Arata Marketing Strategy: How a Clean Beauty Brand Built a Loyal D2C Tribe

Before diving into the marketing strategy of Arata, I would like to inform you that the research and initial analysis for this piece were conducted by Aadyasha Satrusallya. She is a current student in IIDE's Online Digital Marketing course (January 2025).

If you found this case study on Arata's marketing strategy, feel free to reach out to Aadyasha Satrusallya on Linkedin to send a quick note of appreciation for her fantastic research.

About Arata

Founded in 2018 by friends Dhruv Madhok and Dhruv Bhasin, Arata was born from a personal need for safe and effective hair products. What started as a homemade flaxseed gel quickly evolved into a full-fledged brand offering a wide range of clean personal care products. With a foundation rooted in radical transparency and clean ingredients, Arata champions sustainability and efficacy.

Originally a D2C brand, Arata expanded to platforms like Nykaa, Amazon, and Blinkit, reaching over 1.5 million customers annually. Their mission is simple: foster a toxin-free lifestyle by building trust, educating consumers, and delivering high-performance clean beauty.

Marketing Objective or Business Challenge

Arata's biggest hurdle was carving out credibility in a saturated beauty market dominated by legacy FMCG giants. Their goals included:

1. Building Trust: 

Arata builds trust by openly sharing its all-natural, eco-friendly ingredients and promoting authenticity through founder-led content. User-generated content (UGC) showcases real customer experiences, reinforcing credibility. The brand highlights certifications like cruelty-free and vegan badges, ensuring customers feel confident in their choices. Additionally, Arata offers a hassle-free return policy to further enhance trust.

2. Educating the Market: 

Arata educates its audience with ingredient explainers that demystify the science behind their products. The brand debunks myths with easy-to-understand content and uses label decoders to make product ingredients more transparent. Interactive quizzes map individual concerns to tailored skincare routines, while short how-to videos demonstrate proper product use. This creates a knowledgeable and engaged customer base.

3. Driving Acquisition: 

To efficiently acquire new customers, Arata repurposes UGC into targeted ads that highlight real-life results. Google Ads capture high-intent searches, while Meta platforms drive larger-scale visibility. Bundles and referral programs help cut down Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), offering value while encouraging word-of-mouth marketing. Optimized landing pages align with ad messaging to boost conversions and provide a seamless experience.

4. Repositioning: 

Arata is broadening its brand identity from curl care to a full personal care line, guided by user concerns such as skin hydration and anti-aging. This shift is supported by easy-to-navigate website features, allowing users to find products suited to their unique needs. New SKUs and updated packaging reflect a more inclusive approach, appealing to a wider audience. Expanding collaborations with diverse creators and PR strategies ensures Arata resonates with a larger market.

Marketing Channels & Strategies Used by Arata

Arata's digital-first approach spans several high-impact channels:

1. Influencer Marketing

Arata handpicked creators who already spoke about clean beauty. Briefs asked for ingredient education, routines, and outcomes instead of hard sells. Macro creators drove discovery. Micro and nano creators built trust through repeat mentions, affiliate links, and creator storefronts. Arata whitelisted top posts and secured usage rights so those videos could run as ads and live on product pages.

2. Content Marketing

Arata built an education hub with ingredient explainers, myth busters, and how-to tutorials tied to real concerns like frizz and dandruff. Each article linked to routines and matching SKUs. Launch calendars paired new drops with search-friendly guides, comparison checklists, and FAQs to convert curiosity into trials.

3. Social Media Marketing

On Instagram and YouTube, Arata ran short demos, routine breakdowns, and “decode your label” series. The founder appeared on camera to humanize the brand. UGC prompts invited before and after posts. Saveable carousels, pinned comments, and reply videos turned questions into content and nudged viewers to the site.

4. Performance Marketing

Arata used Meta for creative testing and prospecting, then retargeted with reviews, bundles, and limited offers. Creator videos were repurposed as conversion ads. On Google, Arata captured problem queries and brand searches, and used Shopping and Performance Max for always-on demand. Landing pages matched the ad promise and stacked social proof.

5. Email Marketing

Arata set up lifecycle flows. Welcome with quiz results and first picks. Post-purchase with care tips and cross-sell routines. Replenishment timed to product usage. Win-back with fresh content before discounts. Segments used behavior and concern tags so messages felt personal, often from the founder in plain text.

6. SEO

Arata organized topic clusters around clean beauty and ingredient keywords. Pillar pages answered search intent with definitions, benefits, routines, comparisons, and FAQs. Internal links pointed to tutorials and PDPs. Schema and fast pages helped snippets and rankings, which lowered paid dependence over time.

