social media Archives | FASHION CROSS FUNCTIONAL

June 9, 2016June 21, 2023

DESIGNER TOOLBOX: How To Use Social Media To Better Know Your Target Customer?

Hi Guys,
After our ‘Social Media Series For Fashion Brands’ series, we thought of another use you can make of social media.

In order to make proper financial estimates when you write your fashion business plan, you need to perfectly know your target customer to justify the strategy you are going to apply. And on top of the method we wrote about in a previous article, social media is a very good tool to help you get a first impression of your brand’s target customer behaviour.
So here is what you can do:

To start with, go on Twitter and identify all the hashtags linked to your brand style
From the result of your research, identify the major influencers for this particular style. Pick an influencer with a reasonably high number of followers (over 5,000 followers minimum).
For each influencer identified, check their public lists and follow any influencer with a reasonably high number of followers, who shares valuable information
For each post with the related hashtag that received many likes and repost, try to identify trends by answering those questions :
- Where are the pictures taken?
- What is the scene described?
- What colors are used?
- What references are used? (magazines, art, books, music, movies)
- To which magazine/social media profile do they refer to?
Repeat this exercise with Pinterest and Instagram
To finish, research the keywords in Facebook groups and fan pages. Join the groups in questions and like the fan pages.
For the posts that got the most likes and shares, identify the common elements and do the same exercise as with the previous social medias:
- Where are the pictures taken?
- What is the scene described?
- What colors are used?
- What references are used? (magazines, art, books, music, movies)

To which magazine/social media profile do they refer to?

Photo credit: Social Media Sign by Peter Freer – Creative Commons
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How to better know your target customer?

Find the complete version of this article as well as other tools to help you through your fashion business plan, with the number one FXF guide

June 2, 2016

DESIGNER TOOLBOX: How To Build Your Following On Social Media

Source: GettyImages – Gallo Images ROOTS RF collectionAnna Bizon

Hey Guys,

If you’ve been following the last two posts in our ‘Social Media Series For Fashion Brands’, you’ll now know everything there is to know about reaping the benefits of social media. If you’ve chosen to take our tips on board, your platforms should now be purposeful and coherent to your existing brand.
However, the work is not over yet – now you need numbers, something that unfortunately doesn’t happen by magic.
But as always, we’re here to advise you. Get ready to see your following mounting up, because by the time you’ve read the end of this last article in the Series, you’ll be as social-media savvy as can be.
Posting at Optimum Times:
In an ideal world, everything you do on your social media platform – be that a comment on someone’s new dress design or a post about a fashion event you organize – would be done at an optimum time, i.e, the timeframe with the highest user activity. This is to get the most publicity as possible for your actions, which will result in comments and follows. While not always achievable, you should always try and take the time you post in to account. There are various articles on the best time to use each social media platform, but if you want an easy way to work it out, simply look at your feed! If people are being active, it’s probably a good time to post.

Regular, High-Quality Content:
There’s no point even thinking about upping your social media numbers until you have a great feed that’s going to entice potential followers. Just like entering into your shop or browsing your website, if what you’re offering isn’t interesting, they won’t stick around for long. You should be posting at least once a day – more in the beginning – each time with well-thought out, relevant content. Find the ideal balance between your brand identity and what your fans and followers are into by using different media and varying your subject matter: a mockup showcasing your fashion pieces that best represents your brand spirit; pictures zooming on the details of a dress; a video in your atelier showing how a gown is made etc.If you’re using a visual site like Instagram or Pinterest, make it cohesive with your fashion brand vision as well aesthetically pleasing, so that with a quick scrawl down, your new potential follower will be persuaded rather than dissuaded.
Follow, Follow, Follow:
While the goal here is to build up your own following, in order to do this as a beginner, you need to get your own numbers up. However this isn’t to say you should go follow-mad; Only follow those who are relevant to your own brand vision in some way, whether that be inspiration or your target audience. To make the importance of a relevant Follow base a little easier, here is the breakdown of the three main outcomes following produces:

Gets relevant content on your home page: consider what comes up on your home page as the social-media ‘circle’ you are in. Relevant followers = relevant content on your home page = making connections with relevant people
Gives you more chance to interact: Don’t consider Social Media as impersonal – make it the opposite. Following large numbers means your feed will bring up content that you can get involved with, and – just as in the real world – everyone likes to make new friends!
Attracts attention to your page: following someone is more likely to result in someone following you back, and this sparks a chain reaction. Your new follower’s followers will be able to see their action and be more likely to do the same.

