How FlutterHabit uses its 46,000-member Facebook group for product development
When FlutterHabit started casting for its latest ad campaign earlier this year, the lash brand didn’t turn to agencies or professional models. Instead, it asked members of its 46,000-person private Facebook group to submit photos and applications for a chance to become the new faces of the brand.
The company received thousands of submissions but ultimately selected three longtime customers from the group, known as the FlutterHabit Family, to appear in the campaign. Applicants were asked to share photos, explain how long they had been customers and talk about their favorite lash styles. The company also considered proximity to its Dallas office when making selections.
“It was really people who were excited about being part of this campaign, and who had been customers for a very long time,” said Sabeen Mian, president of Performance Beauty Group, whose brands include Grande Cosmetics, FlutterHabit and Lilly Lashes. “Loyalty was definitely a factor.”
The photoshoot took place in January, and the resulting digital campaign promoted the Facebook group itself. In one Instagram post tied to the campaign, FlutterHabit told followers: “Next time, it could be you. Join our FlutterHabit Family Facebook Group via [link] in bio.”
This is just one example of how FlutterHabit uses its private Facebook community to help shape the business. The group has become a place where the brand tests product ideas, gathers customer feedback, revives retired lash styles and sources marketing content directly from longtime shoppers. In some cases, customer requests inside the group have directly influenced which products FlutterHabit decides to launch or bring back.
The group was originally started by founder Kasey Jackson roughly seven years ago as a place for FlutterHabit customers to connect. Since then, it has evolved into what Mian described as an engaged community where customers exchange advice, troubleshoot problems and weigh in on future products.
“You can ask any question on this Facebook group, and you’re going to get responses, rapid fire,” Mian said.
The company increasingly uses feedback from the group to guide product decisions before launches happen. Instead of relying solely on internal product and marketing teams to predict which styles customers will want, FlutterHabit now treats the Facebook group as a testing ground.
“It’s the perfect focus group for us,” Mian said.
In 2024, the company launched its first “FlutterHabit Family Edit” collection after gathering feedback from members about what they considered the ideal lash style. Customers weighed in on everything from lash volume and shape to design preferences based on existing products.
“We basically took every piece of feedback that the community was giving us about what they thought was the perfect lash style,” Mian said.
The resulting limited-edition products sold out quickly. Mian estimated the first round sold out within about a week before the company rushed to restock the collection.
The success encouraged FlutterHabit to repeat the concept. The company launched additional community-inspired styles in 2025 and continued using the group to determine which retired products should return.
“We do listen and bring it back,” Mian said of discontinued lash styles that repeatedly generate demand inside the Facebook group.
Some of the company’s strongest launches have emerged directly from those conversations. According to company data shared with Modern Retail, FlutterHabit’s 2023 “Birth Flower” collection — a lineup of 12 lash styles inspired by each month of the year — sold out after gaining traction within the Facebook group. Following the launch, the company rereleased more than seven of the styles due to sustained customer demand.
Two of those styles, Snowdrop, now renamed The Bestie, and Waterlily, eventually became two of FlutterHabit’s 10 best-selling lashes of all time. Each has sold out more than 10 times, according to the company.
Brad Jashinsky, director analyst at Gartner, said the strategy is essentially a modern version of traditional focus groups, but built on existing social platforms.
“It’s a newer spin on something that has been around for a long time,” Jashinsky said. “Being able to do it digitally and utilizing off-the-shelf tools like Facebook groups makes it a lot more approachable for smaller brands.”
He said Facebook groups can be especially appealing for smaller consumer brands because many customers are already active on the platform, making the communities relatively inexpensive and easy to manage.
“It’s very easy and low cost for them to create this,” Jashinsky said. “It’s really easy for those customers to join those groups, too.”
The community has helped FlutterHabit respond quickly to viral internet moments. In 2024, the company posted a reaction video about Taylor Swift’s engagement that generated more than 2 million views across TikTok and Instagram. FlutterHabit then teased a potential lash style called “Showgirl” inside its social channels and Facebook group.
The response was immediate enough that the company accelerated development. FlutterHabit moved from concept to launch in roughly two months, including packaging development, and timed the release for Oct. 3 to align with the launch of Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl.” The product sold out within an hour. Since being restocked in November 2025, the lash has sold out three additional times, according to company data.
But Jashinsky said brands have to be careful not to rely too heavily on feedback from highly engaged fans, since the most active community members do not always reflect the broader customer base. “Usually, the most extreme users are the ones that are actually engaging in conversations,” he said.
FlutterHabit is now involving the Facebook group even earlier in the product development process. Mian said FlutterHabit recently shared six unreleased lash samples with the Facebook group and asked members to vote on which should become part of the brand’s upcoming holiday collection. Members are also weighing in on packaging details and product names.
“The community is involved in the full journey,” Mian said. “They basically are part of our innovation team.”