Are you following the right fashion brands on Instagram? Right now, more fashion brands than ever are using Instagram effectively to promote their latest products. As we all know fashion is about visual aesthetic and design so what better way of promoting your brand than using imagery and videos directly to your fans smartphones, tablets or computers? Instagram has over 75 million daily active users (Kastrenakes, 2013). That’s 75 million potential customers.

“This is fashion in the age of Instagram, a heady era in which digital media is changing the way clothes are presented and even the way they are designed” (Schneier, 2014).

Visual brand identity is key

The success and popularity of Instagram is believed to be due to its simplistic interface, high usability and the focus on visuals rather than text (Henning, 2012; Rusli, 2012). The rise of visual content sharing sites such as Instagram and Pintrest indicates how visual content is becoming an increasingly important force for brand communication online. Through these sites fashion brands are able to promote and inform fans about both product and brand identity quickly and very cheaply. A study by Performics (2012) into social media engagement found that users are motivated by images and videos when engaging with friends on social media sites.

Here is are some examples of the most popular fashion brands on Instagram and how they are winning The Instagram Game:

Burberry

3.2 million followers

Burberry use Instagram to showcase its products and develop its image as a British brand by posting photographs taken around central London. The daily posts tend to get around 30,000 to 50,000 likes and hundreds of comments. Burberry has also engaged with its 3.2 million followers by posting videos of catwalk events and celebrities wearing Burberry products, for example the one in the screenshot. Burberry have connected their Instagram to their Twitter which is evident from the hashtags.

Zara

4 million followers

Zara are doing very well in engaging with their audience by posting at least one photograph a day gaining around 40,000 to 50,000 likes. Zara Daily provides fans with a photograph of a model wearing their clothing or accessories for every day of the week using the hashtag #zaradaily and the day of the week. They encourage traffic to their website by stating that the item of clothing is available from zara.com.

ASOS

2.7 million followers

Along with posting images of its latest ranges, ASOS place great emphasis on posting user-generated content which is a very effective way to build a connection with your audience, essentially creating a sense of community. Complementing this tactic, ASOS tend to reward their audience with prizes and discount codes for engaging with the brand.

Topshop

4 million followers

Topshop engage with their Instagram audience mainly through posting pictures of new ranges of products and promoting sales and discounts. In this particular post they have used Cara Delevingne in the photograph which is quite effective in grabbing the attention of the consumers who in turn like the page resulting in an increased awareness of the sale as the more people who like the page the more people who do not follow Topshop will see the picture.

Benefit Cosmetics

1.7 million followers

Benefit Cosmetics are rewarding their customers in this particular Instagram post by providing a discount code for their followers offering a free mini Benefit product. They have used the fact that Mother’s Day was approaching as a reason to treat their customers and at the same time gain custom their selves.

As demonstrated Instagram can be very powerful in creating a visual brand identity and consequently it is essential that all fashion brands make an effort to integrate it into their social media marketing strategies. It is a very clever strategy that manages to engage with consumers at the same time as promoting their own product ranges and driving traffic to their websites.

References

Henning, K. (2012). The Social Circle: A window to a designer’s soul. Available: http://www.wwd.com/media-news/digital/the-social-circle-a-window-to-designers-souls-614 8201

Kastrenakes, J. (2013). Instagram has more than 75 million daily active users. Available: http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/12/5203578/instagram-now-has-150-million-active-monthly-users. Last accessed 28th April 2015.

Performics. (2012). Life on Demand 2012: Participant behavior and social engagement. Retrieved from http://www.performics.com/assets/1/7/Performics_Life_on_Demand_2012_Summary_Deck. pdf

Rusli, E.V. (2012). Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion. Available: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/facebook-buys-instagram-for-1-billion/

Schneier, M. (2014, Apr 10). Fashion in the Age of Instagram. New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/10/fashion/fashion-in-the-age-of-instagram.html?_r=0. Last accessed 28^th April 2015.

Who said Email Marketing is dead?

You’re probably like me, receiving tonnes of emails on a daily basis, half of which get deleted straight away, right? Although there are some that catch my eye and get me skimming through. The question is why? Is it because I just can’t resist the brand or is it their clever marketing strategies reeling me in?

Let’s take a look a recent email from Boots and see what they are doing right.

The first tactic I notice is that Boots have personalised the email to me using my first name which is quite an effective way of catching my attention and making me feel like the content could be something of my interest. Postma and Brokke (2002) suggest that personalization can significantly increase click-through rates. I must admit I would be less likely to click delete after seeing my name on the email pretty much straight away.

They have clearly displayed my Boots Advantage Card balance, stating ‘worth of points to spend’ letting me know I have money ‘to spend’ in store and encouraging me to go on to the website.

The email subject line is short and sweet ‘Spring into Summer with Order & Collect’ to engage the consumer. It introduces the new order and collect service along with eye-catching offers such as ‘save up to half price!’ inspiring the consumer to shop immediately.

There is a button saying ‘Get set for summer’ taking you straight to the website and of course, as you hover over the images HTML links appear meaning when clicked they take you straight to the website. They are taking advantage of the fact summer is coming and people are going on holiday and are willing to spend money on toiletries, especially sun-cream (it’s even in the picture!).

Email Marketing might be cheap and practical but is it effective?

A recent study by predictive analytics firm Custora discovered that customer acquisition via email has quadrupled in the last four years and now accounts for 7% of customer acquisitions (Devaney & Stein, 2013).

Even though email marketing is not as glamourous as social media marketing and other forms of marketing, many people believe it is still the most effective type of marketing mainly because it is permission-based. So technically you are not bombarding the consumer with unwanted junk as they have opted-in themselves.

Watch this interesting video on effective email marketing tips! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDk_MkVtD2k

References

Devaney, T. & Stein, T. (2013). Why Email Is Still More Effective Than Social Media Marketing. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/capitalonespark/2013/10/01/why-email-is-still-more-effective-than-social-media-marketing/. Last accessed 17th April 2015.

White, T. B., Zahay, D. L., Thorbjørnsen, H., & Shavitt, S. (2008). Getting too personal: Reactance to highly personalized email solicitations. Marketing Letters, 19(1), pp. 39-50.