Oct 15, 2021
As a fashion brand, your product inventory is full of Instagrammable and Pinterest-worthy items that are just waiting to sell to billions of active social media users worldwide! It doesn't matter if you're a well-established fashion brand or a boutique starting its first online store. Using Instagram, Pinterest, and even TikTok to showcase and sell products is the way to go.
Here, we'll dive into these highly accessible and easy-to-use platforms and show you how to use them to gain followers, increase sales, and drive website traffic. Let's turn you into the next #PantsStore, shall we!
Instagram has evolved from a platform for sharing content to a multi-use platform with a robust social commerce aspect where users can discover and shop fashion brands. However, for followers to shop your products, you're going to need to share engaging, high-quality content people want to shop. And with the introduction of Instagram Shops, users can now shop Instagram posts directly.
All you need to set up an Instagram Shop are the following:
Even if you don't have a website or a Shopify account, there are still ways to convert followers into customers through your content and the wide variety of features Instagram offers. But we'll touch on that in the section.
Related: What You Need to Know When Using Instagram Shops for Your Business
Pinterest coined the "visual search engine platform" where users flock to find inspiration and discover new brands in the process. And If you're trying to tap into a new audience of social media users looking for help with fashion decisions, Pinterest is the place to be. In 2020 alone, fashion-related boards experienced a 95% increase on Pinterest. Pinterest is full of users searching for their next wardrobe. Post aesthetically pleasing Pins linking to your products and give those Pinterest users what they're looking for, all while driving conversions for your shop.
TikTok isn't just a place for funny, entertaining videos. It's an opportunity for brands to reach new audiences and customers. Due to the fun, lighthearted nature of the platform, fashion brands can have a lot of creative freedom when making their content. Part of the success for fashion brands on TikTok is TikTok's virality. All it takes is one video to go viral. Take Clinique's Black Honey or TikTok's infamous leggings. You can't get Clinique's Black Honey lipstick anywhere. If users are obsessed with what a content creator is wearing, they'll ask. Fashion brands can also add TikTok challenges with hashtags for their fashion marketing efforts.
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Nothing gets people more excited than something NEW. You can show off your new inventory in various ways, but Instagram Stories are a great place to unbox new items or tease product launches! Here is an example from Chillhouse and their new press-on nails.
Like the old school shopping channels, Instagram and Facebook have a way to shop via their Live feature. You can do virtual fashion shows from wherever and show models or yourself wearing your products. Lives are great for explaining functionality and even answering questions from your audience about pricing, sizes, or colors. It's also a chance to foster community and build customer loyalty by engaging with your customers directly.
Take the fashion brand TiBi for example, they go Live on Instagram to teach their audience how to wear denim using their products. Viewers who like something can easily click on the link in their bio to purchase the exact product references.
Film a Reel or TikTok showing off new product collections or how your followers can style your pieces. If you're not too savvy in video, you can always opt for a carousel post featuring each of your curated looks. And the best thing is you can make each of those posts shoppable.
Here's an example from NET-A-PORTER showcasing their newest Fall and Winter collection in a fun fashion show format.
Share your outfits of the day (OOTD) with your audience, featuring some of your pieces layered in. OOTD's are fun and relatable for your followers to get to know you and find inspiration from your everyday wear. Also, if you get new products in, you can do a product haul showing them off or work with creators or affiliates to share your products via their content. Here's body positivity creator and model Remi Bader with her "Realistic Zara Hauls".
Pinterest has grown a lot, even creating a Story feature all their own called Idea Pins. Idea Pins are different from any other platform because they last forever by saving them to whatever Pinterest board best fits. You can show off a catalog of your products. Or a fashion solution your products solve.
Check out how Girlfriend Collective introduces a problem common to their target audience, then shows how their product solves this problem in a short video. This can easily adapt to work as an Idea Pin.
Giveaways or discounts are great for creating community engagement on your fashion marketing content. You can ask your followers to tag a friend in the comments for a chance to win a free product or a discount on their next order. Giveaways not only expand your audience by followers tagging non-followers on your posts but gives them a chance to try out a product they've been eyeing for a while.
Don't sleep on the power of affiliate marketing in the fashion industry. Find passionate customers who love your product to promote it on their channels. Affiliates will then get a percentage each time somebody buys a product using their affiliate code.
Related: What is Affiliate Marketing: Benefits and How to Get Started
Even something as simple as mentioning where you got a product in a post can blow up a brand's popularity. Just look at how #bamarush TikTok gave relevant stores a massive promo (see the Pants Store).
Small fashion boutiques can also act as affiliates for more prominent fashion brands to earn a commission off sales, adding another revenue stream to their business model.
We hope this helps you with your business's fashion marketing efforts and gives you some ideas to turn followers into customers.
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