Digital Marketing Trends Within The Digital Marketing Trends Within The

Female Fashion Retailer SectorFemale Fashion Retailer SectorFemale Fashion Retailer SectorFemale Fashion Retailer Sector

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CCONTENTSONTENTS PPAGEAGE

Introduction....................................................................................................................Page 3

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)...............................................................................Page 4

Pay Per Click (PPC)........................................................................................................Page 6

Keyword Analysis...........................................................................................................Page 8

Online PR........................................................................................................................Page 9

Social Media....................................................................................................................Page 10

Online Partnerships.......................................................................................................Page 18

Mobile Marketing...........................................................................................................Page 20

Link Building..................................................................................................................Page 22

Online Sponsorships......................................................................................................Page 28

Affiliate Marketing........................................................................................................Page 29Affiliate Marketing........................................................................................................Page 29

Interactive Advertising.................................................................................................Page 32

Behavioural Targeting..................................................................................................Page 34

E-mail Marketing..........................................................................................................Page 35

E-mail Design................................................................................................................Page 37

Viral Marketing.............................................................................................................Page 40

Conclusion......................................................................................................................Page 43

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IntroductionIntroduction

The purpose of this report is to analyse, critique, compare and contrast

real life examples of digital marketing, all within the female fashion

retailer sector.

This reports follows on from a previous one, in which it discussed the

various websites within this sector. The websites that were previously

analysed were, ASOS, Next, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins. These were

chosen on a basis of primary and secondary research, which showed these

to be some of the most popular within this sector.to be some of the most popular within this sector.

Within this report there will be the analysis of digital marketing in female

fashion online. This is to have a more varied analysis and comparison of

other retailers websites in the sector.

Some of the aspects to which were analysed were, the use of social media,

e-mail marketing, pay per click (PPC) and affiliate marketing.

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Search engine optimisation involves ‘achieving the highest position or ranking practical in the natural or

organic listings on the search engine results pages after a specific combination of keywords has been typed

in.’ (Chaffey and Smith). Therefore for any business that has a website or online shop, they will be

wanting to achieve the highest rank in any search engine.

In order for companies to achieve this, they have to ensure that the keywords that

are associated with their website are going to be those used by customers. So,

‘the position or ranking is dependent on an algorithm used by each search engine

to match relevant site page content with the key phrase entered’ (Chaffey and

Smith). There is no charge for companies in relation to the listings to which their

company would be found on a search engine.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

It has been said that SEO can’t be left to an agency to do, it needs the work of

content owners and editors within a company. There are four main processes

search technology involves, these are;search technology involves, these are;

Crawling

Identifying relevant pages for indexing and assess whether they have changed.

This is done through search engines running automated programs, that use a

hyperlink structure of the web to ‘crawl’ the pages and documents that make the

World Wide Web.

Indexing

An index is then created to enable the search engine to find the most relevant

pages containing what has been searched. This database needs to be managed, so

that each search can be sorted out in a fraction of a second.

Ranking or Scoring

Once the index has produced pages that relate to that of what has originally been

searched, they are sorted in terms of relevance.

Query request and Results serving

Once the search engine has determined which results are a match, the engine’s

algorithm runs calculations to work out which is most relevant to the search. These

are then sorted on the results page in order from the most relevant to the least.

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It can be seen that when searching

for ‘online fashion’, there are various

websites that come up. Those that

are found on the first page and

towards the top, are likely to be

those that will get the most traffic.

Along with the fact they have used

the appropriate keywords in order to

achieve this.

When the search is changed to

‘womens fashion online’, it can be

seen that some of the same

websites still appear in this

search. Therefore showing that

these websites are likely to have

the most relevant key phrases

associated with the website.

Along with this, it could be said

that as these websites do come

top of the search, they may have

the highest traffic to their

websites. 5

Pay Per Click (PPC)Pay Per Click (PPC)PPC is seen to be similar to conventional advertising, this is because PPC involves ‘a relevant text

ad with a link to a company page is displayed when the user of a search engine types in a specific

phrase.’ (Chaffey and Smith). These are usually displayed as sponsored links on the search engine

page.

These sponsored links are found to not always be clicked on, as many searchers prefer to click on

the natural listings. However, around a quarter or a third of all clicks are through the sponsored

links, these are found to be highly profitable for Google, as well as the company themselves.

