Mark AdamsOnce you have created a winning brand and launched your clothing brand, the next biggest challenge (besides making sure that your collections are getting made on time and within budget) is to market your clothing brand. For example, if you’re into manufacturing & selling battery powered heated jacket or heated work jackets, which is something unique in some parts of the world, you need to have an effective online marketing & brand promotion strategy to sell your latest product launches. A brand like “Wear Graphene”, which produces the GAMMA range of waterproof heated jackets for hunting and snowboarding has its in-house branding & advertising team.
This guide is in no way comprehensive, but it aims to cover the key marketing strategies and techniques that will be of use to any fledgling clothing brand and should leave you with enough knowledge to get you started.
Who should read this?: A small- or medium- sized fashion brand who is just starting out or is about to launch their company.
If you were going to attempt to launch a clothing brand of your own, this is the section in which you will find the most use.
In the text that follows there are 30 separate marketing tips that might make a given aspect of commercial enterprise easier for you. Each one will be dealt with individually in the next section and in the sections that follow. You do not have to use all of them, but you can’t become a master of marketing without at least a couple of them.
Identify, Select and Cultivate Your Target Market
The easiest way to market your clothing brand is to market to your target market.
I know. I know. You don’t have to believe me. You could decide to call your consumers – with very high prices, you are going to tell us – and ask them if they want to buy your clothing and they’ll tell you in no uncertain terms to go read this guide again and take your advice with a pinch more salt.
Probably not the best way to sell anything.
I think it’s clear though that your target market is the heart of your marketing and that if you do this well you’ll succeed.
Major clothing brands will spend masses of time and money trying to find the perfect mix of fit, quality and design that appeals to the widest array of consumers possible.
In contrast, you’ll be happy with a smaller market, with a relatively small budget, and you can start with a reasonable level of sustainability by targeting your initial audience.
If you spend too much time and money trying to sell to the masses and not enough time and money targeting the right people, you’ll alienate them and risk losing a profitable relationship.
I’m going to give you a sort of web-based promotion tools checklist to help you along with this process:
Use Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is great. If you have the budget and the technical expertise, you can effectively use paid advertising to promote your clothing brand.
The main component of paid advertising is the online advertising strategy and the only way to do this is to use an online advertising company.
If you would like some gosh-darned basic advice on this, feel free to take my word for it, or to leave the following comments here.
You’ll need to use several methods.
There are a variety of online tools (including, but not limited to, adsense) that you can use to advertise your clothing brand. This alone is a huge money maker – adsense ad revenue is on the rise while media and other sources are slowing down. The easiest way to get started is to look for a free ad network where you can advertise for nearly nothing. This is how much I myself make on advertising.
The best way to market your clothing brand is to try and target different niche markets and try different ads. You can then refine and focus your efforts as you go.
“The best way to go about a business is make every decision based on how it helps you.“ – Former Nike CEO Mark Parker
Use Social Media
Lots of people will tell you about using social media to market your clothing brand. I have a few things to say about this:
Lots of people will tell you about using social media to market your clothing brand. I have a few things to say about this:
The ability to use social media to market your clothing brand has been around since the invention of the internet and during that time all sorts of unique and innovative search tools have come and gone.
Only time will tell if social media or any of its social tools (e.g. facebook pages) have any staying power.
On the other hand, the advantages of social media are that you can specifically target your audience and create a community where you and they can advertise your clothing brand with very little cost.
It is a great way to engage with your audience and forge a lasting relationship that will better your brand and your profit.
Utilize Brainstorming and Organizational Methods
A key element in marketing your clothing brand is brainstorming.
“Brainstorming is a useful tool for generating creative ideas, and for generating creative ideas, we should be changing the ways in which we brainstorm and creating more new ways of doing it.” – Former Nike CEO Mark Parker
Brainstorming is when you sit down – ideally in a group – and try to come up with as many potential ideas as possible.
Branding is a creative process, so you will probably find something that at least one other person has already thought of.
Some people will have a way of brainstorming that they’ve tried to develop, but most forms of brainstorming have been proven ineffective over time. This is now particularly true for brainstorming from a creative perspective – the advantage of creative brainstorming is that it is inherently more subjective and tends to be easier to generate value from.
Brainstorming is also an effective way to gather useful information about your target market and the way they think. It’s also an effective way to unify the team.
The main strategy to employ when brainstorming is to start debriefing and follow this up with value generation.
