A Guide to Using Influencer Marketing for Fashion Brands
How many fashion influencers are out there?
There are over 1M fashion Instagram influencers alone. According to Heepsy, there are some 420K in the United States, 240K in Brazil, 96K in Italy, 82K in the United Kingdom, and 60K in Spain.
Which channel is best for using influencer marketing for fashion?
Each of the main social networks can be used for influencer marketing for fashion brands. Twitter is less visual than Instagram, Youtube or TikTok. As fashion is a visual and creative sector, it’s better to show that off with as much multimedia as possible.
Youtube and TikTok can be great options, but Instagram is the most versatile. You can post photos or videos, upload stories, and even do live streams. It’s also hard to argue against Instagram when 90% of influencer campaigns include the platform in some way.
Furthermore, Instagram allows for easy product tagging and linking. Use Instagram Shopping and the Swipe Up feature to get people shopping your products instantly.
What are some goals of influencer marketing for fashion brands?
The goal of your campaign is completely up to you. You know your brand best, and you need to decide what you need from each specific campaign. That being said, there are some common goals fashion brands tend to have when running influencer campaigns.
Awareness
The goal of your campaign is completely up to you. You know your brand best, and you need to decide what you need from each specific campaign. That being said, there are some common goals fashion brands tend to have when running influencer campaigns.
For some brands, especially newer ones, it’s important to just get your name out there. Before you can focus on increasing sales, you need to make sure people know who you are and what your brand stands for. Influencers can help you do that by promoting your brand and products to their followers.
For gaining awareness, it may be better to work with several nano and micro influencers than just one mega influencer. Although one celebrity can definitely get your name across, that doesn’t always translate into general interest from their followers.
But, a team of nano and micro influencers have followers who are more intensely interested in what they have to say. This means more curiosity in your brand, and hopefully awareness that lasts well after the user has scrolled away.
Engagement
Brand engagement is kind of like the customer service experience on social media. It’s how your followers react to your brand. How can influencers help with this? Well, they’re great conversation starters.
Influencers can promote specific products or services and direct followers to your profile. They can also help you get more likes and comments, especially if they host a giveaway or a brand takeover. They bring new followers to your account, and can potentially motivate the followers you already have to interact in new ways.
Sales
Obviously an important goal for fashion brands is sales. Most fashion labels nowadays have ecommerce shops, and shopping online goes hand in hand with social media. As we said above, Instagram even lets you tag certain products so followers can shop the look with just a tap of their screen.
When it comes to influencers, they can help drive sales by offering unique discount codes. This is a great tactic to encourage purchases and to also track who brings in what amount of revenue.
@vanessaxhope promoting her unique discount code for ecommerce @sheinofficial.
A friendly tip: When creating discount codes like this, keep them simple, and make it so users can copy/paste them when possible. You want to make the purchase process as seamless as possible.
What are some content ideas I can use in my influencer fashion campaigns?
Fashion’s very nature opens lots of doors in the content department. Let your creativity run wild, as long as you keep your goal in mind. Here are just a few ideas about what you can do with fashion and influencers:
- Giveaways of your products, perhaps of the influencer’s favorite look or item
- Virtual fashion shows and lookbooks, using influencers to show off your clothes
- Art films featuring influencers, who tell a story in your clothes
- A flash sale, with an influencer-specific discount for a limited time
- Reviews about texture, quality and other aspects not easily seen in photos, especially for fashion that may have some technical aspect (like a rain jacket, for example)
- Branded hashtags, to set up a dedicated hashtag that influencers and followers can use when wearing your garments
Which media format is best?
When using Instagram, all and none. Every format has its own pros and cons.
Posts are great for showing off products and making them easily shoppable. But it’s not the most dynamic way to see clothes in motion. Also, influencers usually charge more for posts, as their permanence demands more effort when creating content.
Stories on the other hand are easy and quick to upload, and work well for showing a product in use, or for an influencer’s review. You can then ask the influencer to add a link using the Swipe Up feature, as long as they have more than 10K followers.
Going beyond Stories, live streams can help broadcast things like fashion shows, a tour of your studio, or even a chat between an influencer and one of your designers. Finally, Reels are a bit more whimsical, and their short form makes them best for quick, highly visual and fun content used primarily for branding.
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What tips should I keep in mind when using influencer marketing for fashion?
First of all, always focus on your goal, but that’s true for any campaign. Every decision you make should be molded by what you’re trying to accomplish.
Don’t overlook the metrics
It’s easy to get blown away by a fashion influencer’s amazing style or perfect photography. And while the aesthetic is important, it’s not the only thing you should base your decision on.
Heepsy’s audience interest metric shows what percentage of an influencer’s audience are primarily interested in fashion.
Make sure you find an influencer who has healthy follower growth, good engagement and whose audience matches your target audience. To learn more about this, and how Heepsy can help, check out our influencer marketing guide.
Embrace your niche and work with micro influencers
Nano and micro influencers might not be household names, but they’ve gained followings in their niches and their followers consider them experts. With a celebrity influencer, you might reach 1M people who aren’t really interested in your brand’s niche. But with a micro influencer, you can reach 10K who are intensely interested in it.
For example, if you sell hand-knit sweaters made from sustainable materials, try finding a micro influencer who embraces the slow fashion and eco-friendly lifestyle. This will make the collaboration more authentic and by consequence, more impactful. The audience will be following that micro influencer because of the niche interest, and will actually care about your brand’s mission.
Pay with product when possible, but remember logistics
For brands, the best way to pay influencers is in product. It works out cheaper for you. And it gives influencers something to use in their content creation.
For fashion brands, this generally works well. Clothes and accessories generally ship well, and having a variety of styles and colors means there’s bound to be something the influencer genuinely likes.
When possible, let influencers choose the product, or the variation of a certain product, that they like best. If you’re promoting a new model of handbag, let them choose the color that speaks to their style. This way, your product gets the best possible review.
Now, having said that, keep logistics in mind, both time-wise and financially speaking. When sending packages, make sure they arrive enough time in advance for the influencer to be able to try out the product and produce their content.
What are some examples of influencer marketing used for fashion?
Take a look at some ways that different brands have used influencers to market their products on Instagram.
ASOS
British label ASOS, which operates solely online, is no stranger to Instagram influencers. The brand regularly works with influencers of all kinds. Here, @denisemmercedes and @mariacastellano_ri model the same ASOS looks despite their physical differences. The end result shows that anyone can shop at ASOS and look great.
Everlane
This San Francisco-based retailer strives to be transparent about the price and manufacturing of its modern, minimalist garments. In this example, Everlane challenged @punodostres to come up with 7 different Everlane looks, one for each day of her week. The idea allows Puno to put her own creative spin on the brand’s collection. And Everlane benefits, too: the post shows their clothes are comfortable and stylish enough for whatever life throws at you during your week.
Teva
Tevas used to be the dad sandals of the 90s, but a few years ago the company carved a path into the hearts of fashionistas worldwide, putting their sandals in partnership with haute couture. And just back in August, Teva released their new Gateway sneakers. The brand used influencers like @itsmekellieb to reconcile their foundations of comfort and durability with their newfound elegance. Also, Kellie’s choice of wearing a men’s sneaker puts a unique touch on her collaboration and helps consumers think outside the box.
Conclusion
Fashion is a sector prime for influencer marketing. If your fashion brand hasn’t yet gotten in on the trend, remember that you can always use Heepsy to help you find influencers who are perfect for your campaigns!
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