Sponsored

Links

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PPC is becoming more and more used throughout many companies, as it is seen to have its own

benefits to it, especially in terms of comparing it with conventional advertising. There are 2 main

advantages to the use of PPC these are;

1. ‘The advertiser is not paying for the ad to be displayed’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009) – This is due

to the fact that, cost is only incurred when the visitor actually clicks on the link.

2. ‘PPC advertising is highly targeted’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009) – The link to an ad is only

shown when the user types in a specific phrase, therefore meaning that there is a lot less

wastage in terms of the advertising being used.

Overall, it can be seen as to why there has been an increased use of PPC as there are many other

ways to achieve the same benefits of conventional advertising.

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Keyword AnalysisKeyword AnalysisIt has been said that the key to successful SEO and PPC is ‘achieving keyphrase relevance’ (Chaffey and Smith,

2009), this is the overall aim of search engines as they aim to match the combination of words that have been typed

into the search box, and this then leads to showing the most relevant destination content page.

The keyword analysis can also be looked at through each individual website that is being analysed, this is so to see

what keywords they have associated with their website. Therefore, they can ensure that when people are searching

for items that are linked with their website, that they will benefit from it.

There are a few ways in which the keyword analysis can be looked at, one of these is Google Adwords;

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Online PROnline PROnline PR involves maximising mentions of the company, brands, products or websites on third party websites,

that are likely to be visited by the target audience.

There needs to be the assurance that there is some kind of control over the reputation of the company or

brand, through monitoring and controlling what is placed about the company online.

Ranchhod et el. (2002), identified 4 key differences between online PR and traditional PR, these are;

1.The audience is connected to the organisation.

2.The members of the audience are connected to each other.

3.The audience has access to other information.

4.Audiences pool information.

(Chaffey and Smith, 2009)

In order to be able to manage online PR there are four key activities that need to be considered, these are;

1. Search marketing activities (SEO) – This is that there is the need for other links, which will assist with this 1. Search marketing activities (SEO) – This is that there is the need for other links, which will assist with this

technique.

2. Brand engagement activities – engagement is all about creating interaction or dialogue with online

audiences to help understand needs and potentially influence them. This is most likely to be through the use

of a companies own website or through blogs.

3. Buzz-building activities – Through the use of social media, in order to create some kind of ‘noise’ about a

campaign or message. This is likely to then help spread the message through the help of viral marketing.

Along with these methods there is the option to be able set up a press release area on the website, create e-

mail alerts and submit news stories to online news feeds.

4. Defensive and crisis PR – There needs to be the use of online reputation management tools, in order to be

able to track the health of a brand online. These then need to be responded to quickly, so to escape a

potentially negative incident occurring. 9

Social MediaSocial MediaFacebook

Facebook has become more and more of a tool and

essential for any company. As with today’s generation,

Facebook and other social media websites are a key way

for a business to communicate with their customers. As it

can be seen below, all varieties of female fashion retailers

have a Facebook page.

Topshop

Missguided.co.uk

ASOS

Gucci

Burberry

River Island

New Look

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It can be seen that each of the retailers that have a Facebook page all have

different ways of using them. ASOS use there’s as a way of letting their

customers know of any offers, and the ‘daily discovery’.

Whereas, a high end brand like Burberry use their Facebook page to show

their customers their latest ranges, along with having various videos of

behind the scenes footage.

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TwitterTwitterTwitter is used by businesses to connect them with their customers, in that

they are able to quickly share information with those individuals who are

interested in their products. Twitter has been seen to constantly grow over

the years, this now includes people being able to access it on-the-go.

A few facts

about Twitter;

•Launched •Launched March 2006

•175 million registered users

and growing

• 95m tweets are written per day.

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Tweets used to promote an

event that Topshop have

coming up.

Tweets used by Next to

announce the winner of a

competition.

Twitter is slightly different to Facebook in that,

they can’t have photo albums or videos to any of

their products. However, as it can be seen with both

of these Twitter pages, they put links to the

collections they are talking about.13

BlogsBlogsBlogs are best known as an ‘easy method of publishing personal web pages which are online

journals or diaries’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009). These are usually created by individuals, however

they are best suited to having different columnists writing on different topics.