Utilize Value Creation
Value creation is the act of forming a clear understanding of your intent and then deliberately creating an image around that intent.
For example, if your intention is to offer a creative experience, this act would be acting in a way that is consistent with this idea.
“It is the creative imagination of an individual or organization that allows it to create value.” – Former Nike CEO Mark Parker
Essentially, this step is the process by which you communicate your brand to the world. This process is often difficult at first, but it is one of the fundamental steps in creating value for your clothing brand.
Once you’ve figured out your brand intent, you can create a value proposition that will form the basis of your advertisements, packaging, etc.
A value proposition helps you communicate your idea to the world: what is it that you’re selling? What’s in it for them? This will obviously change throughout your business, but I recommend you try and come up with a value proposition that is top down – with your branding in mind – and bottom up.
Why?
Because ideally your intended audience will be drawn to your brand based on your branding, but remember that values are created by people, so you’ll have to use the most effective strategies possible to appeal to your audience.
Remember, however, that people don’t know what you’re going to do until you’ve done it – so this won’t be hard to execute.
Use Visual Marketing
If you own a clothing brand, then this is the last thing you need.
Unless you are a world renowned fashion designer, this is the last thing you need.
If you can’t afford a label, then don’t spend your time and resources on this.
An AMAZING way to make money with your clothing brand
If you want to make money with your clothing brand, then you need to think outside of the box.
You need to develop a new marketing strategy that is entirely focused on your audience, but that is not necessarily meant to make a lot of money.
The reason I refer to this as an amazing way to make money with your clothing brand is because it might just be entirely cost-free.
“If you don’t spend money, you’ll make it.” – When people ask me for a dollar, I give them $1 million dollars.
The best time to implement this strategy is when you first start your clothing brand, but you should also see if there’s a similar opportunity in the near future.
“If you want to really make money from your clothing brand, first focus on your audience not money.” – Former Nike CEO Mark Parker
You might be thinking to yourself – what the heck am I talking about?
I’m referring to the value you create for your target audience, which creates value for your clothing brand.
I’m talking about having a clear understanding of your intent, your audience, and your values at your clothing brand.
Since you’ve already clarified these key elements, you might not need to sell your clothing brand.
Therefore, if you can develop products of your clothing brand that you can sell online at a price that people are willing to pay, and if you can then bring my audience with you by providing a high-level experience, you’ll have no problem realizing a profit.
You’ll be able to direct your own audience to these products, and you won’t need to worry about revenue.
You’ll will be able to turn them into brand advocates, because without a doubt you can provide them with a superior experience.
Personally, I wouldn’t expect to make very much money from this, but because I’m not focused on making money I’m able to get away with a lot more than most brands: I can create a more valuable experience for my audience than anyone else, and hence increase my brand value.
For best effect, try and get this positive feedback by focusing on your audience and their experiences with your clothing brand. They’ll be more willing to invest in your brand if you can give them value.
Benifits?
More enjoyable experiences with your audience
With your clothing brand, you’ll be able to draw your audience in and run rings around your competition.
You’ll be able to sell more personalized products online because you won’t need to make a lot of money. This is the only reason why you would want to create value, because you’ll need to provide a concrete benefit to your customers if you want them to invest in you.
If you can provide enough value, they’ll be more willing to invest in you (and in the process invest in more products from you).
A great reward for your customers, because you’ll be able to provide them with a relaxing and memorable experience.
Focus on your audience and their experiences
Instead of obsessing over what you think they want, think about what they want.
Focus on your audience and their experiences with your clothing brand.
It doesn’t matter whether you can afford to spend a lot of money or not, since your focus will be on creating value for your audience.
You’ll still have to provide value for the clothing brand, because that’s what you’ll be selling, but you’ll be able to take steps to ensure that you provide a more enjoyable experience with your clothing brand.
Give your audience value in order to gain them as brand advocates. The clearer you are about this, the better it will be for you.
Always focus on what needs to happen for value to be created: what do people need to do or see in order to create value at your clothing brand?
This means that you will need to think about your market in a different way in order to attract your audience.
Amplify a benefit package for your clothes brands
If you’re not focused on money, you might not need to sell your clothing brand in the way that most brands do.
Your clothes brand can create beautiful, creative products that are favored by your audience because they are absolutely mesmerizing and captivating.
You provide a priceless experience, and you can get this second-hand because you don’t have to make money from your clothing brand.
This means that you can focus on creating value by providing an experience that is worthy of the investment your customer makes to buy these products.
