3 New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing Younger Brands
On the marketing front, smaller kids fashion brands can be stretched pretty thin—it’s no secret that branding often takes a back seat to production and sales when staff or budgets are lean.
Even when you’re just starting out, or still aren’t quite ready to hire out your marketing jobs, there are a few simple things you can do that will help tighten up your branding so that you get the most bang for your buck (or your time).
#1 Email marketing
Your email list is like marketing gold because it’s the only form of digital communication that you own and are in control of. Sure you may enjoy interacting with customers, leads, and industry folks on Instagram, but social media is rented space subject to the algorithmic whims of Mark Zuckerberg.
Besides, when someone entrusts you with their email address, they are in your sales funnel, big time. Set a goal to send out one email per month to your list of customers—this will help keep your brand top of mind.
Even if they’re not ready to buy from you now, as you develop the relationship over time through regular communication, you will develop trust and loyalty.
#2 Leverage your inspiration
Early in the design process do you find yourself deep in the land of mood boards, Pinterest rabbit holes, or your own journaling and scrapbooking?
Inspiration comes in many forms: did you read a poem, see an art exhibit, or travel abroad and translate that experience into an idea for your design? If so, start saving those images in a folder so you can share them over the season on social media.
Your fans will enjoy getting a behind the scenes peek at what’s happening in your mind, and you will have extra (free) content to share on your digital marketing channels that helps tell a narrative. Just remember to keep it above board and make sure to give proper credit to any creative work you share by tagging the artist and/or using hashtags!
#3 Write some copy
You may not need to craft a full-on press release, but you should absolutely have a collection statement of some kind to accompany your visual assets when you first show at the tradeshows. So many brands equate a collection statement or press release with a re-hashed ‘About Us’ and this is a mistake.
Think of this as your elevator pitch in written form and include any key motifs, inspirations, fabrics used, range of sizes, and a couple of unique details about your new collection. This statement will come in handy for press inquiries, bloggers, and even your Instagram captions! A thoughtful collection statement is the gift that keeps on giving!