Blogging software is incredibly cheap, as many of them have free tools to be used. It’ll become

more expensive once it is ‘more closely integrated with the main site since this will require

additional development costs for coding.’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009).

The format and template of a blog is important as this

enables the content on a website to be delivered in different

ways. The different ways in which this can be done are;

- By topic – in categories or topics to help with browsing.

- By tag – each article will be tagged to help them appear in

By Topic By Time

- By tag – each article will be tagged to help them appear in

searches.

- By author – these could be features from different authors,

whether they’re internal or external.

- By time – this helps the reader in searching for a specific

blog entry.

There are however risks to using blogs, which may put

some companies off blogging these are;

1- Damage to reputation – members of the public could

write negative posts or comments about the posts or

company.

2- SEO spam – These are spam links to other sites, which

people may not want to click on.

3- Poor levels of traffic – This could be if the blog is labelled

wrongly, it’ll put people away from seeing or bookmarking

it.

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Blogs are used as a way for retailers to be able to

share with their customers the latest trends. The blog share with their customers the latest trends. The blog

will then show the follower that they can purchase

this from the retailer.

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Each retailers blog are used for the same kind of

purpose, to inform their customers of any latest

trends or products. However, some of them have

other parts that make them stand out from the

crowd.

Topshop use their blog to share any videos or music

that they are liking.

Dorothy Perkins have

used their blog to

show their products

in use, through

various fashion

bloggers.

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YouTubeYouTubeAs the growth of social media

websites such as, Facebook and

Twitter have emerged, there

has also been the emergence of

many retailers to have their

own YouTube channels.

The YouTube channels are

used by all kinds of retailers,

going from high street stores,

to pure play online retailers

and designer brands.

Within these YouTube channels,

there are various videos which

show behind the scenes footage of

photo shoots or catwalk shows

that have been produced by the

company.

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There are three key types of online partnerships that need to be managed: link building, affiliate marketing and online sponsorship, using a structured approach to manage links which directs users to the site.

Link building is a key activity for search engine optimization. ‘More quality links from relevant sites means more quality visitors and more marketing outcomes.’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009)

There are various

female clothing

retailers who have

partnered with

Fairtrade, creating a Fairtrade, creating a

range of cotton

clothing. This shows a

list of women's fashion

retailers providing

Fairtrade clothing

providing links to

sites.

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Here is an example of an online partnership

in which, Missguided have partnered with

Apple. This allows Missguided consumers to

download an app using their iphones/ ipad,

enabling their consumers' to access and shop

for Missguided content through these Apple

products.

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MMOBILEOBILE MMARKETINGARKETINGIt has been said that marketers can no longer ignore the potentially powerful tool that mobile

marketing is, especially with ‘penetration in many western countries already exceeding 80% and

estimated mobile use worldwide exceeding 2 billion’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009). There are many

technologies within mobile that have seen this market expand, and made it easier for companies to

communicate with their customers. Such examples are, live e-mail downloads and Bluetooth

technology.

One of the most used mobile marketing techniques is through the use of SMS, this has ‘proved a

great way to get closer to customers, particularly those in the youth market who are difficult to

reach with other media.’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009).

Along with the use of SMS for mobile marketing there are other marketing applications such as,

games, applications (B2B inventory and order tracking), MMS messaging, text and win, and

quizzes.

In a recent newspaper article by Rik Haslam, a group creative architect

at RAPP, he expressed how ‘the marketing world has suddenly realised

just how many handsets consumers are carrying around.’

(Rik Haslam, Guardian Newspaper, 2009). It has been said that

mobile feels cheap, however in the current climate it is the perfect

way to have a low-cost opportunity with your customers, while

being ultra-repsonsive.

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Within the fashion market

there has been an increased

use of mobile marketing, this is

in the way of applications being

created for iPhones and iPads,

which mean the customer is

able to look for and even shop

for items through the retailers

app. Also, there has been the

use of movies on iPhones, in

order to show customers of new

products.

Chloe have also launched an iPhone

app, which enables consumers to

‘stay connected with the luxury

apparel and accessories brand while

on the go.’ (Mobile Marketer, 2008)

Dior used mobile

marketing to

promote its iconic

Lady Dior

handbag. They did

this with a black

and white film ‘The

Lady Noire Affair’,

which was only

available to iPhone

users.

