Here are 30 different client acquisition sources you can use to promote your clothing brand and thus, increase your turnover.
Creating beautiful clothes, with style and originality, is good. Successfully selling them is better.
There are many stylists and artisans who create very beautiful things but still fail to market them and develop their brand awareness. If you are a stylist yourself and / or have your own brand, you might know something about it.
So check out these 30 client acquisition sources and try them out!
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1 – Social networks
We start with the most obvious. Social networks are undoubtedly a very good way to communicate around your brand, your history and to unite a community. They can be used as much for discovery as for customer loyalt
Among the most important social networks for fashion, we note among others Instagram, Facebook but also Pinterest or Tik Tok. Other networks exist. Those to be favored then depend on the target audience.
A good content and community management strategy is important to ensure growth and visibility
2 – Social media ads
On social networks, it is also possible to advertise. They appear as “sponsored” posts. You have probably seen it happening if you surf the networks from time to time.
Instagram ads, facebook ads, pinterest ads, twitter ads… each platform has its own advertising system and its own specificities.
In general, with the right settings (or the right web marketing agency), you can really reach your target audience. It takes a bit of knowledge and practice, so if you don’t know your stuff at all, don’t hesitate to call in the specialists.
3 – SEM
SEM or even Search Engine Marketing are text ads found on search engines like Google.
These are ads that appear based on the keyword typed in the search engine bar. The main benefit to using this client acquisition source is that it responds to queries from people who are doing an intentional search. People are actively looking for a solution and if your brand responds to it, it’s a winning customer.
If you are in children’s fashion for example, it may be interesting to create ads to appear when people type in keywords such as “children’s clothing”, “baby clothing”, “birth gift”…
4 – Display or programmatic Ads
SEA stands for Search Engine Advertising. SEA are all the advertising techniques used on websites and search engines to develop visibility. This includes the SEM seen earlier, but also the use of banner displays for example on sites.
Google Shopping too, which allows a pictorial / catalog ad to be displayed in response to shopping queries is one of them.
This type of traffic source is particularly effective in increasing brand awareness.
5 – Blogs and guest blogging
Another interesting client acquisition source to exploit is guest blogging with blogs that belong to your sector. If some bloggers promote styles that are similar to yours, you can try pitching your brand to them with the goal of getting them talking to their community.
If you are in the ethical fashion industry for example, you can try contacting blogs that talk about responsible fashion to talk about your project.
6 – Influencer marketing
Just like SEA, influencer marketing can be an effective lead source for your clothing brand.
Several fashion brands have exploded thanks to this. Sézane very quickly had many influencers who spoke about the brand. Their notoriety grew very quickly thanks to this. Similarly, Off-White, the brand of Virgil Abloh, the former stylist of Kanye West, has become a flagship to overtake Gucci. Thank you Kardashians-Jenner!
In a slightly ancillary field, the watch brand, Daniel Wellington, gained fame only through influencer marketing.
You have to choose your influencers well, but in fashion, they undeniably have a key role to play.
7 – Star endorsement
Very much in line with influencer marketing, you can use stars to promote your brand or even associate yourself with it.
The reason that LVMH group luxury brand Fenty has taken off so quickly is largely because it is worn by the popular and famous Rihanna.
Not within reach of all budgets, we grant you. But if you have knowledge that is well-placed in the business and that matches your brand, don’t hesitate to call on them.
8 – SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is about optimizing your entire website to make it friendlier for search engines.
SEO can be quite technical and time consuming. This is a long-term client acquisition source because it might take months to be well referenced for a particular keyword. However, if you do a good job with your SEO, it can bring you more and more traffic and organic notoriety, and ultimately at a lower cost.
9 – Content marketing/ inbound marketing
Content marketing not only improves SEO but also brings your brand to an audience looking for information.
Indeed, a good content strategy allows by creating relevant content to answer the questions of your target. Not only is it good for your SEO but your community will like it if you provide good content. By the way, feel free to check out our content batching guide if you need to create a lot of content.
10 – Email
An email is direct contact with a customer. It is a known, tested and a well approved methods among all the client acquisition sources. With the new privacy laws, you obviously cannot send emails without the person having first given their consent.
This is less true when it comes to a generic email from a company, for example. Also, if your brand targets businesses, emails can be a great way to market your product.
In addition, some companies, especially the media, have offers that allow partners to be highlighted in their newsletters sent to subscribers. Do not hesitate to take a look at the media kits of the media that interest you.
