The global fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar sector. This industry does include sub-industries like menswear, womenswear, and sportswear. It accounts for 2 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and according to Fashionunited.com, the combined value between women’s and menswear industries totals over a trillion. Unbelievable, right? Well, this means there are enormous opportunities for the business side. Here are some innovative ways to market your fashion startup.
But First… It’s a Great Time to Launch a Fashion Startup
You’ll need talent and creativity to kick start your next fashion venture. With a diverse digital landscape, your designs will have to appeal to three groups: influencers (call them pioneers), fashion editors (early adopters), and buyers (the masses). According to a PR Couture post, you can use a handful of expert tips to thrive with a small budget: logo, beautiful photography skills, excellent website, and the proper social media channel to exponentially grow your brand’s visibility.
Calls to Action for Your Online Fashion Startup
#1. Opt for a website or online shop. Because people like to “google it,” and a web page increases the chances of being found. Include easy navigation with lots of rich images visible to visitors.
#2. The next item on the list is creating a presence on social media. Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat work very well as fashion channels. Why? It is where everyone is, including the “cool kids on the block” and the young audiences. They are more eager to buy and invest money in clothing that has personality and makes them stand out.
#3. A logo is, without a doubt, a key component for a fashion startup. It is what people will remember you by, so choose a unique symbol. Make it as universal as possible and tailor it to your targeted customers. Part of fashion etiquette is selling a lifestyle and a fantastic shopping journey.
Want to do more? See additional opportunities to expand efforts.
Utilizing Heat Maps on Your Website
Search Business Analytics defines a heat map as a two-dimensional representation of data, with values represented in different colors. In other words, they communicate the significance and the relationship between data values.
To generate sales, heat maps can help visualize visitors’ activity and identify where buying behaviors are triggered. It will quantify what sections are most frequently visited and for what periods. You can install software like AppSumo, Inspectlet, or CrazyEgg to make sense of the data and where to optimize the site.
This post by Luna Vega explains what key pages can be used to better format and tailor the webpage for online visitors. Ultimately, heat maps software can push sales from recommended sections of your online website. Installing this feature helps a fashion startup manage time, resources, and efforts effectively since your main objective is to retain customers and, at the same time, acquire new ones. Implement the necessary changes that will trigger positive buying behaviors.
You may be unable to afford to rent a space and spend all the accommodations required to set up a physical retail store. Understanding why a website is a valuable resource and optimizing it to bring valuable revenue is essential.
Tapping into Instagram, Influencers, and Featuring Celebrity Stories
The growing importance of Instagram for businesses and particularly startups in fashion cannot be emphasized. Consumers are 58 times more likely to engage with branded content than on Facebook and 120 times more likely on Twitter.
Tips on Using Instagram for Your Fashion Startup
When joining Instagram, create a business account or upgrade your one. This helps the brand gain visibility and access analytics to monitor activity. Instagram photos convert better than other types of visual content, and more customers trust pictures via this social network.
As a fashion startup, you can apply the following steps to drive up engagement:
- Show personality
- Less is more: 50% non-business and 50 products/services
- Have a call to action elements
- Follow back and engage
- Comment on other users’ photos
- Tag customers for contests and celebrations
- Use hashtags
- Say thank you
- Don’t over-abuse Direct Messaging options
Interacting With Users and Influencers on Instagram
Instagrammers are very active (500 million Monthly Active Users (MAU)) and constantly updating accounts with relevant posts. Seek out community experts or notorious influencers as a way of building trust. Without them, making sales and building favorable brand recognition will be more complicated. Another tip proven to work is engaging with similar industry brands. Check out their posts and what kind of sentiment they create for their customers.
One example of networking with a powerful influencer is Luanna90. She has 2.1million followers and over 5000 posts to date. Her content posted combined different ensembles, different angle shots, and a beautiful background.
Featuring Celeb Stories for Extra Visibility
A second example is the use of celebrity images on clothing and accessories. They get plenty of attention and are essential to models for showcasing fashion trends. AX Paris deploys a collection of photos that serve the needs of anxious online shoppers.
Targeting your efforts on Instagram, collaborating with influence marketers, and featuring a section of celebrities on your site is part of a winning formula. This three-step process will arm you with plenty of user data, and as a startup, these essential resources come in handy to achieve business goals.
Takeaways and Conclusions
Starting your venture is no easy task. It takes organization, networking, and having a big fashion idea. It also requires constantly evolving, especially since fashion never goes out of style.
Despite barriers to entry, there are plenty of resources to use and master the technology. One way to prepare your next best business there are things you can do before initiating this project.
Once operations use social media for marketing, add an easy-to-use and mobile-friendly website. Finally, combine enriched photos and learn to construct narratives using your fashion designs.