Don’t be scared of following 1000 and only 200 followers, especially not initially – this isn’t a popularity contest, after all!
Comment/Interact:
Interacting with other users is a great way to get yourself noticed. Whilst commenting on accounts with enormous followings like VOGUE may seem the obvious thing to do, lots of other people do the same, therefore you could end up looking like spam – not something you want. Instead, try and make genuine, personal comments, involving your fashion tastes and knowledge to get involved in conversations on other people’s accounts. Not only will this help spark their interest in return, but their followers are likely to read your kind words and get interested too! Everyone is won over by niceties – even in the Cyber world!
Promote Yourself:

Contradicting the last point, commenting with a purely promotive purpose is one of the most effective ways of bumping up your following. You should avoid doing this too often – again there’s the issue of looking like spam – so timing is more important than ever; peak times, people! You should also be very selective about which accounts you decide to promote on. You want to be promoting on posts that have been published recently (within the last 15 minutes or so) to ensure the most traffic. It should be an account with a large following (around 20k – 50k is good) but not too big, to avoid getting buried under the millions of comments. And finally, try and make it as personal as possible. If you can, it’s great to feature the person whose account you’re promoting on first, making you appear much more amicable. If this isn’t possible, throw in a compliment first before you dash in with the hard sell.
Hashtag:
While often seen as the be all and end all, hashtags actually aren’t the main driver of traffic on Social Media sites. However, they are definitely still worth using in order that relevant people can seek you out. Think of your hashtags as ways to attract your target audience, so include things they are likely to search for. You also want to be using hashtags that are popular – an easy way to check this is by typing them in and seeing how many posts come up as a result. Saying this, if you can find a niche hashtag appropriate to your brand with only a few thousand posts, it’s definitely worth using, as this will pinpoint people who are really likely to be interested in your brand and therefore follow you.
And that sees the end of your Crash Course in Social Media. If you take one thing away from all of this, it should be to consider your social media platforms as an integral part of your business plan, and treat them accordingly: with passion, hard-work and creativity.
by Stephanie Cvetkovic for Fashion Cross Functional

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May 26, 2016

DESIGNER TOOLBOX: 5 Essential Steps For Social Media Success In Your Fashion Business

Source: GettyImages – Gallo Images ROOTS RF collectionAnna Bizon

Hey guys,
Two weeks ago we covered how to use social media to grow your business. This week,we’re going to talk a little more about the necessary preliminary steps to go about achieving that.
Like anything in business, the more thoroughly you cover the basics and foundations, the higher the chances of it becoming a success later on. Think of the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ – you want to build your house – or in this case, your social media – out of bricks to ensure it’s longevity.
Thankfully, you don’t need a masonry degree in order to do this. In fact, with a little time and attention to detail, you’ll be able to build yourself a solid social media platform in no time.

Are your social media foundations built of brick or straw ? Consult our list below to find out.
Brand Identity
Do your Social Media accounts all have a direct link to your fashion brand ? By looking at them, can customers make a clear connection between your social and internet sites ? Social Media accounts should be thought of as an extension of your existing website, rather than as something entirely separate. There should be coherent similarities, such as matching profile pictures (preferable a logo) and similar content. This will ensure that your social media accounts aid in reinforcing your brand identity rather than confusing it.
Self-Explanative
Are your social media accounts self-explicable ? Could a new customer make an accurate judgement on their purposes with a quick glance over your profile ? All of your social media sites should include a brief and accurate description of your fashion brand. This should be sharp and snappy if possible, but more importantly, answer the most basic question someone with no knowledge of your brand will have, i.e what do you do? Alongside this – especially as description lengths are often limited – it’s essential to have a link to your website, allowing the social media platform to do its job of driving interest to your brand and traffic to your site.