11 – Viral marketing
Creating buzz around your brand is a great way to promote it. Le Slip Français, for example, created an incredible buzz during the 2012 election campaign by hijacking posters of presidential candidates. “Slip’s change is now!”
In less than 6 days, their parody video had been viewed more than 40,000 times, thus doubling the number of visitors to their site.
Creating buzz and virality isn’t easy, but if you are successful you will definitely make history. Where it is to your advantage is that when you are a stylist or a fashion designer, breaking codes or being original is your core business. Also, it is absolutely within your reach.
12 – Business development
Business development is not for the fashion industry a simple lever. It is more obvious if, for example, you are selling a service.
To put it simply, business development is the art of forging strategic or even exclusive relationships with partners in order to attract customers of interest to both parties.
Example: If you offer styling services, teaming up with a pattern maker or a seamstress can be a winning relationship that earns you both revenue. Indeed, your customer may be the customer of the business with whom you are partnering.
For a B to C fashion brand, this could be a partnership with a concept store for example.
13 – Affiliation
Affiliation is a very powerful potential source of clients. This is about giving commissions to prescribers of your service based on the number of people they bring you.
Take an example with a case of affiliation with a YouTuber or a fashion advice site. They talk about your brand to their audience and refer them to you thanks to an affiliate link that you will have created to follow the results. Each 1000 people brought to your site for example, or for each customer brought, you pay them a sum or a percentage of sales defined in advance.
Much like in business development, you create a win-win relationship that can promote your clothing brand.
14 – Sales
Customers attract customers. Have you noticed that when you have a lot of customers in a store, you immediately feel a little more inclined to walk into them? It piques your curiosity and makes you want to know what attracts so many people.
This is why in some countries, such as the United States or Japan, we pay people to queue to attract others.
So making good sales, having many customers can also be a good way to get people talking about your brand and attract other customers.
15 – Word of mouth
Likewise, offering the right service and a good product to the right customer helps build brand awareness. A happy customer will be happy to talk about their experience and recommend you. There is nothing better than word of mouth to build your brand awareness.
Note, however, that this is a double-edged sword. Indeed, a happy customer will tell about your brand to 2 or 3 of their friend. On the other hand, a dissatisfied customer will be eager to tell to more than ten people about their bad experience. And with social networks, it can go very quickly!
16 – Brand collaborations
You could also do collaborations with brands that share similar values but different target audiences or have the same audiences.
That way, your fashion brand will be exposed to the other brand’s audience. And you might just gain new clients afterwards.
However, do note that it needs to work both way for a collaboration to be successful.
17 – The distribution network
Being distributed in several stores in several corners of France can allow you to promote your brand (and increase your sales!).
In some cases, boutique distribution when it comes to Galaries Lafayettes or Printemps can even turn out to be more of a communication operation than a means of making money as the constraints are so high.
But by multiplying the points of sale, you increase the chance that your brand is seen.
18 – Pop up stores
Participating in a pop-up is a way to reach out to customers and present your products. Not all pop ups are created equal and it’s important to put in place a real communication strategy around them if you don’t want to waste your time.
The choice of location and timing is also key.
19 – Creators’ markets or christmas markets
If your brand is suitable and is more artisanal, you can consider designer markets or Christmas markets to market yourself. Those who attend are often looking for new products, gift ideas and emerging designer
20 – Trade shows
If you want to make your brand known to a professional audience of buyers with the idea of selling B2B and wholesale, trade shows are a good way to introduce yourself.
In France, the Who’s next, the lingerie show and the Première Classe show are still relevant. The Impact fair and the Made in France fair are gaining notoriety. Check with your federation which ones may be of most interest to you.
Organizing a trade show is a significant investment and it requires preparation.
21 – Fashion showrooms
Joining a fashion showroom allows you to present your brand to a range of buyers. Showrooms can be interesting to study if you want to expand internationally.
22 – Commercial agents
As with showrooms, hiring a sales agent is especially relevant if you want to promote your brand abroad.
23 – Press relationships
Media relations is the whole process of getting journalists to talk about your brand organically. In fashion, many big brands have developed their notoriety through this.
This consists of creating press kits and interacting regularly with journalists in order to provide them with news about your brand. Maintaining press relations requires interpersonal skills and is very time consuming because you have to regularly renew your contacts. There also needs to be material and stories to tell, such as a launch or a fashion show.
It’s a real job, so don’t hesitate to entrust the task to a pro!
24 – Ads in magazines, online magazines or newspapers
Magazines and newspapers are largely funded by advertising. You may, in fact, decide to buy an entire page of advertising to promote your brand.
