Topics related to marketing, advertising or social media are the order of the day. But today, we will talk about fashion marketing, an increasingly growing trend committed to a new way of understanding marketing in the fashion world.
The fashion business is centered on the clothes, shoes and accessories of beauty and its origin is as old as man himself. It arose from the need of primitive man to protect himself from the cold and quickly acquired an aesthetic character, as it reflects the taste and character of the wearer. It has been transforming and adapting to each era’s artistic, cultural and social evolution.
Therefore, there is nothing more fashionable than fashion itself. So it is not difficult to imagine this industry inserting itself more and more into the digital age and designing its marketing strategies. This is how the new concept of fashion marketing arises.
What is Fashion Marketing
First of all, we would like to give a brief definition of this new concept that is here to stay. It includes all the marketing strategies that focus on the fashion consumer and relate the products it offers to this same industry. It affects strategic and creative decisions. It could be defined as a kind of union between the real world of a business and the intangible value that fashion gives us.
Fashion marketing takes care of the marketing mix’s design (product, price, distribution and promotion). Design the product itself, its added value, the pricing strategy, the offer program, and even the place where it is distributed. For example, it is in charge of studying whether to proceed with a price penetration strategy or a market niche, what type of offers, promotions and loyalty programs are going to be offered, and how it is going to be carried out the distribution of products.
How to design the fashion marketing strategy
The first thing we have to do is understand our brand. Knowing the audience, and the attributes that differentiate us from others, transmitting our philosophy. It is crucial to determine the ideal buyer person or client. Let us remember that fashion trends are usually divided by age, social groups, countries, regions, climate and a wide list of factors.
Once my buyer persona has been determined, I must know in which of the social networks they have the greatest presence, what language they use to communicate, what their preferences are and topics of interest.
Another aspect to consider is that the actions in the strategy should be divided by periods. Remember that brand campaigns are usually done this way. Some brands launch campaigns for summer, spring, and winter, and attending to important dates and too many other criteria. Thus, trends change very frequently. We must be creative and dynamic.
Storytelling is a very simple and very useful technique. We will tell a story that makes our consumers empathize with us. Let’s not forget that marketing is often not a matter of perceptions but emotions.
Market research is a priority to know the actions our competition is carrying out, what added value you can provide, in which segment it is better to position yourself.
Trends in Fashion Marketing
Personalization
It seeks to adapt the product to the needs of customers. Programs have been designed that allow, for example, to take a 3D impression of the foot and send it to the brand so that it can design the right shoe exactly for the foot that is going to wear it.
There are already many apps where people can design their own clothes from some templates, as is the case with Fashion Design Flat Sketch and Fashion Design Sketchbook. Some brands are taking over this concept to launch campaigns that allow customers to participate in the design of the clothes they will buy. Nothing closer to the concept of exclusivity and originality pursued by the fashion world.
Sustainability
More and more customers are looking for fabrics that respect the environment in their production, free of animal cruelty. We found brands that are committed to recycling and have not done poorly.
Buy under subscription
In the same way that YouTube, Netflix, Spotify and many others offer us audiovisual products for a fixed payment. It is already possible to find pages selling fashion items for a monthly price.
Augmented reality
Another concept that promises to revolutionize is fashion marketing. Can you imagine being able to try on the items from the comfort of your home without having to go all the way to get to the physical store just by using software that simulates how these items look on you on your screen? You can choose the one that suits you best and complete the purchase online. Well, it’s already a reality.
Online shopping
Fashionistas love shows and exhibitions, and Tommy Hilfiger showed us how to embrace this digital age. He broadcast live the fashion shows of the brand’s collections and customers could immediately purchase the garments presented through a mobile application. As a brand, you can also promote your products online through an e-commerce site or your own website. Showing off all the details in your fashion video will attract more potential customers.
The best examples of fashion marketing
Every self-respecting company in this sector carries out strategies to make its brand more visible.
H&M, a sustainable brand
Our first example could not be other than H&M. The company has just released a new collection to promote more sustainable fashion. The collection is known as H&M Conscious. In 2010, they started recycling clothes with the aim of contributing to a more sustainable future. In 2013 they managed to reach the figure of 55,000 kilos of used clothing.
Without a doubt, it has been a more than successful campaign. Its promotional video took rather little time to go viral, so we conclude that the firm has been successful in its marketing strategy.
Daniel Wellington and his social media strategy
The watch brand uses a single strategy, influence marketing. And it is not bad, since in the years between 2013 and 2015 its sales increased by 4700%. He is considered one of the pioneers of Instagram marketing and initially used nano-influencers, people who had between 5k and 10k followers on Instagram. They shared their products and their community tagged them through the hashtag #DanielWellington
At the time, it generated so much traffic to its website and generated enough sales that it allowed it to become the multi-million dollar brand that it is today. There are similar companies in the sector that have literally copied and pasted their strategy.
Gucci, the luxury brand adapted to young people
The luxury brand also used social networks to carry out its Fashion Marketing strategy. With this, he intended to reach a sector of the population where, otherwise, it would have been very difficult to reach this segment.
Basically, his strategy was based on making his hashtag #TFWGucci the most used on Instagram. The idea was simple but very efficient. They shared memes and interacted with their younger followers in this way. They reached out to their platform and not only that. They gave content to them, closer and adapted to your tastes, hobbies and language.
The figure of the Fashion Marketer
Finally, if you want to become the best Fashion Marketer, you first must design the brand strategy. Then you can carry out market research, develop a communication strategy, encourage connection from all types of devices, create strategies of the online store, and formulate a good environment for the local store.
In an environment as dynamic as fashion, it is essential to be up to date on trends and organize events to make your brand known. There are many options. You can organize fashion shows, catwalks, exhibitions, showrooms. Keep in mind that it is another form of interaction and also, it is super efficient. It doesn’t have to be expensive if organized early and well.
Leave me in the comments which of the trends in Fashion Marketing seemed most interesting to you and if you would like to know more about any of them.