We all know that social media has become one of the most important ways to communicate with your customers and create fresh content. But social media goes beyond a simple marketing tool. You have to look at social media as a sales tool, create the right content and pay attention to the numbers you are getting out of it.
Working on your brand social media has to be an enjoyable thing to do, but if you are not good at it, do not have the time, or just do not like doing it, hire somebody who can do this for you. The wrong social media content can ruin your business - more than you know!
This is no rocket science, but I had to come here and tell you the reality of social media marketing and things you should know when using this tool.
1. Creating the right content
Remember the post INSIDE THE FASHION INDUSTRY - Planning Your Photo Shoot? Well, remember when I mentioned creating the right photoshoot content? Social media is no different!
Do not try to sell silky headbands at 150 dollars with an iPhone photoshoot and use your friend as a model because she is pretty. You have to stick to your branding and be coherent to your selling price point.
No, I am not saying you should not post lifestyle or street style kind of pictures, the opposite. Post that as much as you can! But let’s face it, you can have a great “outfit of the day” kind of content and stay on branding.
A great example of content is NAMESAKE Instagram. They are a high-end leather brand, they post a lot of content regarding their photoshoots, but also pictures of great influencers wearing their goods daily. I am particularly obsessed with their goodies!
Another good example is CAMILA COELHO COLLECTION. Always posting their customers wearing their styles, but also the content is always on-brand.
2. Stick to your branding
When creating your branding you should have a color palette. Your social media should stick to your color palette!
If you are going for light colors, choose the content that reflects that. My color palette is mainly back, white and gray, so most of my Instagram posts are within those colors - especially when posting content related to fashion coaching and production management.
NAMESAKE and CAMILA COELHO COLLECTION are also great examples of following a color palette. NAMESAKE has a dark vibe, sexy, and party style. While CAMILA COELHO COLLECTION has a light, street style, chic kind of vibe.
There are apps and ways you can treat photos to follow your color palette. It is important to use these tools and make sure you are following your brand style when posting on social media.
3. Consistency on posting
It is useless to create a bunch of content at once, post it all and disappear from social media for a week. Social media is also part of your business and, in your business, you need consistency.
Why do you think influencers post “too much” or share their entire life and routine on social media? Because their followers want to see that! Their followers expect to see their outfits, daily routine, what are their favorite products…
Consistency in posting is crucial to keep your followers engaged and to keep growing your social media pages. It not only helps with engagement but also helps people find your page.
4. Creating your social media accounts before launching your collection
Here is a question clients ask me ALL the time “When should I start my social media page?”. Well, you definitely should start your page before your collection is ready to launch. In that way, people will get to know you and what products you will be selling.
No, this does not mean you have to post pictures of your styles months ahead of time and “ruin” the surprise. Your first social media posts should be about who you are, what your brand is, what should be expected of your brand, where you will be selling, how customers can reach out to you, your brand history. This is the kind of work that can start anywhere between 6 to 3 months before your production is done and ready to sell.
About a month or two before you launch, that is when you have to start introducing your styles and tell people the official launch date. So people will know exactly what to expect and they will know what they are buying from you once your collection is out.
5. Pay attention to the numbers
If you do not know that yet, let me tell you something: social media is not only about beautiful content, it is also about numbers and statistics. Sorry to disappoint you, but it is true!
Consistency in posting, following your branding, engaging with your audience, all of these will generate numbers that will tell you if you are doing the right thing.
Instagram insights, for example, is my favorite thing ever! There are insights for everything you can imagine. Like, what time of the day do you get the most engagement when you post, where most of your clients are located, which kind of posts your customers like the most, if most of your them are men or women, their age range.
All of these numbers are important when you are building a brand. Creating the right content and listening to these numbers will tell you what kind of reaction people have through each one of your styles, what are your best sellers and where you should invest more.
Even though this is no rocket science, social media can be tricky and you need to give as much attention to social media as you do to your product development and marketing materials. Social media currently rules the world, it is a free tool that can generate millions for your brand, but with the wrong content, you will go nowhere. I have a lot of clients who do not enjoy doing social media, and that is fair. But if you do not like doing it yourself, you need to invest in the right help to do it.
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