Be careful, this can quickly become expensive! ¼ of a page can quickly cost around $ 5,000 as a guide and the price depends on the audience and the style of the magazine. So, keep it for a development or a scaling period when you know you can invest.
However, if you pick the right magazine, it can help you develop or affirm your brand image. Smaller magazines also offer more attractive prices.
25 – TV ads
We mention it anyway, even though it is far from within the reach of most designers and small brands.
TV advertising still has an impact today, especially as there are audiences like seniors who have not yet fully gone digital.
26 – Product placement
Product placement is about having your piece used in a movie or series.
27 – Billboards
Billboards are a good way to build awareness if you are looking to market yourself to a local clientele. Keep in mind only passers-by and local clients will see the poster or panel.
One immediately imagines the large billboard in the metro or near the highway. However, it could very well be a small poster plastered in small signs in the neighborhood you are targeting. And if you’re in a small town, maybe it can cost less than you think.
28 – Flyers
Distributing flyers can also be a way to build awareness of your brand. This is not suitable for all levels of the range. In addition, the flyer must be really impactful and provide real added value to attract the attention of the person or risk being thrown in the first trash.
But if you have events or if you are organizing a pop-up, this can be a lever to test.
29 – Conferences
Attending conferences as a speaker can help you build awareness of your brand. There is probably no better person to talk about your product and your fashion vision than you.
Plus, it also positions you as an expert. Developing your own personal brand can also positively impact your clothing brand. If you like to talk and are comfortable in public, consider the maneuver.
30 – Podcasts
Finally, you can also approach podcasts with the aim of getting people talking about your clothing brand and / or your expertise. Podcasts are on the rise and increasingly popular these days.
People now consume content as easily and naturally as breathing air. Because of social media, the arrival of 5G and the democratization of mobile phones, brands and designers are constantly pressured to create, release and share more.
You need to regularly update your websites, post consistently on social media, create visuals for your promotional campaigns… The list can go on and on. I know it can be daunting to see how much you need to create to do that.
In my 3 years of fashion entrepreneurship, I created around 3700 web content, wrote 4 ebooks, more than 200 long form articles and many promotional emails.
Some people told me that they were very impressed with the amount of content I was releasing every month.
So I thought It might be interesting to share with you my secret recipe to create a massive amount of content in a short period of time when you are a fashion brand, marketplace or an indie fashion designer.
If you are looking for actionable tips and a strategy that will make your life a lot easier, keep on reading!
What type and how much content do you actually need to produce ?
Yes, we can all agree that you need content to have a presence on the internet and make your brand look alive.
However, knowing what and how much content you need to have is a whole different question. It’s also a good way to start a solid content strategy.
It will help you plan your actions better and will make the process of posting a lot less stressful.
Here are the different types of content you could be posting when working in the field of fashion and beauty and how much content you might need.
Web content
Web contents include any type of contents that need to be uploaded online.
According to Oberlo, the number of online shoppers should hit 2.14 billion by 2021.
In addition to that, in a survey conducted by Bizrate Insights in April 2019, 3 out of 5 internet users said they’ve purchased clothes, shoes or accessories online in the past month.
So there’s no doubt that having an online presence for fashion brands and designers is key.
Website
Depending on your situation, the website could be a simple portfolio page that showcases your main products/ assets or a solid e-commerce platform.
Contrary to what many people think, a website is not a static asset. It’s not “now, it’s developed, live and I’m good to go”. Just like a car, a website needs some maintenance to keep up with the new trends, algorithms and new technologies.
On top of that, a frequently updated website will have more success with organic search engine rankings. In other words, the more you keep your website up to date, the more likely you are to have a better ranking on Google.
The homepage should reflect the latest collections of the brands or your latest works. Therefore, there should be a change of pictures/ banners at least once every season. And if you have any promotional campaign going on, it should be mentioned somewhere on your website. Blogging regularly, every 2 month for instance, is also a good practice.
Social media
Instagram and facebook are considered as essential in the fashion industry. But depending on your target audience, you could also consider using Pinterest, Tiktok, LinkedIN, twitter or Youtube.
Obviously, the more social channels you have, the more work it requires. But bare in mind that :
People can be on several social media but have different behaviours depending on the one they use. For instance, a woman can be browsing ideas on pinterest, checking out a brand on instagram and then purchase via facebook.
People are not on all social media. If you want to reach baby boomers or Gen X, you’d better off publishing and advertising on Facebook rather than Instagram or TikTok (Although there are opportunities to reach them also on both platforms)
As for how often you should post on social media, there are good practices (as shown below) but if the best you can do is once a week, it is fine as long as you stick to it.
