Do paid social networks have a place in the advertising of fashion brands?
Social media is an ever-changing environment, with users spending several hours a week on their social platforms. Each platform has its own unique personality, which means that users go to it for a specific reason whether they are aware of it or not. Being inspired and sharing content is becoming more and more popular on Instagram, with TikTok and Pinterest being notable as platforms where influencers can make (or break) a brands reputation. While many industries see the benefit of products showcased on social media, the fashion industry in particular thrives on influencers (and small users) showing off their clothes in real-life lifestyle contexts. Whereas in the old days paid social media were seen as a small branch of the PPC business, the native feel of paid social ads, the target audience advertisers can access, and the preparation of an audience waiting to be inspired should be every advertisers dream. Therefore, it is crucial for fashion brands to have a paid presence on social media platforms, to enable them to reach new inspired users, as well as to interact with their loyal customers. Public    As a fashion brand looking to target specific audiences, you can reach the audiences you want with near perfect accuracy on paid social media, whether thats with prospecting or retargeting to reach users at all stages of the process. the funnel. You are able to grow your existing customer base and engage with those who have recently purchased to attract them with other products. The platforms algorithms are sophisticated enough to automatically optimize for the users most likely to interact with the content, and the visual nature of most social platforms gives brands a chance to engage. with the culture and aesthetics of the brand. Granted, there are a lot of recent changes coming from the new iOS update that tracking may not be as accurate as it used to be, but platforms have put things in place to combat this and ensure that they remain useful places for brands like the conversion API for Facebook. Regardless of updates and changes, social media platforms will always be a great place to develop that initial awareness and nurture ongoing relationships with customers. It is important to focus on inspiring users as they can come back and convert through another channel like PPC. If paid social networks were not included in the marketing mix of fashion brands, then the brand is missing a huge audience, and therefore missed potential. A full funnel approach is recommended where you will reach users at every stage of their user journey, but its important to remember that at each stage, users do different things;  Awareness is all about maximizing reach for you to grow your brand and connect with new and existing customers. Consideration is where you reach out to those in the market to drive them to the site and interact with the content. Convert is where youll primarily focus on retargeting by really pushing those metrics down the funnel to those who are interested. Tendencies    It is important for any brand to keep abreast of trends, especially in paid social networks and absolutely in fashion! For example, clothing sales are trending across multiple platforms right now, and brands are jumping at the chance to showcase a range of their clothing in native content. Using trends helps to engage with users, as people will react to content they can relate to and are familiar with seeing real people wearing brands they love, or even discovering new brands they are giving. real examples of people wearing designer clothes and therefore helps them visualize how they would look at themselves. With social media, brands can easily reach influencers, which has been shown to increase engagement rates, especially as users see people they follow and trust wearing clothes. Aligning with trends also increases brand presence as a brand is able to jump on viral trends like TikTok. This will help users stay engaged with the content and increase the number of organic subscribers which will help develop a similar audience for potential users to use. While staying on top of the trends might be considered an organic strategy, taking a strong example of a trend and promoting it as part of a paid campaign means that you are now running an ad that people recognize, relate to. and actively enjoy. Creations    Perhaps even more on paid social media than other channels, keeping content up to date for users is essential to avoid ad fatigue and increase user engagement. Taking advantage of seasonal events keeps users interested in content and gives fashion brands the opportunity to show off their products in relevant lifestyle contexts. More recently, we saw the pride celebrated in june, and a lot of brands have jumped on this trend and come up with tailored content around it. Including offers in your designs will also help drive engagement. It is recommended to align with platform best practices and create tailored content for each platform, as they each have a different purpose (rethinking how users visit each social channel to a specific reason). For example, on TikTok, it is recommended that you create native-looking content as it sits more naturally in a user flow and will help fashion brands showcase their products seamlessly with other similar content. On Instagram, you can use the IG Story poll option, which can be a great way to increase engagement while learning what users prefer. For example, a fashion brand could include two different colors of the same garment and see which one users prefer, this is an opportunity to make their brand interactive, and also provides valuable data on customer preferences! Videos are essential, especially those that include full product images. Include these 360 tricks and have models / influencers walk in clothes to bring your products to life. Offer the user a strong experience to really immerse themselves in the garment / accessory. You can then use video retargeting within your marketing funnel on each social platform. However, as with any content creation strategy, stats are always as important as creation, so its essential to remember them. You should examine, analyze, and sift through your data to see what content is working for your brand on each individual platform, to inform your content strategy going forward. For example, flatlays can work well on Instagram and Pinterest without necessarily being strong elsewhere. When trying out new techniques, this is a good time to experiment with what users engage with the most, and use testing and learning approaches. Develop your presence    Any fashion brand that successfully uses social media to build their image will use both organic and paid approaches. It is important that these two elements have a strong presence in your marketing strategy. If someone engages with an ad and then clicks on the profile to find out, its critical that the brand presence is there to really immerse and engage the user. Social users are unlikely to convert on the back of a sponsored post, and if you direct them to a low profile compared to your paid creation, the image you tried to build through your paid social strategy will be weakened. , or even completely disappeared. Sticking to best practices and having solid designs that are regularly updated will really help you. Weve mentioned influencers before, but its essential for a brand to think about all promotions / competitions. Brand Ambassadors are also a great way to build a smaller fashion brands presence and get your hands on that all-important lifestyle content. Its about putting the consumer first and thinking about what they would like to see. Paid social network for fashion brands    From audiences to creatives, social media platforms can really help leverage a fashion brands online presence, but need to be used properly to maximize their impact. As an all-visual format, its so important to include paid social media advertising in your marketing mix to make sure your brand is seen. It is also essential that the brand does not just focus on ROI, as some of the top funnel campaigns will not focus on this metric and should instead focus on laying the foundation for building an audience. easily engaged. When it comes to fashion, it is essential that brands develop their presence, their notoriety and raise their image and for that, there is nothing like paid social networks. Amy Cox is a paid social specialist for Click Marketing, working across all social platforms to create digital growth for fashion, interior design, B2B, healthcare and real estate brands. Prior to that, Cox worked at iProspect, managing the paid social business for brands such as Debenhams, British Airways and Santander.