Trends and traffic: Digital marketing for fashion businesses

Fashion is a visual industry, a perfect fit for an online environment where it's possible for people to notice, find and buy items within a few clicks. But it's also a highly competitive sector for both online retailers and bricks-and-mortar stores.

The changing room

Gone are the days when bricks and mortar stores had the changing room effect – where shoppers could try on clothing before they bought it – as a major differentiator between their physical store and their online competitors. Online fashion stores now offer everything from models' true measurements and accurate sizing guides to enticements such as easy returns to assure buyers that they will fit the clothes they order, with the additional social proof through other customers' reviews that they will love the garments. 

One of the biggest issues is that bricks-and-mortar labels resist going digital because they are scared they’ll confuse customers with their dual offering and fear that they'll dilute their existing business model. Not having a digital strategy risks failure, however. More than seven in 10 (72%) millennials research products online before they set foot in a physical shop, so even if retailers don't want to invest in ecommerce, they need online marketing if they want to stay relevant with this and younger demographics.

Compounding this fear is the fact that their online competitors not only enjoy lower overheads and lower barriers to entry – especially as platforms like Shopify make it easier for people to set up ecommerce stores – but from the start have employed sophisticated digital marketing tactics to win customers. In addition to needing to convert window shoppers into paying customers at their stores, physical retailers must also play catch-up online, which makes them uncomfortable.

People not places

A shift in mindset fashion retailers need to make is that although location is a big factor for a physical retail store, the online environment is about people, not place. This means retailers need to create a virtual hub for their community of followers and loyal customers centred on content that demonstrates expertise in their niche. Understanding the brand's unique selling proposition and being able to recognise that speciality means people turn to a particular label for certain expertise or information.

Secondly, physical retailers have traditionally relied on foot traffic in combination with other promotional activities to bring people in-store. The same needs to happen online. They can't expect to spend money on designing and launching a website without also spending some on generating traffic. Paid advertising will ensure a new audience can find the business.

Further to that, a digital strategy also needs to involve re-marketing to existing customers. Collecting email addresses when shoppers make a purchase and then promoting valuable special offers immediately gives retailers a database they didn't have before and is a good way to start the transition from physical to digital.

Beyond Instagram

Plenty of fashion labels use influencers and celebrities to increase exposure, but this style of promotion doesn't always result in sustainable sales revenue. One big mistake fashion brands make is focusing on capturing a Kardashian wearing their label on Instagram without creating a strategy that focuses on attracting and nurturing the ideal customer. The success of such a stunt lies with what you’re doing to leverage it both at the time and after. If you’re not focused on engaging your audience and strategies to convert, then you’re most likely to fail.

One example is designer label Misha Collection, worn by models such as Bella Hadid, Adriana Lima and Jourdan Dunn. Misha Collection came to Impress!ve when its online traffic had started to plateau, and global brand awareness and conversions had become stagnant. Its website also had site redirection issues, which meant shoppers had trouble completing their purchases.

We tackled the redirection issues and overhauled its online user experience across 42 countries so was easy to buy anything from Misha from anywhere in the world. Then we took a three-pronged approach to revamp the brand’s online presence: search engine optimisation (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and Facebook advertising.

The objective was to find relevant new customers, so we ran a multi-channel digital strategy which was geared to find people who were likely to engage with a new brand. This extended Misha's global reach to more countries. We also set up Google Tag Manager, so they could track their success and monitor customer journeys, giving them data about where these leads were originating.

Our SEO efforts alone resulted in a 200% increase in organic traffic and 76% increase in organic search. Add to that an 87% increase in social traffic and the label returned to the global spotlight. And it wasn't just traffic that received a boost; the value of each individual order rose 35% and the return on ad spend was 23x.

At minimum, online retailers need to have a highly-functional, navigable site, the equivalent of having a nicely laid out, tidy shop. But on top of that they need a digital strategy – not a traditional marketing strategy done online but a campaign tailored for online shoppers. In Misha's case, the combination of paid and organic SEO campaigns was successful for brand exposure initially and then for long-term sales. Ecommerce is more than a trend, it's the future of doing business.

ENDS

If you would like to discuss the contents of this article further or ask questions about your current digital marketing strategy, please contact me on [email protected]