Leo的恒河沙

Beauty App Targets Men's Wallets#

Omnivore#

This article is from the WeChat official account: Baijing Chuhai (ID: baijingApp), Author: Zhao Siyao, Editor: Yin Guanxiao, Original Title: "Opening Men's Wallets, This App Has Earned Over 2 Million in Revenue in Its Third Month Online", Cover Image from: Visual China

A beauty scoring app called Umax - Become Hot has generated over $2 million in revenue in just three months since its launch, attracting a large number of male users to download and use it.

• 💰 Umax - Become Hot has had over 800,000 downloads for two consecutive months, indicating the demand for beauty among male users.

• 💼 The male beauty market has enormous potential, with the global men's personal care market expected to reach approximately $115 billion by 2028.

• 📈 Umax has successfully attracted users and increased downloads through advertising and the release of short videos.

In terms of spending power, women > children > elderly > dogs > men—this viewpoint, which was once a popular internet meme, has only been overturned in a few areas. However, recently we have discovered an app that is highly popular among men and has achieved unexpected success.

With nearly a million downloads for two consecutive months, is the beauty app targeting male users?

Umax - Become Hot is a beauty scoring app. Users upload photos of their faces, and the system analyzes and scores their attractiveness, then provides targeted suggestions for improvement and encourages users to make changes, ultimately helping them enhance their appearance.

Umax was launched at the end of November 2023 and currently only offers an iOS version. Although its revenue is not very high, with $285,000 in in-app purchases in February, equivalent to 2.05 million RMB, its download numbers have been impressive. Since January 2024, it has achieved over 800,000 downloads worldwide for two consecutive months.

Global monthly download trend for Umax｜Source: Dots Data

Coincidentally, we have also seen a beauty scoring app on the top download charts in Japan. The difference between the two is that Umax primarily targets male users, while another app called Facescore is more focused on female users, as evident from its user interface. Surprisingly, in terms of both downloads and revenue, male users have made a comeback.

From the screenshots of Umax, when a male user uploads a makeup-free photo of their face for the first time, the system provides the current attractiveness score and potential score, giving the user an expectation of improvement. In addition, the system breaks down the overall situation and scores factors that may affect male attractiveness, such as masculinity, skin condition, jawline, and cheekbones, and formulates a transformation plan, such as suggesting denser facial hair, weight loss, and skincare.

During the execution of the plan, users can upload progress photos at any time and have the system score them again to see their competitiveness. According to the screenshots of the Umax app, after the user's transformation, they will look neat, charming, and attractive, just like a "gambling king."

In fact, beauty apps have implemented similar functions early on, using images and AI to help people identify skin problems and recommend cosmetics. However, these apps did not perform well and shifted their focus to providing software services for beauty salons. Now, they have developed into a source of revenue. There are also many similar beauty evaluation and management apps, but it is quite surprising that Umax, which targets male users, has achieved some success.

The demand for male beauty has become a daily routine, but the approach is different from that of women.

If you are a user of Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), you have probably come across posts about "listening to advice," where Chinese and foreign users seek advice from netizens to transform their appearance and temperament. In fact, the first person to popularize these "listening to advice" posts was a male user named Xiao Ai.

In December 2021, Xiao Ai posted a question on Xiaohongshu asking for advice on why he couldn't find a partner. He received sharp suggestions from netizens.

Just like the tag he used, "No More Disappointment Transformation Plan," after about three months, he underwent significant changes in weight, hairstyle, skin condition, and dressing style, creating a real-life version of a satisfying drama where an ordinary man transforms himself.

After that, there were more and more "listening to advice" posts on Xiaohongshu, and many users like Xiao Ai emerged. In January of this year, a Chinese creator named Dr. Candise Chinese Tutor posted multiple short videos on TikTok, introducing the phenomenon of Chinese people listening to advice and transforming their appearance on Xiaohongshu. One of the videos received over 4 million views. As a result, in February, foreigners started registering Xiaohongshu accounts, using tags, and collectively requesting "advice."