7. Omni-channel Expansion

Arata kept D2C as the hub, then scaled reach through Amazon, Nykaa, and Flipkart. Quick commerce on Zepto and Blinkit covered urgent needs and trials. Packaging included QR codes to routines and care guides that pulled shoppers back to owned channels. Reviews from marketplaces fed creative for ads and PDPs, keeping the loop tight.

Arata Marketing Strategy Breakdown: Influencer-Led Success

1. Educator Brand Positioning:

Creators were briefed to teach, not pitch. They decoded labels, explained key ingredients, and showed simple routines with expected timelines and patch-test reminders. CTAs focused on learning first, then trying a routine that matched the concern.

2. Multi-Tiered Influencer Mix:

Big names like Taapsee Pannu sparked reach during major launches, while macro creators built broad awareness and micro or nano creators nurtured trust in niche communities. Arata secured usage rights and whitelisting so standout posts could be amplified beyond the creator’s feed.

3. UGC and Community Building:

Arata turned customers and creators into an always-on content engine. Long-term partnerships, affiliate links, and private creator groups kept relationships warm. Before-after posts, routine diaries, and review snippets were reposted with credit on social, PDPs, and email to close the trust loop.

4. Founder Visibility:

The founder showed up regularly on YouTube and Shorts with Q&As, product backstories, and ingredient explainers. Clips were repurposed to Instagram for reach, then embedded on PDPs to boost time on page and answer objections right where purchase decisions happen.

5. Strategic Giveaways:

Rules were simple: follow the brand, tag friends, and share a story. The prize was a routine bundle, so entries came from real buyers. Winners were announced clearly and sent to a page to enter their email and main concern, which helped future targeting.

6. Content to Ad Loop:

High-performing UGC was recut into ads with fast hooks, captions, and proof points. Meta handled prospecting and retargeting, YouTube and Google captured intent, and creative learnings fed back into briefs. Best creators were moved to always-on whitelisted ads to scale what already worked.

Need an omnichannel benchmark? Review Nykaa’s Marketing strategy linking site, app, and retail with SEO topic clusters, creator partnerships, and conversion ads.

Results & Impact

• Reached over 1.5 million customers.
• Achieved ₹72 crore ARR.
• Raised $4M in Series A (Unilever Ventures & L'Oréal BOLD).
• Shark Tank India appearance boosted national awareness.
• UGC and customer testimonials flourished across platforms.
• Strong media presence in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and YourStory.

What Worked & Why

• Authenticity: Founders' story resonated. Arata’s transparent approach, driven by the founders' personal journey, built trust and made the brand feel authentic and relatable.
  
  
• Niche Focus Before Scaling: Dominated curly hair segment first. By focusing on the curly hair community, Arata established itself as the go-to brand, creating a loyal customer base before expanding to other segments.
  
  
• Educator Flywheel: Empowered customers through knowledge. Arata positioned itself as an educator, providing valuable insights on ingredients and debunking myths, which helped build trust and loyalty.
  
  
• Influencer Ad Synergy: Boosted ad performance using authentic creator content. Influencer-generated content, when repurposed for ads, enhanced engagement and boosted performance, creating a strong synergy between organic and paid strategies.

What Didn’t Work & Why

Arata's initial over-focus on the curly hair segment, while helping them dominate that niche, limited their broader market reach.

This early strategic choice highlights the importance of balancing niche expertise with the need for expansion into other personal care categories.

As they broaden their product offerings, Arata has learned to balance deep specialisation with a more inclusive approach to reach a wider audience.

IIDE Student Recommendations: Key Areas for Brand Improvement

1. Hyper-Personalised CRM

Arata can use customer data to create tailored messaging and personalised product recommendations based on preferences and purchase history, boosting loyalty and repeat purchases.

2. Ambassador & Affiliate Program

Introducing a tiered Ambassador & Affiliate Program would incentivise loyal customers and influencers, offering rewards, commissions, and exclusive access to foster brand advocacy and expand reach.

3. Regional Content Strategy

By creating region-specific content in local languages and collaborating with influencers from Tier-2/3 cities, Arata can expand its reach and strengthen its connection with a wider audience.

4. Offline Community Events

Hosting workshops and clean beauty summits in major cities will deepen brand loyalty, offering consumers hands-on experiences and creating buzz through social interactions.

5. Content Expansion

Expanding content to include wellness topics like nutrition, sleep, and sustainability will position Arata as a holistic brand, providing more engagement opportunities and reinforcing its commitment to overall well-being.