Smart Following
Do you follow relevant people on your social media platforms ? Are you mixing in the right cyber circles ? If you are selling dresses, avoid following accounts that showcase burgers. This will not only prevent irrelevant content being featured on your news feed, but by following accounts with some correlations to your own, you are more likely to be selected as a suggestion to people in your target audience. Following people who are also in the fashion industry will also make interacting and getting noticed in the appropriate cyber community easier.
Appropriate Posting
Do you have enough, relevant and inspiring content ? Is your content exciting, does it drive likes and follows from your target audience ? Compiling some of the points briefly touched on above, the quality of your posts is extremely important. Keep your posts relevant, regular and succinct with your brand identity. If your target audience is mothers, stay away from posting taboo slogans as these will not only confuse your brand but may be detrimental to the way your audience perceive it. Avoid using your brand’s account as your personal account – disconnect it from your own interests, instead putting yourself into the mind of your brand, thereby catering to your target audience.
Interlinking Accounts

Are you using your social media platforms succinctly ? Do you make appropriate usage of each platform depending on the message you want to convey ? Each Social Media platform has it’s qualities and drawbacks: Twitter is great for shouty messages, Pinterest for visuals, Instagram a mix of the two and Facebook for messaging and lengthier texts. Before you post, think about which platform best suits your needs. You should also consider sharing across multiple social sites – but again, be selective. A shared Instagram post looks great on Facebook, but is pretty useless on twitter. Be sure to share appropriately to ensure your followers see you as an asset on their feed rather than ‘spam.’
by Stephanie Cvetkovic for Fashion Cross Functional
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May 12, 2016

DESIGNER TOOLBOX: 5 Ways You Should Be Using Social Media To Grow Your Fashion Business

Source: GettyImages – Gallo Images ROOTS RF collectionAnna Bizon

Hey Guys,
As a start-up fashion designer, the idea of reaching out to 400 million potential customers may seem just as many miles away, but with Instagram alone having that many users in 2016, connecting has never been easier. With such numbers on offer, it’s clear that Social Media is an essential tool in any businesses market plan now more than ever before.
While you may already be using the Social Media platforms, you need to ensure you’re using them effectively in order to really yield results. Go through this checklist to see which benefits of social media you are already reaping, and which you need to work on.
Marketing Method

Are you considering your Social Media accounts as something you have to have in this modern world, or are you using them as a marketing tool? Regular posts at the right times to the right followers can act as marketing campaigns in their own right. Normally marketing to such a large number of customers would cost thousands, but social sites makes creating similar effects much more accessible, so make sure when you post, you always have marketing in mind.
Market Research
Have you ever taken the time to look into the online profile of some of your followers and target customers? Social Media can be a key market research technique, allowing you not only to recognise your target audience but also get to know them on a personal level. What they like, how they dress, their interests etc all of this will help you better cater your future collections and branding to them better targeted and effective.
Connecting with other brands
Are you trying to make connections and get your Brand known online among others in the Fashion Industry? With everyone from one-man start-ups to the global fashion magazine VOGUE utilising Social Media, there are copious amount of doors waiting for you to open up online. With just a simple click you can reveal your competition, collaborate with likeminded fashion designers, or maybe even get talent scouted, so be sure to make the most of these opportunities by interacting with other people in the same Industry.

Brand identity
Are you posting picture that are tailored to your brand and the image you want your business to convey? When someone buys your products, they also want to buy into an idea, and Social Media allows you to craft and tailor this idea in any way your heart desires. If you’re a couture costume maker, the occasional shot of a beautiful white sand beach on your Instagram will give a sense of glamour and luxury to your brand, while a tweet about the meticulous selecting process of materials for your new collection will show that your Make in the UK silk scarves are of exceptional quality. Try to ensure your brand identity on your Social Media accounts correlates with that of your branding elsewhere.
Showcasing new products
Do you use Social Media to showcase new products to your customers and follow up with more information? You’re feed shouldn’t be too heavily concentrated with related pictures – always keep in mind the preliminary purpose of the account; to promote your products. Presenting your designs on Social Media is a handy tool to get your collection seen by existing customers and also – with the correct use of hashtags – a wider audience. and news feed and click if they want to find out more. You should always include further details of the garment on show, with clear information so the viewer can easily find out more to drive sales and interest.
Feedback

Are you using your Social Accounts as feedback tools by asking your followers questions? The creation of online relations means you can ask questions and get answers in minutes, whether that be an opinion on your new design or what they may feel was lacking in your last collection. Make sure to engage with your audience online, as it not only helps you to develop your brand and styles, but is a great way to show customer care is of importance to your business.
Further Reading: How social media is transforming the fashion industry
by Stephanie Cvetkovic for Fashion Cross Functional
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