Ralph Lauren created an iPhone app

which enables customers to view

Collection styles, along with video

highlights from their latest catwalk

shows, and a Lookbook feature. 21

This is an approach to link building, in

which a campaign is run through partners,

providing traffic for the site.

Here Dorothy Perkins have

partnered up with Glamour.

Sponsoring the magazines 10th

anniversary offering readers 20% off

all dresses, linking back to the site to

make purchases and gain the 20% discount.

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Another approach to link

building is, allowing sites to

create their own external

links, by using blogs and

forums which links users

back to their site.

Here Dorothy Perkins has

used their own blogging

site and embedded a link to

the site in the article.

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Another approach to link building is, placing links

through partners. Above shows examples of how Look

magazines shopping section provides a channel for users

to make purchases from a list of fashion brands. They’d

like to browse on directing them back to the original site

when they make the purchase.

Debenhams is a partner of

Nectar. When customers use

the Nectar card to do female

shopping, Debenhams is the

brand that appears linking

back to the site allowing

users to shop on the site.24

Site owners

may decide to

purchase links,

this one has

appeared on

the Look

magazine

website. Along

with an ad with an ad

placed by

Google,

providing a

link to the

New Look site.

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Here is an

article created

on Dorothy

Perkins about

the Breast

Cancer Cancer

campaign

which contains

links back to

the site.

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Placing links into articles help to

build traffic to the site as users

reading the articles like to find out

more and this directs them to the

site.

Cosmopolitan magazine has written an

article about a new range of clothes for New

Look, in which a link has been put within it.

The same has been done by Look magazine

for Dorothy Perkins, on news about the

retailers with links placed in the article

directing them to the site.

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Online sponsorship is defined as ‘ the linking of a brand with related content or context for the

purpose of creating brand awareness and strengthening brand appeal in a form that is clearly

distinguishable from banner, button or other standardized ad unit’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009).

The benefit of using online sponsorship is that, it allows sites to be associated with an online brand

that the site visitor is already familiar with. Therefore, the use of online sponsorship just build upon

the existing relationship and trust.

Fashion Retail Academy and London Fashion Week are sponsored by various female

retailers. These types of partnerships help to enhance the brands, as London Fashion

Week and the Fashion Retail Academy play a big role in the female clothing market.28

Affiliate MarketingAffiliate MarketingAffiliate marketing is a ‘commission based arrangement where the merchant only pays when they make the sale or

get a lead’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009). With the use of affiliate marketing it means that, it can drive a volume of

business in a range of sectors. However, it isn’t suitable for lower priced consumer products, as it won’t be as

profitable as it would be for others.

There are many benefits to the use affiliate marketing, some of these are;

- Gain more visibility in the paid and natural listings of searches

- Can use different affiliates to target different target audiences

-Enables you to reach customers on generic phrases at a relatively low cost

-Increase the reach of your brand or campaign

- Pay per performance – the costs of acquisitions can be controlled well.

But of course there are many negatives to the use affiliate marketing, some of these are;

-Affiliates may exploit your brand name – This is when affiliates exploit brand names by bidding on variations

- May damage brand reputation – Ad may be displayed on sites not associated with the brand image.- May damage brand reputation – Ad may be displayed on sites not associated with the brand image.

- Programme management fees – An affiliate may take up to 30% of each affiliate commission.

- Programme management time – Affiliate marketing is found on forming and maintaining good relationships.

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Here H&M and River Island have

placed banner ads which directly links

back to their site. 30

This a form of

affiliate marketing

that can be done.

Here Dorothy

Perkins have placed

an ad of the offers on

a voucher code site,

enabling users to

find out more about find out more about

the offer they are

directed to the site.

Voucher code sites allow users to search for offers and deals on various

categories, here lists the female clothing deals from various retailers.31

A visitor who clicks on an interactive banner ad is then forwarded onto the site of the company

who paid for the banner ad, which then links through to a destination site.

Interactive advertisements can help build traffic, but also have a role in building brand

recognition. Rich media and large format ads are effective in targeting visitors through placements on specialized portals and dynamic or behavioural ad targeting.

Here are examples of various

interactive advertisements

that Boohoo do on other sites

allowing users to navigate on

the banner ads.

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Here is an example of interactive

advertisement for John Lewis, allowing

users to interact with the ad. Viewing

various spring outfits and prices of the

items listed, it even allows consumers to

view more or buy it and even bookmark

items on social sites.

