How to Stand Out: Fashion Branding tips To Succeed Online in 2024

I am guilty of excessive shopping and online shopping is the biggest facilitator! I’ll be honest, there are too many clothes I have bought online just because they appeared on my feed.

However, lately, clothing brands are beginning to blend together. Social media algorithms bombard us with clothing brand suggestions if we check out just one boutique. When there is so much to choose from, only a few brands manage to leave a lasting imprint on our minds.

Online clothing brands must strive to get into that well-remembered category if they want to succeed in the cut-throat e-commerce market. Nowadays, fashion brands primarily gain leverage from e-commerce marketplaces. However, they can also benefit from B2B e-commerce fashion platforms to expand in the wholesale market. How can they achieve branding? Let’s read on to find out:

Ways Digital Marketing Can Boost Your Online Presence

With COVID-19 affecting all parts of the globe, more people have begun to prefer online shopping to the usual visit to a brick-and-mortar store. So, conventional marketing methods won't help in promoting your online business. 

You need to adopt digital marketing techniques, which can enhance your online presence and increase your reach to the target audience. 

1. Send Reminder Notifications to Online Visitors

Most of us don’t really buy a product when we see the advertisement for the first time. Why? Because one would require time to consider the pros and cons. You may find the product interesting and getting a reminder notification about the campaign again may seal the deal. 

Here are a few reasons for sending reminders to your audience:

• Retarget visitors 

To retarget visitors, you can send reminder campaigns to enable them to remember about the product they wished to purchase.

• Follow-up on Abandoned Carts 

Another problem that e-commerce stores face is cart abandonment. An online visitor may not be able to purchase items due to some reasons. If the visitor doesn't return to the website after a specific time, you can target these customers through advertisements or provide them special discounts to entice them into making a purchase.

Retargeting and remarketing allow you to interact with people who have already visited your website to search for a specific product. This increases the chances of conversion as you display the same product that they found on your website. 

According to MailChimp, using retargeting along with other marketing tools increases the chances for a sale by 50 percent. With the help of proper marketing automation software, you can send notifications through email, social media, or SMS to remind your prospects. Not only do you improve the ways you target your audience, but you also improve the outlet's exposure and conversion rates.

2. Boost Audience Engagement

You would like for your customers to have a positive perception of your brand, right? To do that, you need to engage more with your target audience. Thankfully, social media allows that to happen quite easily.  Through interaction, you're building a sense of community with your target audience so it’s absolutely essential to maintain your social media pages.

How can you engage with your audience the right way? 

• Create Viral Campaigns 

You can start by creating campaigns that share a message that connects with your target audience. These campaigns can be run on Instagram or Facebook, or you can use your blogging website. 

For example, Michael Kors launches its #WatchHungerStop campaign every year, supporting a noble cause along with promoting their clothing. The proceeds they earn are sent to renowned charity organizations to help feed those who can't afford meals 3 times a day. This campaign technique attracted a lot of buzz and prompted people to talk about the brand online as well as purchase from it.  

• Partner with Other Brands 

Similarly, your brand can partner with charity organizations or other brands that share common values with you, enabling your brand to give back to the community and build trust. It's not just about sharing campaigns, you can run contests on social media platforms too, again while partnering with a brand or an organization of your choice. 

• Respond to Customer Comments 

Another way of engaging with your audience is by responding to comments or acknowledging the feedback of customers. Through different engagement techniques, you highlight the important core values you share with your prospects, which enhances your brand's reputation.

Fashion Branding Tips to Stay Ahead of Competitors

To reach out to your niche,  you can utilize some well-known and easy-to-follow branding tips which can help you in gaining a loyal follower base. Below is a comprehensive guide to help you get started.

1. Have a Secure, Attractive, & Easy-to-use E-commerce Site 

It's a top priority for all clothing brands that their online shop is in working order. In the virtual world, it's where your customers get introduced to your brand. To make sure that your website is fully functional, you need to take care of the following components:

• Easy Navigation

Every page of your website must consist of an easily accessible menu bar and a navigation panel to allow visitors to switch between pages. Make sure that it can be easily viewed on all portable devices.

• Optimized For Search 

According to a report published by Google in 2018, 27 percent of the digital population uses voice searches. With voice searches becoming more common, it's essential that your website can handle voice searches, allowing your customers to find your online shop at the top of the search engine results.

Secondly, make sure that your website is searchable. Include a proper search tool to provide various filters to help customers narrow down their search for the desired product. This improves the customer experience on your site, which in turn increases conversion. 

• Responsive Website Design

This means that your website user can navigate and read elements with minimum use of pinching and scrolling the screen of their smartphone.

• Use Of High-Quality Images

A customer exploring through your clothing shop would want to have a glimpse of the product they would like to buy. An image can say it all whether a product is worth buying or not. So, make sure to use high-quality photos.

• Install an SSL Certificate

As you're handling an online store where transactions will be conducted, customer data will be exchanged. To make sure this data is kept secure from hackers, an SSL certificate is necessary for your website. It's critical to have it in order to improve your SEO rankings. 

