Brand
Stephanie Ledda: Breaking Into the Fragrance Industry With Her Audience by Her Side
Who Is Stephanie Ledda?
Stephanie Ledda boasts of a long history as a beauty influencer, amassing 1.12 million subscribers on her YouTube channel SMLx0. Throughout her career, Ledda has built up a vast knowledge of business strategy, as seen by her affluent wine brand Esemelle as well as her latest premium fragrance. Ledda begins by explaining the origins of her channel.
“I’ve been doing this for a really long time. I started my YouTube channel in December of 2009 so it’s been over a decade and I started before influencing was even a thing. I just was into watching YouTube videos at the time and was bored in my college dorm room. It just started out as a hobby and turned into something that I would never have imagined.”
The beauty influencer continues to describe how she became interested in fragrances, helping to put her mark on such a lucrative industry.
“I do a lot of beauty content but I also started doing fragrance videos and I noticed that they were performing really well. Not only with the views, but people were purchasing the products that I was linking. Fragrance is just a passion of mine that I’ve always had so it just seemed natural for me to come out with my own.”
Using the Influencer Mindset as an Entrepreneur
Her fragrance brand LEDDA, uses a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) manufacturing model, helping customers to gain a more personalized shopping experience as well as a sense of exclusivity. Her debut scent, 22 Orris compiles a wealth of pristine elements to help create a truly luxurious perfume.
“Orris is a very unique scent and it is not in a lot of fragrances. It has just this unique buttery quality. It’s also one of the most expensive ingredients to work with, which is probably why it’s not that common but it’s truly unique.”
Stephanie Ledda also explores her other sources of inspiration when producing this fragrance.
“22 comes from a few different things. It’s the year 2022 but also we were playing around with different oil percentages of the fragrance and ultimately, we landed on 22%. For those who may not know, if you alter the percentage of the oil, it can completely change the scent. The final reason was because 22 Orris sounds a lot like 22 hours, which on the military clock is 10 pm. That lends itself to how the scent is really sensual and appropriate for date night.”
Ledda continues to describe the key smells and attributes that arise from using this product.
“Now that people are getting their bottles, everybody describes it a little bit differently. I would say that it’s fresh, yet warm, a little bit musky, and a little bit sweet. It’s so many things and I think that’s what makes it a good signature scent because it’s not too much of any of those things. It’s the perfect unique combination.”
Marketing Products in the Age of Social Media
After building such an engaged and devoted audience, Stephanie Ledda knew that in order to boost awareness of her product, she needed to rely on a collection of social media marketing tactics.
“Everything has been strictly on social media and I’ve just been relying on the content that I’ve been creating. I’ve been fortunate enough that a lot of influencers that I’ve gifted it to have shared it. We are not doing any paid posts right now but people have just been organically creating content for me, which I really appreciate. I feel like that goes a long way, especially when people see that it wasn’t an AD and people are really loving it. I think word-of-mouth is really the best thing right now as we grow.”
Stephanie Ledda also gives an insight into the popularity of Orris 22 and how its success has already exceeded her expectations.
“We’ve definitely exceeded the goal that we had in mind and I am honestly blown away. It’s kind of tricky in the fragrance world because we’re not in a store right now so I wasn’t really sure if people were really going to make the purchase but it’s been awesome.”
Utilizing Brand Partnerships for Success
LEDDA’s overnight success was due to a plethora of brand partnerships, showcasing the impact that influencer marketing can have on the development of a growing business.
“I’ve been working with Runway and they have been helping with brand development. I also have Talent Acts, which is my management team. They’ve both been really helpful for me navigating this whole thing because I don’t really know the business side of things so it’s always helpful to get more insight and connections.”
The influencer also expresses her pride for the brand and how she sees it as one of her greatest achievements yet.
“This is like a dream come true. To be able to create a brand that I’m so passionate about and I’ve been collecting fragrances for years to be able to have my own. Seeing it on my shelf and on other people’s shelves has just been surreal for me.”
Planning for LEDDA’s Bright Future
Despite being pregnant, Stephanie Ledda shows no signs of slowing down, especially when it comes to growing her brand. She concludes by sharing her plans for success in 2023.
“We are definitely working on future fragrances. We have a lot of different styles and categories that we want to touch on so we are working on that for 2023 and I’m really excited about that.”
