertising territory – actually outperformed its hair care products. It demonstrated that with careful reframing and the right influencers, this obstacle was actually a powerful opportunity. 

Secondly, the outpour of comments on each campaign's video solidified that Hers had a high-quality product. While this is obviously the baseline for any company, it was an encouraging signal that its products had a claim in a highly competitive market. 

“A great product is ground zero for an influencer campaign, because they go from influencers to brand ambassadors.” — Anna Siler 

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Lastly, it was the low-key, casual TikToks that performed the best, like this influencer documenting their nighttime skincare routine. This plays into TikTok’s unspoken rule to “make TikToks, not ads”. The advertisements that perform the best are the one’s that don’t feel like you’re watching an advertisement. 

The types of TikToks influencers created for Hers included: 

• Get Ready With Me / Unwind With Me 

• Update On My Hair / Skincare Journey 

• Comedy / Games Revolving Around the Product 

TikToks showing the product in action perform exceptionally well when the product has an eye-catching design. In Hers’ case, their skincare products had a unique packaging where it would dispense the exact amount of product. 

It’s the simple, well-designed, and little things that capture people’s attention.  👀