Size Up the Market: How to Promote a Clothing Store
Clothing stores have to work (it) a little bit harder than other businesses when it comes to marketing strategy. Since the fashion industry is so saturated, with the global apparel market value standing at a staggering NZ$2.4 trillion in 2021, it can be tough to make your business stand out from the crowd [1].
However, while failing to choose a fitting sales strategy for your brand can leave more than your clothes hanging in the balance, there are some simple marketing moves you can make to ensure as many people see your shop as possible. To help, we’ve compiled a list of top tips on how to promote your clothing store… so read below and discover the promotional possibilities for your business.
Hi-res images:
It’s impossible for customers to picture themselves wearing your clothes, if they simply can’t see them.
Having hi-res, true colour images both on your website and social media platforms is key to promoting your clothing store.
Your photos should be clear, well-lit, and always feature models representing your target market. Failing to have relatable imagery can deter potential customers from wanting to engage with your brand and push existing patrons to shop elsewhere. Making your store picture perfect doesn’t just apply to your online store.
The images you use in your storefront and around the rest of your shop should be clear and bold to attract customers, as these are often the first thing they see as they walk past.
If your resolution to include multiple quality images begins presenting a problem for your budget, you could just use models to promote your best-selling pieces and utilise drawing style imagery and graphics for the rest of your items.
Pop up shops:
A cost-effective way to raise your promo game, pop-up shops are great for promoting both high street and online clothing stores.
Dress your pop up to impress, as these temporary spaces can increase your exposure and extend your shop’s reach past its physical venue.
While the time-sensitive nature of these sites can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity for customers, encouraging them to visit before it closes, including loyalty options like exclusive cards and codes, encourages visitors to return, even after your store's disappeared.
Your pop up shop should be bold, bright and eye-catching to really capture customers’ attention. Utilising creative window displays, interactive features such as VR and AR, mannequins dressed in your clothing and interesting props/space design can help to create a visually stimulating experience that will draw people in.
These short-lived stores bring a fresh sense of excitement, which the stagnancy of brick and mortar stores can restrict, so put up a pop up to help your business lift off.
Influencer and blogger outreach:
Collaborating with fashion bloggers and online influencers is a great way to promote your clothing store.
Reach out to those who have large social media followings, as they can help expose your brand to an extensive audience.
When approaching bloggers or influencers, be sure to offer them something of value in return for their endorsement. This might be a free item from your clothing line or discounts on future purchases.
Be sure to keep track of who you’ve collaborated with, as it’s always good to send them seasonal gift items or even offer exclusive discounts during their birthday month to keep rapport for future promotion opportunities.
Taglines:
If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to promote your clothing store, consider creating a catchy tagline that makes customers say you're ‘it’.
Having a tagline to promote your clothing brand can help keep your name in your customer’s minds above other clothing companies. It’s a good idea to utilise social media here - brainstorm a few ideas and test them out on social media to see which ones resonate the most with your audience.
While trying to come up with your tagline, you should think about what makes you different. What’s unique about your clothing store? What can you offer customers that they can’t find at other stores? Alluding to your unique selling points in your tagline will show your store’s cut from a different cloth - a necessity in the highly saturated fashion industry.
Brand story:
Customers love a good story… especially when they’re about clothes. Displaying information like how you started your brand and the story behind your most popular item, for example, gives customers a window into your store in more ways than one.
Making patrons feel an affinity to your brand and getting guests invested in your business’ background can be highly beneficial since 55% of customers are more likely to buy the product in the future if they love a brand story [3].
As well as featuring your label’s history in your online marketing campaign, you should keep this theme consistent throughout your in-store branding and decor.
Website:
Your website is perhaps the most important tool you have for promoting your clothing store. Make sure it's easy to navigate, has high-quality images, and is up to date.
Since nearly 55% of global website traffic is generated from mobile devices, make sure your site is optimised for search engines on all smartphones [2]. When people are looking for clothing stores online, they’ll likely use search engines to find them.
You can make sure your website appears as high up in the search engine results as possible by using relevant keywords and phrases to increase the effectiveness of your digital marketing, ultimately expanding your network in more ways than one.
Promotional events, discounts and sales:
Hosting a promotional event is a great way to get people in the door. From clothing sales to outfit swaps and trunk shows, you can hold various types of events. As well as holding exclusive promo events, don’t discount giving your customers money off.
Feel free to offer reduced prices or freebies during a limited promotional period, as this encourages a large influx of customers to gravitate towards your brand and stick around for future deals - boosting business in the long run.
Social media:
Make sure you are active on social media and are using the right platforms for your clothing store. Instagram and Facebook, in particular, lend themselves well to clothing stores.
Use high-quality images, provide interesting content, and engage with your followers. You should make sure to post regularly in order to give customers an up-to-date insight into your fashion brand. You can also use relevant hashtags, post polls and host giveaways on your page, to increase engagement and followers.
Email marketing:
Email marketing is a great way to reach out to potential patrons who have shown previous interest in your clothing store.
Not tying up loose ends with your store’s visitors could leave your business hanging by a thread, so make sure you have an opt-in form visible on your website, as well as a QR code in-store, to help create a loyal customer base.
If you find email marketing’s a mountain not worth climbing, apps like Mailchimp, which integrate perfectly with our Retail POS system, can do all the hard work for you.
Competitions:
Competition’s healthy, especially for your clothing store. Holding conditional competitions and raffles online and in-store can draw customers to your brand while greatly increasing your exposure.
People have no problems sharing something on social media when there’s the possibility they might get something for free. Fashion magazine websites are also always looking for prizes to give out to their style hungry readers, and in the fashion world, any publicity is good publicity.
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