Here users can

scroll through to

next images.

There is also a

direct link to the

site

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Here is an example of

behavioural targeting,

where audiences are

targeted to how they

use the web or an

individual site. The

following interactive

advertisement has

applied the following as

Boohoo advert Boohoo advert

appeared when

browsing on the

Channel 4 beauty site,

this shows how

audiences have been

targeted due to the

content they are

viewing.

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EEMAILMAIL MMARKETINGARKETINGWhen running an e-mail marketing programme, there

needs to be the combination of both excellence in

devising effective outbound e-mail campaigns, and

managing incoming emails effectively.

Many companies use emails as a prospect conversion

and a customer retention tool. This is with the use of

an opt in house list of prospects and consumers who

have given permission to be contacted by a company.

Many online fashion retailers have adopted this method of

marketing. Consumers are most likely prompted to

subscribe whilst making an online purchase, or consumers

can sign up upon entering the site.

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Sites such as boohoo.com are regularly updating their consumers’

with sales promotions, trends and any other news and

information via e-marketing.

As well as this, boohoo.com regularly tries to gain one on one

feedback from its subscribers, in order to find ways in which it

can improve the website.

For a company to be successful at e-marketing, the

content needs to be regularly updated, however not to the

extent where the user feels bombarded by the messages

received.

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Link to online version

of e-mail if it has been

blocked as spam.

EE--Mail DesignMail Design

Links to the

website through the

e-mail.

Prices and discount on

their products made clear.37

Chance for recipient to

enter a competition.

Links to social media

sites.

Link to Terms

& Conditions

Information

about the

competition.

Feature to

unsubscribe to the e-

mails

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Viral Marketing Viral Marketing Viral marketing is described as being ‘a clever idea, a shocking idea, or a highly informative idea which makes

compulsive viewing.’ (Chaffey and Smith, 2009). Viral marketing comes in the form of various forms some of these

are, a video clip, TV ad, a cartoon, a funny picture, or a song. What makes viral marketing such a successful

method is that because it is likely to be such a different thing, that it makes people want to pass it on. Therefore,

viral marketing can be effective in reaching a large number of people rapidly.

Kirby (2003) believes that there are 3 things that are needed to make a viral campaign these are;

1. Creative material – This is the creative message or offer and how it has spread.

2. Seeding – Identifying web sites, blogs or people to send e-mail to start the virus spreading.

3. Tracking – This is to monitor the effect and to assess the return from the cost of developing the viral.

An example of a viral campaign run by a

fashion retailer, is that done by H&M in

which they used a viral campaign to

‘tease’ their customers with the unveiling

of a new designer for the retailer.

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Viral marketing campaigns are a great way to

generate a huge amount of buzz surrounding a

product or brand, whether it be done via online

or offline.

The purpose of a viral marketing campaign is to

introduce web users or website developers to

pass on a marketing message to other websites

or internet users.

Fashion websites are increasingly adopting

this marketing strategy to create buzz for a

new product or service, which more oftennew product or service, which more often

exposure can be generated that is more

valuable than traditional advertising.

Above is a link to an article in which, explains

how in order to promote Jay-Z’s new

autobiography he used various forms of viral

marketing.

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Viral marketing has grown greatly over the past few years, as more and more

companies are noticing the big response and network of people that these

campaigns can get to.

Here are some of the biggest viral campaigns recently put throughout the

world and UK;

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CCONCLUSIONONCLUSION

Altogether from looking at the digital marketing trends within the female fashion

market, it is clear to see that there are some trends that all companies have followed,

to ensure they are making the most of getting brand recognition. These trends for

example are that of having a presence within social media, whether it be just a

Facebook page, or having all aspects of social media.

However, there are other aspects such as viral marketing that not all fashion

retailers have gone into and focused on. This could be due to the lifestyle of this

sector, as they’re not likely to grab the right kind of attention from their customers.sector, as they’re not likely to grab the right kind of attention from their customers.

Also, from looking at previous research conducted in the previous report, it was clear

to see that the typical age of online shoppers was between 35 and 44, therefore being

digital immigrants. This means that this age group are just discovering the wanders

of technology, therefore are more likely to be aware of and use all or most aspects to

digital marketing. This is in terms of them having the use of various apps for their

phones.

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