Haus Labs' Director of Social Media, Connie Cheng, on Brand Strategy, Creator Programs, and UGC 'It Girls'

Haus Labs' Director of Social Media shares the journey from hitting reset to crafting a strategy that sparks user-generated content and fuels authentic engagement.

Connie Cheng is the creative force behind Haus Labs' social media, bringing experience from Rose Inc. and Tarte Cosmetics. In this candid conversation with RoarOS' Mekhi Simpson, Connie shares how she helped transform Haus Labs' online identity and reveals the innovative, creator-led approach fueling their standout UGC content.

Q: Haus Labs cleared their social media pages to do a hard reset on content and strategy. How do you now approach social media strategy differently than before?

Connie: Right now, we have a clearer brand identity because of Katharina Korbjuhn, our Chief Brand Officer, on what the brand vision is. We've been working with creators who are more lifestyle-oriented but still playful. We realized that lifestyle content does very well for us, which is something that we really keep in mind when we work with creators. If you look, we get a lot of weekly UGC content now and plan to post four times a week. We create very detailed briefs, send content or products to them, and we want to continue doing that.

Q: Based on the UGC program data that Haus Labs receives weekly, what metrics or quantitative data do you listen to now more than before the reset?

Connie: Engagement rate, comparing pre-wipe to post-wipe, we actually noticed an important pattern: content from the outside does much better than at home. A while ago, we did a contour stick and had people on the streets applying it to convey that the product is effortless. This strategy did way better than someone filming it at home.

Q: As a product-first brand, do you think focusing on designing postable products is a strategy that works — a product that feels effortless for consumers to share organically? And do you work with creators who post about Haus Labs online?

Connie: Creating a product that can do that is amazing and really smart. In fact, the best brand that did it was Rhode with their iPhone case. It just went viral, and influencers would take pictures of it, which in turn gave the brand free content. So I thought that was really smart of them.

For social, we want to highlight new faces, and what's really cool is working with these new creators. They would try foundation for the first time and end up really liking it, so they keep using it. But Megan Kurtz, our influencer manager, she's really good at finding partnerships where people have used the brand before. So it's a balance of both fresh faces and creators who we know love our product. And I love working with creators — I think it shows that the relationship is authentic.

Q: Authenticity is an important value among Gen Z and Gen Alpha. How do you balance authenticity when choosing to collaborate with smaller creators compared to bigger, well-known creators?

Connie: For creators, it's kind of more like the 'it' girls we want to show on our feed, because I think that helps brands with credibility. If I go to a new brand and I see all these notable creators, I'm like, "Oh, this brand is cool, these faces I know."

But for our growth team, they work with a lot of smaller creators for budgetary reasons, and even when they're smaller, they still drive a lot of value — sometimes more than bigger creators. I don't think the follower count really matters to me; it's more about whether they fit the brand aesthetic. They can have only a thousand followers, and that's okay, as long as their content is great and it looks good on our social media. There are many rules to be posted.

Q: What are some of the general rules that you have for collaborating with creators?

Connie: I would say always show the products before applying, and the logo can't be mirror-imaged — it has to read forward as you're looking at it, so it doesn't appear backwards on camera. No robes, no headbands, no makeup wall, and a cleaner background. The application and use have to be impactful.