Trends + Trendsetters: The Best in Fashion Content Marketing

Welcome! NewsCred’s Strategy Team helps brands build and hone their content strategies, taking into consideration marketing goals, brand positioning, and the competitive landscape. Our Industry Landscape guides aim to educate marketers on trends, opportunities, and content strategies that best-in-class brands are utilizing to engage their audiences. In this guide, we’ll take a look at content marketing in the fashion industry. Interested in learning more? We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out at caitlin.domke@newscred.com. - Caitlin Domke, Brand Strategist, NewsCred

Today’s shoppers are more informed and digitally savvy than ever before.

81% of shoppers conduct online research before buying

*Source: GE Capital Retail Bank study, 2013

Ignoring this fact?

They want information throughout the shopping process.

Shoppers look for information:

Before visiting a store

87% 79% 35%

While visiting a store

After visiting a store

*Source: Google Insights, Oct 2014

54% of consumers would consider no longer shopping at a retailer that failed to deliver

them tailor-made, relevant content.

*Source: CMO Council, 2014

This is also true for luxury shoppers:

*Source: Google Insights, Sept 2013

94% of all luxury buyers research either

online or offline before making a luxury

purchase decision

78% of all luxury buyers reported using

at least 1 online resource before making

a luxury purchase decision

$264.30

$305.70

$349.10

$394.40

$442.60

$493.90

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

5.8 % 6.5 % 7.1 % 7.7 % 8.3 % 8.9 %

16.5 % 15.7 % 14.2 % 13 % 12.2 % 11.6 %

And e-commerce is more popular than ever before:

*Source: eMarketer, Sept 2014

Retail ecommerce sales

% change

% of total retail sales

But consumers are bombarded with information - over 5,000 messages a day.

*Source: Yankelovich Consumer Research

91% of people unsubscribe from email they previously opted in to

.1% click banner ads

86% of enabled viewers skip TV ads

*Sources: Hubspot; Content Marketing Institute; DoubleClick

People tune out the noise.

To get ahead, fashion retailers need to…

Reach the right people At the right time At the right place

Content marketing allows fashion brands to truly connect with their customers.

Source: Jim Stengel, Proctor & Gamble, 2008

3x It can lead to big business results…

Brands who focus on connecting with their consumers on an emotional level have a

growth rate triple that of their competitors.

So what works? How do you do it?

How do you not become content marketing fashion roadkill?

Proven successful tactics for fashion brands in content marketing:

1)  Make your customer the hero

2)  Weave your brand purpose throughout your content

3)  Link the online + offline worlds

1. Make your customer the hero.

Turn your brand fans into brand ambassadors with user-generated content

Why UGC?

•  Showing "real people" wearing your product proves your brand’s popularity and inspires confidence in your shoppers

•  63% of U.S. consumers trust customer photos more than brand or retailer photos •  32% of U.S. consumers would be more likely to buy a clothing item if it was “modeled” by

a fellow customer

Case Study: Rent the Runway

Our Runway

200% Conversion

rate

•  Microsite dedicated to UGC

•  Provides users with

confidence when renting

dresses

2. Weave your brand purpose throughout your content

72% of consumers would recommend a brand that supports a good cause, over one that does not.

*Edelman global research study, 2012

AdAge reports that millennials will seek out and buy brands that

support a cause that aligns with their values.

Case Study: Nasty Gal

Nasty Gal Brand Purpose = Female empowerment and discovery

Content Marketing

BRAND PURPOSE

WHAT CUSTOMERS

WANT

Nasty Gal blog

Nasty Gal Brand Purpose

Female empowerment and discovery

Target Audience: Millennial women

Audience Analysis: •  20something •  Urban •  Educated •  Not a wallflower •  Bold •  Edgy

“I want to make girls smarter and to create a community that can have conversations. My customers are curious about the world; they know that Nasty Gal is about making your life more than the sum of its parts. It’s not enough that girls are supposed to only be into fashion and that’s it.” - Sophia Amaruso, Founder and Owner, Nasty Gal

“

The Blog •  Includes the Nasty Gal hashtag, #GIRLBOSS

wherever possible

•  Features profiles of women working in the

fashion world under its beauty and style “Role

Model” sections

•  Interviews and photo shoots with powerful

women

•  Globetrotting women who blog about their

experiences traveling around the world

•  Other content pillars beyond fashion + beauty

– such as art, music, food, and film -- for the

well-rounded reader who isn’t just interested in fashion

Engaged community on social media

•  1.4m NastyGal Instagram followers •  1.2m Facebook followers •  2.1m views on their YouTube

channel

3) Link the online + offline worlds 3. Link the online + offline

Retail customers live in both online and offline environments

Case Study: Burberry

•  1.6m monthly views to their YouTube channel •  3.53M followers on Twitter •  2.5M followers on Instagram •  18M likes on Facebook

An established leader in digital marketing

“

We are focused on blurring the lines of the physical and digital worlds-and using mobile

to unite them, so we can engage our consumers however they shop:

in-store, online, on social.

- SARAH MANLEY - Chief Marketing Officer

Burberry

”

From Catwalk to Content

•  Live-stream runway shows •  #Tweetwalk: Share the newest looks on social

before they hit the catwalk + stream the images to 25 global stores.

•  Runway Made to Order •  Customer 1-2-1 tool in nearly 400 stores •  “In-Tweet” purchasing during fashion shows

Results…

•  During the #Tweetwalk: •  50,000 views of images within 30 minutes •  #Tweetwalk trending worldwide

•  Retail revenue rose by 15% in the first half of 2014, but channels that linked the store and online grew faster:

•  “Customers increasingly moved between offline and online throughout their purchase journey, reflected in the contribution to digital sales of orders via iPads in store (over 25%) and ‘order online, collect in store’ (over 20%)”

•  Burberry said retail revenue accounted for 68% of its revenue, from 216 mainline stores, 224 department store concessions, digital commerce and 55 outlets. Digital, it said, outperformed in all regions.

Summary:

1.  Make your customer the hero

2.  Weave your brand purpose

throughout your content

3.  Link the online + offline worlds

Thank you for reading! Questions? Strategy@NewsCred.com