Among these foreign "listening to advice" posts, there are also male users. According to my manual statistics, these male users come from various countries, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Japan, and Australia. A Xiaohongshu user from Germany named Kiwi told me that he downloaded Xiaohongshu a long time ago but never posted anything. It was not until he saw a video introducing "listening to advice" while browsing overseas that he found the suggestions useful and decided to post his first article. Another user named Zac from the United States told me that he posted a "listening to advice" post not to follow trends or increase traffic but simply to see if he could receive objective advice.

The demand for male beauty may be higher than we imagine, and it is not limited to specific regions.

Taking men's personal care as an example, Statista data shows that the global men's personal care market was approximately $79.6 billion in 2022, and it is expected to reach $115 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 56.37%.

Changes in the men's personal care market (2022-2028 estimate)｜Source: Statista

Let's explore the demand for male beauty in different markets through some numbers.

1. A survey by Ipsos in 2022 titled "There's a market for men's cosmetics—and a generation gap" shows that among the surveyed heterosexual men aged 18-34 in the United States, 68% are currently using beauty products or cosmetics. 57% of the 18-34 age group consider skincare and beauty important.

Beauty and cosmetic usage among heterosexual men in the United States｜Source: There's a market for men's cosmetics—and a generation gap

2. Data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) shows that the number of male cosmetic procedures in 2022 increased by 207% compared to 2019. Male breast reduction and liposuction are the most popular procedures among men.

3. Guo Xiruo, the founder of MoldBreaking, a service provider for beauty brands entering Japan, told us that hair removal for men is a common phenomenon in Japan, and related services are well-developed.

4. According to Statista, in 2021, Korean men use an average of seven beauty products in their daily routines.

I asked six young men around me about their experiences with self-improvement and found that the focus and mindset of men and women when it comes to beauty are quite different:

1. The goal of self-improvement is more specific, and they prefer straightforward advice. The surveyed men unanimously stated that they do not browse beauty-related posts on social media on a daily basis. They only search online (previously on Zhihu, now on Xiaohongshu/Bilibili) or seek help from their girlfriends, female friends, or mothers when they have a specific need for self-improvement. The motivation to improve themselves can arise from minor issues that need quick solutions, such as oily skin or the need for new clothes, or from the desire to achieve a specific goal, such as finding a partner.

2. Information sources are relatively limited. Several male users mentioned that they rarely discuss self-improvement topics with people around them. They also understand why there is less content on social media targeting male self-improvement, as men themselves are less likely to share on social media (relatively speaking). Although there are already many online posts about male self-improvement, covering skincare to hairstyling, they are still far less abundant and specific compared to content aimed at women.

3. Their approach to self-improvement is more straightforward and different. For example, one male user said that when he wants to find skincare products, he searches for "men's skincare" instead of using more specific keywords like "facial cleanser for oily skin." When I asked several male friends about the order of self-improvement priorities, they placed hairstyle and physique before facial appearance. Some even believed that they should focus on hairstyle and dressing style first, considering improving their physique as an advanced step. Contrary to the previous data, Peeta said, "We usually focus on our hairstyle before paying attention to our face."

Overall, although the demand for male beauty is increasing, male users seem to be less interested in "researching" how to improve their appearance and often lack a systematic approach. This may explain why Umax, which uses scores as an evaluation criterion, has attracted nearly a million downloads per month among male users.

However, I believe that Umax's success will not last long.

Can an app targeting male beauty sustain itself?

Umax's daily download trend in the US｜Source: Dots Data

According to Dots Data, Umax experienced a significant increase in daily downloads from January 22nd to the end of January, followed by a decline. During this week, Umax took two actions. First, on January 22nd, it launched a concentrated advertising campaign, and second, on January 23rd, its TikTok account released a video that received much higher views than Umax's previous posts, gaining some attention. These two actions led to a rapid increase in app downloads.