• Include Customer Reviews

Product descriptions are not enough to show validity that a product is the best fit for the job. Many of us have faced problems where we buy an item that doesn't fit its description. Customer reviews are essential because they provide evidence regarding the usefulness of your product. So, displaying customer feedback on your website enables other visitors to feel comfortable while making a purchase.

• Integrate AI chatbots

No website can operate without the provision of customer support. Several e-commerce sites now provide chat windows to help prospects in finding solutions to their problems. However, customer representatives won't be available online 24/7. 

Thanks to AI, chatbots can now be used to answer basic questions and guide customers through the purchasing process, and can operate 24/7. If there's a matter it can't handle, it can contact representatives right away.

2. Take Advantage of Social Media Platforms 

Social media platforms are another important component of digital marketing that can help your apparel company to gain exposure. It's not only useful for interacting with your audience but also you can put your products on display. 

Another cool feature is that you can redirect your customers to your product page on your e-commerce site through relevant social media posts. This shortens the checkout time, enabling them to buy a product with just a few clicks. 

Use your social media page to start conversations related to your best seller outfits, through the use of a suitable marketing strategy. It will enable your followers to have a say about your products, and boost interaction. 

Similarly, share blog posts related to your brand that can prove beneficial for your audience. If one comments on your post, then don't hesitate to give them a reply. Through feedback, customers feel more appreciated and valued.

To get started with conversations follow these tips:-

• Spread the word about collaborations with other reputable companies.
• Request for customer feedback on your products.
• Publish open-ended questions relevant to your brand and target audience, to increase participation.

3. Partner With Social Media Influencers 

Wouldn't you want your brand to reach its target audience at a faster rate? If yes, then you need to partner up with social influencers who share common goals similar to yours. 

These could be fashion bloggers on YouTube who review clothing or footwear. Through time, they're able to build up a loyal fan base because of the genuine content they produce. Hence, their views are highly valued by their audience.

So, by cooperating with influencers, you get the opportunity to expose and introduce your brand to a wider audience. Their content and endorsement can raise brand awareness and increase sales. 

Influencers know their audiences and they can help in advertising your products more effectively. They are known for sharing authentic information, which can boost your conversion rates. Followers usually purchase products recommended by influencers.

I myself have bought many items just because an influencer I followed recommended them. Whether it’s clothing or makeup, shoes or bags, we are influenced by the opinion of experts. Hence, it’s a smart idea to use influencers to stand out. 

4. Create Promotions for Every Event

When special occasions arrive, it's important that businesses can connect with their customers during this special time. From Christmas to Diwali or Eid, these festivities are important periods where customers search for good offers. 

Advertise your seasonal clothing lines on all your digital media to generate hype and engagement from followers. Revamping your website for the holiday season is a great way to grab the attention of consumers looking for gifts for their loved ones, and even for themselves.

Besides these occasions, many others have gained importance over the past few decades, which include Mother's Day, Father's Day, Friendship day, anniversaries, etc. Hence, you need to keep a check on the important occasions that can be witnessed by your target audience and show product promotions based on the right occasion.

So, through the passage of multiple occasions throughout the year, your target audience will likely remain engaged with your brand to buy your clothing from time to time. This helps to strengthen a customer's loyalty to your brand.

5. Incorporate Contests and Giveaways

You can also incorporate contests on social media on special occasions to encourage customers to share their photos while using your products, by mentioning a unique hashtag and your brand's name. 

The use of a suitable hashtag will help your campaign differentiate itself from others. Through this, your brand will become more visible as your customers' family and friends become aware of your fashion outlet. 

Once the competition ends, select a winner who will receive a  special prize which can be an exclusive product, for example. This increases the hype to participate in the competition, causing more clients to partake in the contest. 

Contests are not only a great way to promote new outfits but also a great opportunity to enhance interaction between your customers and target audience. Moreover, you could set up rules for participating which could include subscribing to your e-mail service, or liking and sharing a blog post. This can help in identifying the preferences of your target audience, enabling you to make better marketing decisions.

Use Smart Fashion Branding Techniques to Succeed Online 

Businesswire reported that the global e-commerce fashion industry market value would drop from $531.25 billion in 2019 to $485.62 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19. This may sound distressing, however, according to experts, the market will likely rebound and reach a staggering value of $672.71 billion by 2023. Hence, the competition isn't likely to slow down, in fact, it will intensify further in the coming years.

The fashion industry continues to bloom with intense competition between various business owners. To raise awareness about your brand's style and make it differentiate from others, begin by identifying your niche and target audience. Develop campaigns that will resonate with your target audience, and share them on all digital platforms. 

Create an e-commerce site that has a responsive web design and can be easily navigated through. Save time and money, compare merchant services. Use social media to interact with your customers and collaborate with reputable influencers to expand your audience reach. Through these branding tips, your online fashion store can beat the competition.

Author Bio:

Myrah Abrar is a computer science graduate with a passion for web development and digital marketing. She writes blog articles for Dynamologic Solutions, Digital Marketing.