Online Ads
Consumers do their research before buying a brand. It’s part of a classic shopping journey. And that’s even more true today because many consumers now take into consideration how authentic and sustainable a brand is before buying.
If you are a brand with products to sell, online advertising is almost a must.
There are many types of online ads. You can use Google Ads, programmatic ads, facebook ads, instagram ads, pinterest ads, twitter ads, youtube ads… And all of them require specific visuals and formats. And every time you are doing a different campaign, you need different visuals.
Emails
Emailing is one of the best ways to reach potential customers and convert them into actual shoppers. On top of that, once you’ve built your email list, sending email is almost free.
According to Hubspot, over 90% of consumers check their emails daily. Also, email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share social content than others.
To craft a good email, you will need a good text, click-worthy images and a call to action.
86% of consumers said they would like to receive a promotional email from brands they subscribe to at least once per month. Weekly emails are also said to be effective but no more than that to not be considered as spammy. 78% of consumers have unsubscribed from lists because a brand was sending too many emails.
Print Content
Flyers and pack-ins
If you are making a sale, you may want to add flyers, coupons, branded stickers or postcards to the packaging to make the shopping experience last a little longer.
Encouraging a customer to buy again is easier than converting a new customer.
Some brands, like Sezane for example, also change their mailing boxes every once in a while.
Therefore, you can also take into account all the things you need to develop for your after-sale experience when you will be preparing your content.
Tradefair documents
If you are taking part into a trade fair (BtoB or BtoC), you will probably need lookbooks and flyers to present your brand or your work to potential buyers and customers. And in case, some journalists come to see you, having a printed copy of your latest press release could be useful.
You will also need to decorate your booth with your colors and identity to make it stand out. Frames, photos, large banners can be useful to do so.
The number 1 rule to create massive amounts of quality content for your brand : content batching
What is content batching and why should you batch content?
Content batching consists in creating all your content in one go instead of little by little every week. I realize it might sound like a lot of work but there are many benefits to content batching and it actually fits the way the fashion industry works.
As a matter of fact, in the fashion industry, your work revolves around collections and seasons. Haute couture and ready to wear fashion collections need to be ready at least 2 seasons prior to their presentations. In other words, when you are selling the winter collection, you are actually designing the summer creations or even the next winter pieces.
So, you are already used to batch working because that’s what you naturally do when creating a new collection.
6 other advantages of content batching
Not only will it feel natural to you to batch content but there are also many other advantages.
It will ease your mind. Once it’s done, it’s done. No more stress over “hey, what should I post today ?” . Even in a time of pandemic, you don’t have to fret over what to post because you already have ready-to-go or easily tweakable content.
In the end, it will save you time and allow you to take care of things that are equally important for a successful business: customer service or quality control for example. Ultimately, it streamlines your marketing efforts and makes you more efficient.
You will avoid making stupid mistakes. Again, since fashion collections are completed sometimes a year in advance, it’s easy to get things mixed up or to forget about important details. Content batching and planning prevent you from that.
It helps your brand to be more consistent and provide a more holistic experience. When you are creating all your content at the same time, it’s easier to see the big picture and keep everything in line with the chosen art direction.
You tend to be more creative and have more ideas. When you are creating your content week after week, you need to restart and warm up the machine (i.e your brain) every time you do it. On the other end, when content batching, the ideas will flow a lot more easily because you will be intensively brainstorming and focused.
How to start content batching?
It all starts with a good plan
Before getting into the actual content batching, you need a good plan. Just like war, you need to get prepared and know where you are heading to.
First, assess how much content you need to produce. You can refer to the earlier sections to do so. List all the pieces of content you will need and afterwards, all the elements it will require to create these pieces of content. You might already have some of them. Things like moodboards, sketches, collection boards or sketches are all sources you can use to create your content.
The rest can be gathered through photoshoots and brainstorming sessions.
Optimize your photoshoot sessions
Most of the content needed by fashion brands and designers are visual-based. Photos are the one thing that show people what your universe and inspirations are. They showcase the qualities and the details that make your clothes or accessories unique. Through your pictures, people can also project how the clothes will look on then when worn. In a nutshell, your pictures are what triggers the desire and maybe some impulse buy.
In other words, optimizing and succeeding your photoshoot sessions are crucial. Good photos sell. So, do not be afraid to allocate some budget to hire a good photograph and models or to book the right venue.
Also, take into account where these photos will be used.
As a matter of fact, if you know that you need to create banners for your website, you will make sure that your photograph also does landscape photos.