Umax only ran ads on January 22nd｜Source: Dots Data

On January 22nd, Umax bid on 161 keywords, covering as many relevant hot topics as possible, such as TikTok, AI, scan, face, attract, jawline, etc. Among them, the brand keyword Umax and "App functionality + hot keywords," such as looksmax ai, accounted for more than 10% of the bidding proportion.

Umax's bidding keywords on January 22nd｜Source: Dots Data

The day after running ads, Umax's TikTok account had its most successful video, with over 500,000 views. All the videos Umax posted on TikTok revolve around male transformation, introducing app features or answering user questions.

On January 23rd, a video comparing a male user's appearance before and after using Umax received the most attention. This user showed the most noticeable difference, similar to the impact of "listening to advice + transformation showcase" posts, and the comments section of this video was filled with users expressing their astonishment and sharing their referral codes.

Umax's most successful video, before and after comparison of male user's appearance｜Source: TikTok screenshot

Users who obtain referral codes can view their scores for free, which is another way Umax promotes user growth within the app.

After users upload photos of their faces, they need to subscribe to the app to view their scores or invite three friends to register for the app in exchange for one free score viewing opportunity. To view competitiveness scores, users also need to upgrade to a membership or pay for a one-time score viewing. If users want to use the app for free, they need to invite five friends.

As mentioned earlier, men are less likely to seek advice from their peers when it comes to improving their appearance, and information is relatively closed off. It is difficult for a male user to invite friends around him to view scores. However, the comments section of TikTok videos provides an excellent opportunity for them to invite new users.

After Umax's combination of strategies took effect, the app reached its peak download volume on January 24th. However, since then, Umax has not run any more search ads. Instead, a few influential TikTok users have recommended the app through short videos, and those with higher traffic still follow the script of "men becoming handsome and attracting others/finding a partner."

Nevertheless, after the end of January, Umax's daily download volume declined and stabilized. On one hand, Umax proactively adjusted the app's exposure and reduced advertising efforts. On the other hand, after the influx of users, Umax also exposed some issues.

From a female perspective, after experiencing Umax, I found that the app's UI is unattractive, the scoring mechanism is hasty, and the suggestions provided are too general and not practical. However, Umax has surprisingly received a high rating of 4.6 on the App Store.

After browsing user reviews, I found that the 4.6 rating is somewhat misleading. It is worth noting that some male users find Umax useful. App Store reviews show that some users were not aware that they could enhance their masculinity by developing a stronger jawline before using Umax. This kind of guidance is too basic for female users, once again demonstrating the difference in perception between men and women when it comes to self-improvement.

However, among approximately 200 user reviews, many users gave 5-star ratings but left dissatisfied comments. Some users stated, "I left a good review just to let you see it, but the experience of your app is terrible." Dissatisfied comments mainly focused on feeling that they wasted money after paying or complaining that the benefits after paying were insufficient, such as being able to scan their face only once a week or receiving the same suggestions after following the guidance on eyebrow shaping.

Negative reviews under Umax's 5-star rating｜Source: Dots Data

Some users also shared on X that they paid out of curiosity to see their scores. In February, Umax's revenue was approximately $285,000, and the lowest subscription package is $3.99 per week. According to Dots Data, users who purchased the $3.99 per week package accounted for 71% of total paying users. Self-improvement is a long process, and such a large proportion of users choosing the cheapest weekly package indicates that they want to test the waters first. However, if the experience is mediocre, they will inevitably lose the desire to continue paying.

Nevertheless, Umax's developers seem to enjoy targeting male users. According to LinkedIn, Anderson, the developer of Umax, previously developed an AI wingman app that helps male users increase their success rate on dating and socializing apps. If Umax can leverage its insights into the male user group and iterate the app specifically for men, different results may be achieved. At least the download numbers indicate that there is still demand in the market.

This article is from the WeChat official account: Baijing Chuhai (ID: baijingApp), Author: Zhao Siyao, Editor: Yin Guanxiao