Rather than encouraging Tupperware parties and other customer-driven marketing plans like those that happened in the 90s, today companies are encouraging their customers to promote products via social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat in the social media era.
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The evolution of direct sales is reflected in the online promotion of products like One Two Lash, left, and Lash Boost. Credit Tony Cenicola/The New York Times The pitch comes in the form of before and after photos posted to Facebook or Instagram by a woman you know. The focus is on her eyes, specifically her eyelashes, which at first appear ordinary and untouched — a stark contrast from a picture taken weeks later, when they look long and thick. Mascara magnifies the effect in another snapshot.
Such pictures have increasingly populated social media this year from women selling an eyelash enhancing serum from Rodan & Fields, a skin care company that distributes most of its products through independent “consultants.” One might expect the average woman to be skeptical about the idea of applying a little-known liquid to her eyelids every night in hopes of longer lashes a month later, especially without a prescription. It is the kind of thing that, if seen on a television infomercial, might be skipped without a second thought.
Read More: | In Social Media Era, Selfies Are the New Tupperware Party | New York Times | http://nyti.ms/2voBYDz