e.l.f. Beauty, a budget-friendly makeup company relying on social media advertising and user-generated content for sales, has revised its fiscal outlook for the rest of the year due to the impact of LA wildfires and concerns over the looming TikTok ban. Despite posting strong third-quarter results, the company attributes a 20% decline in social conversions to the distractions caused by these factors.
CEO Tarang Amin blames December’s promotions and consumer focus on the wildfires and uncertainty around TikTok for the slowdown. He notes that consumers were more focused on the devastating LA fires and speculation about TikTok’s future, leading to reduced social sharing of e.l.f Beauty content.
The company had previously expected a 28%-to-30% year-over-year increase in net sales but now estimates a 27%-to-28% growth. This downward revision is attributed to two key factors: the wildfires and concerns over TikTok’s future, which led to decreased social media conversation and conversions.
In contrast to this, e.l.f Beauty continues to capitalize on user-generated content and other social media marketing strategies. The company has consistently been recognized for its innovative UGC and social media campaigns. However, with uncertainty surrounding TikTok, the brand experienced a decline in social media engagement, including influencers confessing to lies they made about their followers.
Despite this, Amin anticipates that social media conversation will normalize moving into the next quarter as the wildfire is over and some of the TikTok uncertainty has cleared up. e.l.f Beauty still managed to post a healthy quarter, with net sales growing by 31% to $355.3 million.
The company’s preparedness for tariffs, including implementing a balanced playbook with selective price increases, cost savings, and supplier concessions, also played a role in its strong quarterly performance.
Source: https://fortune.com/2025/02/08/elf-beauty-ceo-tarang-amin-blames-fiscal-outlook-tiktok-ban-wildfires-social-media-conversions