In the media age where most sales that occur are happening online, it’s not only important to have a great online presence for your clothing brand—it’s required. So how do you market your clothing brand effectively on social media, and what should you focus on when you make your posts?
To Best Market Your Clothing Brand on Social Media:
- Find out how your target demographic finds information—and focus your energy and social media presence on that outlet.
- Be unique and create original content.
- Use In-App ads and link directly to your store so your followers can purchase directly from social media.
- Create something your customers will want to be a part of.
- Create your own hashtag.
- Work with influencers or fashion bloggers.
- Focus on customer service.
- Encourage engagement with your customers.
While social media can sometimes be hard to navigate, especially for those businesses starting out, there are things that you can do and practices that you can avoid when making your social media presence known. Read on to find out more about what you can do to make your business stand out.
Find out how your target demographic finds information—and focus your energy and social media presence on that outlet
One of the most important things that you can do when you’re creating a social media presence for your brand is to not stretch yourself thin. Depending on how many people you have working on your social media and whether they have other responsibilities is also important—you can’t expect quality posts over four different platforms while they’re trying to also run a marketing department.
So how can you drill down on where you should be posting? Easy—your target demographic. Who is wearing your clothing? Who buys from your brand? Where are they posting, and where do they look for inspiration or who to shop from? That’s your best idea from the start—find out where the largest conglomeration of your market demographic is posting and start posting on that same platform.
Five Things Every Fashion Designer Should Know!
Be unique and create original content
If there’s one thing that people on social media avoid, it’s copycats. While there’s a market for jumping onto memes or using specific sounds on TikToks, you’re going to need something to push through the masses.
The content you produce also has to be something that people want to see. They’re not just going to want to see your latest items or receive information on your latest sale—while many are interested in that, on the day-to-day basis, you’re going to need more content than just sales. What you’re doing on social media isn’t just selling your brand, it’s creating a story. Feature your employees, show off your warehouse, talk about the history of your brand—even if you’ve just started. You can also create style guides for your products or even tout your collections. Provide ways that your customers can wear your clothing, and ask them how they would add their own personal flair. Your brand needs to connect with your followers to gain their attention. Once you have their attention, then you can start selling.
Use In-App ads and link directly to your store so your followers can purchase directly from social media
While this is a function that is still growing, sites like Facebook and Instagram have actually created functionality where you can create an ad and sell to people clicking on it without having them come to your website at all. While this can be overwhelming if you’re planning on putting your entire store into this sort of app, you can just include the items you’ve pictured in your ad or similar pieces.
This functionality works strictly on mobile, but with so many people scrolling, you’re sure to benefit from this, both in the social media engagement and in your profits.
Create something your customers will want to be a part of
Whether it’s a VIP group or a private chat function, give your most valuable customers a place where they can talk to others who enjoy your products as much as they do. Here, you can promote more exclusive sales and items—which means more people will want to be a part of that VIP club and will do what they can to get there. How do they get there? That depends on you. It could mean spending a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time, the number of engagements on social media, or some other metric you can consider. People want exclusivity, and you can give it to them.
Create your own hashtag
We’ve been using hashtags as a society for a while now, so it’s no question that you should develop your own. Take control of your hashtag by including it in your social media biographies and constantly encourage your customers to use that hashtag when talking about your products. The more, the better—and maybe with their help, you can get your hashtag trending.
Four Best Places To Find Fashion Designers For Your Startup!
Work with influencers or fashion bloggers
If you’re looking for a boost in your social media and your sales, then look no further than a social media influencer. There are many individuals who have a high number of followers that you can talk to about promoting your clothing brand—just make sure that influencer or blogger both represents your company values, uses the platform that your market audience does, and has followers that include your market audience.
Focus on customer service
Things do manage to go wrong from time to time, and you have to be the one to fix it when it comes to your brand. When people post on social media about negative aspects of your business, all it takes is a strategic retweet from an influencer to make your reputation tank.
How can you circumvent that bad customer service rap? You can start responding to comments. Don’t remove the negative ones—that usually makes things worse. Instead, offer to fix the problem or provide answers to questions. Don’t get hung up on negativity—just be calm, consistent, and polite. That goes a longer way than deleting a bad comment.
On the other hand, you can use those positive comments as collateral for posting. If someone really likes your products, make sure the world knows about it. Turn those comments into testimonials for your business. The more people that talk about it, the better your profits will be—sometimes, posts and comments that don’t directly come from your business are the ones that matter most.
Encourage engagement with your customers
While positive comments can help increase your image, you can capitalize not just on that but user posts. Create a contest for people who are wearing your clothing items and posting about it on social media. Encourage people to use your hashtag or tag your business when they’re out and about in your products. It doesn’t matter if they’re influencers or not—people are interested in how other people just like them are wearing your products, and if you are too, you can show that you’re focused on the customer, not just profits.
When it comes down to marketing online and specifically on social media, it’s all about being genuine and being honest in your posting. People don’t want to see a brand—they want to see people. They want to see behind the scenes and get style guides and how to wear your clothing brand. Make it personal not just for you, but for your followers. The less corporate you seem, the more approachable you are—and the more approachable you are, the more likely your customers will come back to buy your products time and time again.
8 Ways Fashion Designers Improve Their Drawing Skills
RELATED QUESTIONS
How do I introduce my clothing brand on social media?
There are many ways you can introduce your clothing brand, and while you can go most any route, there are certain steps you should take first. You should research your market and determine with social media pages your target audience is using. Then, work on your branding package and market specifically your best pieces, creating a message that encapsulates your brand. Create an online presence and start to create hype by giving dates for your branding drop. Work with bloggers and influencers, and all the while, stay patient and consistent in your posting.
How do I create a demand for my product?
Creating a demand is all about making people think that they need to have your product—and that if they don’t get it soon, they’ll never be able to get it. Make sure your products aren’t just trendy, but can stand the test of time. You can start promoting your product before you drop it to make sure people are interested, and continue to create hype until you’re ready to sell. Use social media and influencers to get attention about this product, making it something that people will fear missing out on.
To learn more about how to start your own fashion clothing line check out my startup documents here
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Fashion Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a designer or boutique owner at a craft fair, farmers market, retail location or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Fashion Business Boss: I want to help fashion business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.