If you are selling on a marketplace, you know that your pictures should comply with certain tech specs (white background, png format… ). Therefore, you will shoot your products with the adequate background so that you don’t have too much post-prod to do on your photos.
Here are the types of pictures you should consider taking during your photoshoots:
Lifestyle photos
Pack shots (ideally, take a picture all angles of the products)
Photos with a white background (or at least a background you can easily remove)
Flat lay photos
Outfit ideas
Behind the scene pictures
Inspirational photos (pictures of the venue for instance)
Obviously, the more photos you have, the more options you will have to create your content.
Dedicate some of your time to writing sessions
You will probably need texts to accompany your social media posts, your emails or documentations.
Same as the photos, identify all your needs in terms of texts. The advantage of creating all the texts in one go is that you only need to do your brainstorming and your research once.
My recommendation would be to start with the bigger chunks that can then easily be split into small shareable pieces of content.
For example, your press releases could be turned into many social media posts. Moreover, if you write an ebook to use as a lead magnet, you can transform each chapter into a blog article.
Here are some texts you will probably need to create as a fashion brand :
The description of your mission and your values
The product details (description, composition, traceability, sizing, care instructions)
Why your products are the best and how unique they are
The inspiration/story behind the collection
The description of the creation process
What you do for sustainable development
Keywords that can be used for your collection
Taglines for the collections
The details of any events or promotions you will be planning
Create and multiply your content
Once you gathered your base elements for your content, you can start creating what you will need for the next months.
Of course, for any visual based content, you can use photoshop or illustrator. But, one tool that I love using is Canva.
As a matter of fact, Canva is a very user-friendly digital graphic platform that enables you to easily create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents and other visual content. They have many ready-to-use templates and fonts that make your content look professional.
And with a premium subscription, you can with a click resize all your design and this is a super time-saver! In other words, you can create a bunch of designs for facebook and then just resize them all and adapt them for twitter within a minute.
On top of that, it’s pretty affordable, especially compared to adobe’s pricing. Indeed, it doesn’t do the same thing. If you really need to completely modify and edit a photo, Canva won’t do and you’ll need to use photoshop… or hire somebody else to do it.
However, usually, when you are doing a photoshoot, your photographer should give you files that are already clean. Unless you are creating a large billboard that needs to be printed, Canva should be fine for your needs.
As for your text-based content, any text editor you are familiar working with is fine. The real key to creating a massive amount of texts is writing a good long first draft. The first draft is always the most difficult one. Once it’s done, you can use synonyms, split the texts, merge them or spin them to multiply the initial draft into multiple content. And for those who know the art of content-spinning, feel free to use it!
The next step: outsource
If you want to go further or if your business requires it, you can also outsource your whole content creation process.
You know the principle. When you work alone, you have 24 hours in a day but when you are 2, you have 48 hours to use in a day. That’s the magic behind outsourcing.
Finding the right team or person is not that easy but when you do find it, it will save you a lot of time. What you need to do, afterwards, is to implement a good communication system so that the content creation process flows smoothly.
It could be something like:
Naming your base elements and the future content pieces in a certain way
Sharing a plan that is realistic but ambitious and clear about everything they will need to do (what types of content, how many they need to create, in what format they should produce them, where they should put the files…)
Clarity about the deadlines
Telling them how creative they can go with your designs and texts (Having a brand style and editorial guide could be useful for this purpose.)
Creating templates together
Alternatively, you can also grow your team with a new member who will be dedicated to this task. It’s a matter of budget. Outsourcing is usually less expensive than hiring.
Repurpose everything
Finally, the true secret for unlimited content : repurposing.
Each content you created can potentially be transformed and used somewhere else. In fashion terms, it’s like upcycling.
As a matter of fact, not everyone uses the same platform. You might have reached some people on facebook but there might be people on Linkedin who never saw and who might feel equally attracted to your new collection.
On top of fact, if you create evergreen content, i.e content that never gets old, you can use it endlessly. It could be pieces of advice on how to use your products or to care for them, a picture of your team or a video on your creation process.
Because it was used once doesn’t mean it’s good for garbage. It’s quite the opposite actually. In fact, sharing them again can amplify the message and the chances someone remembers it.
This is the brief overview of how you can produce and create a lot of content in a short amount of time, even if you are alone, have a small team or a tight budget. It’s a habit to take but once you are used to it, it’s like a machine that just needs a little bit of maintenance.
Of course, there is a lot more that can be said about the topic so feel free to ask questions in the comment section if you have some or to contact me directly.
