In 2024, Saie debuted an IRL masterclass program, which, at the time, it took to New York, Toronto and London, inviting creators and community members alike. Now, two-and-a-half years later, it is launching The Makeup Class, an ongoing series of digital programming meant to bring education to its community on a wider scale.
“This was [about] us continuing to scale,” said founder and CEO Laney Crowell. “Obviously, in-person can only go so far. Hosting [this programming] online is a way for us to reach more people, because the demand continues to increase.”
Crowell said the impetus for an educational platform came about organically when one of her friends shared her lack of knowledge about doing makeup. “She was like, ‘I don’t know how to place blush, I don’t know how to curl my lashes. I don’t know how to do these very basic things,’ which I honestly had started taking for granted. … When I really started chatting with other people, this was like an 80% of the population problem,” Crowell said.
The program, launched on May 21, has been well-received. “The best compliment I’ve received after [a class] is someone saying their morning went from being very stressful while getting ready to being a moment of self-care,” Crowell said. “Just that little bit of empowerment can completely change your relationship with your morning routine.”
According to Stevie Nelson, Saie’s senior director of global education, the programming goes back to basics in a way social media tutorials do not. “[We’re teaching what someone might] have learned the first time they ever touched makeup, because for a lot of people, it’s not intuitive; it doesn’t just come with practice,” she said. “There needs to be a little bit more hand-holding, so we’re there to provide that support in a very simple way, and to take away the complication or intimidation factor of makeup.”
Most sessions will be hosted by Nelson or Shain Kish, the brand’s director of makeup artistry. Saie plans to host one to five makeup classes a month, depending, in part, on its launch calendar. For example, in August, it will launch in a new, frequently confusing category and will leverage The Makeup Class programming to help demystify the products for its community. The Makeup Class program is additive to the brand’s existing marketing and will not replace any previous initiatives.
The first iteration of the new makeup class focused on “Special Requests,” or Saie customers’ frequently asked questions. According to a brand spokesperson, it generated 803 total views, with a nearly even split between live viewers (414) and post-live replay viewers (389), which indicated demand for evergreen educational content, even when it’s not delivered live. The majority of sales occurred after the event. The platform drove nearly $6,000 in sales across 66 orders, with the majority coming from mobile. Viewers spent an average of 16 minutes engaged with the one-hour-and-eight-minute-long experience. The next class, titled “Boy Makeup 101,” will take place on June 10. Moving forward, the brand plans to deliver classes focused on mature skin, various other “101” themes, such as “Blush 101,” and beauty trends.
Saie is using a video commerce platform called Videowise. Its software displays the products being used alongside the screen, allowing participants to shop while they stream. It also implements AI to aggregate common themes among the questions it receives from viewers. Saie can then use those insights to inform other marketing efforts. Based on what the AI determines are the most-asked-about topics, the brand may follow up with a dedicated newsletter to its entire community or translate the requested information into a how-to on TikTok, Crowell said.
In preparation for the launch of The Makeup Class, Saie invested in an in-office studio, which Nelson said was inspired by Chanel and its “timelessness.” It features vintage chairs and a custom trunk to hold all of the brand’s products. In designing the studio, Nelson said the team considered how to create an elevated experience that they would still be proud of even “five years down the line.” This was important because Videowise allows for Saie to archive its content; past videos can be found on the brand’s e-commerce site. “We know that not everyone’s going to be able to attend each class, and we want people to [be able to] go back [and find the] topic they’re looking for,” she said.
The classes are free to attend, but the brand is implementing “purchase motivators,” as Nelson put it, such as “a small discount code that is only available for two hours after the show.”
“In the future, we’ll have gifts with purchase, … but really, we’re doing this to be an accessible source of education for our community who so desperately wants it and needs it,” Nelson said. Saie has 749,000 Instagram followers and 994,000 TikTok followers. It is promoting The Makeup Class through its newsletters, social media and paid ads.
When asked whether the brand intends to attract new customers through The Makeup Class, Crowell said they are instead aimed at supporting the brand’s existing community.
“People fall in love with our products in [these classes]. They tell their friends about them and they tell their friends to join [them], and I think it’s a very sticky customer who comes,” she said. “People like to bop around from brand to brand [nowadays]. Loyalty has decreased. [But] when you are teaching and educating with products in hand, and empowering someone, and completely changing the way they feel about how they do their makeup every day, you’re going to create a completely different lifetime value with that customer; you’re going to create a different brand affinity for them. They immediately become a superfan.”
