State of AI Apps Report 2025 is Live!
Abraham Yousef · March 2023
Pathmatics Spotlight: Beauty
Ulta Beauty and Sephora increased their US digital marketing spend YoY each quarter during the pandemic, resulting in increased monthly impressions and reported sales, according to Pathmatics by Sensor Tower data. While total digital ad spend continues to grow, channel mix is changing, with Facebook losing share to Instagram, and TikTok and Snapchat gaining share of ad spend for the two beauty apps in 2022. The growth in advertising spend likely helped to drive traffic to Ulta’s and Sephora’s mobile apps, with downloads rising for both.
Key Takeaways:
During the peak of the pandemic in 2H20 and continuing through 2022, both Ulta Beauty and LVMH-owned Sephora increased their US digital marketing spend YoY each quarter, per Pathmatics by Sensor Tower data, and saw a commensurate increase in both monthly impressions and reported sales
While total digital ad spend continues to grow, channel mix is changing. In 2019, advertising spend skewed to Facebook for both Ulta and Sephora, though Facebook has been losing share of these retailers’ advertising budget since then to its sister channel, Instagram, according to PT by ST estimates
TikTok and Snapchat have also gained share of ad spend for the two beauty apps in 2022, while Video (Desktop and Mobile) and Display (Desktop and Mobile) lost share; notably, TikTok appears to be the leading social media platform for beauty influencers to reach the broadest audience
The growth in advertising spend and related rise in impressions likely helped to drive traffic to Ulta’s and Sephora’s mobile apps, with downloads rising for both, per Sensor Tower data
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
Written by: Abraham Yousef, Senior Insights Analyst
Date: March 2023