“Fashion is a statement.”
We’ve all heard this quote before, but do we really understand the extent to which this holds true for teenagers and adults alike?
Today, one’s clothing style is much more than sheltering oneself from the environment. There’s a lot of experimentation with different clothes and styles before an individual finds something they are comfortable with and think genuinely represents who they are.
Fashion is about expression. A medium that helps individuals become comfortable in their own skin. It’s no surprise then that clothing can help boost self-confidence, self-esteem, and a positive mood among individuals of all age groups. It is undeniable that your fashion expression will change as life progresses, roles change, habits develop, and personality forms.
There’s no right way to do this. That is why people search through the internet and rummage through thrift shops to find clothes that suit them. Individual pieces of cloth are mixed together to create a new look that is unique to that individual.
They need perhaps a little more access to a closet of clothes and styles or cuts to choose from to find themselves.
Are you someone who is giving them this opportunity? But you’re struggling with marketing your products online attractively and purposefully? We’re here to make sure that every person finds the perfect garment for them.
We have created a list of Top 10 Digital Marketing Strategies for Online Clothing Businesses that will help your products reach thousands of customers.
Why is Digital Marketing Important for an Online Clothing Business?
With the rise of eCommerce, companies are at loggerheads with each other as they compete for customers’ attention and try to maintain a steady flow of sales to keep their business afloat. A strategic Digital marketing plan would help you create a place for your brand in the competitive market space and give you an edge over others. Here are some reasons why Digital Marketing is important for your online clothing business:
1. There has been an increase in online shoppers since 2021, with an estimated 190 million people purchasing things online.
2. Building an online clothing website is only the first step to ‘put your products out there’. To increase the influx of customers who will avail of your services, you will need to tap into the social media market, understand SEO, and create quality content, among other things.
3. Using the digital space wisely will guarantee a boost in the number of visitors, engagements, clicks, and purchases seen by your online business’s website.
4. People’s tastes and preferences are always changing. Keeping updated with the latest trends and online behaviour patterns will enable you to use company resources effectively and create marketing strategies that suit customers’ current preferences and tastes.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Strategies for Online Clothing Business
Today, digital marketing has become the medium through which companies build their brand name and promote their services to a larger audience. Creating a strong digital marketing plan is particularly important for your Online Clothing Business because the online website is your only store or outlet where customers can get access to your products and services.
Therefore, two of the biggest challenges you may experience are the ability to inform customers about the existence of your business and building a trusting relationship with them to purchase your products. To simplify things for you, we have listed 10 Digital Marketing Strategies to promote your Online Clothing Business effectively.
1. Create a Good Website
Your website is like the online shopping window of any physical outlet. It is a place where you show customers a glimpse into the range of products you offer and build an identity for your brand. The website should thus be attractive, innovative and have a unique design. According to one study, 93% of customers reported that the products and website’s colour and appearance is a vital factors when making a purchase decision. However, keep the design simple so users can navigate through pages easily.
To get an edge over your competition, try to create a customised user experience by offering customer service, recommending client oriented products on the home page, and incorporating videos and images to improve the user experience of existing and potential clients.
2. Take Advantage of Artificial Intelligence
The best way to personalise a website for your customers is to incorporate Artificial Intelligence or AI at some level of functioning. A survey done by Econsultancy has supported this claim by reporting that 74% of marketers guarantee a substantial increase in client engagement if a website utilises targeted personalisation techniques. Here is how you can use AI for your business:
1. Using a Visual Recognition algorithm, you can recommend similar styles or cuts to customers. This will help customers find the right clothes for themselves and save time and effort from searching for clothes on your website.
2. Incorporating a Chatbox feature helps you optimise customer support by providing them with a 24×7 service. The chatbot could also have solutions to predetermined queries and complaints. This helps you cut down on manpower costs.
3. Is your Website Mobile Friendly?
Do not forget that today almost half the traffic seen on the internet is by mobile phone users. Whether it is in their free time or just before going to bed, there is a steep hike in the percentage of people who scroll to explore products or ‘window shop’ on their phones. Making your website mobile friendly means would include keeping an appropriate size of text and images to improve readability on a small screen. There are several other benefits to investing in a mobile friendly website:
1. Google has started improving the search results rankings of businesses that are mobile friendly since 2005
2. It allows consumers easy access to information about your business and products
3. It has also been found that users are more likely to share and recommend your website if it has been optimised for a mobile phone
4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO or Search Engine Optimisation refers to boosting your website’s visibility, increasing the traffic and number of engagements you get when someone searches for a particular product, service, or phrase. Search engines (like Google) assess various factors of your website, like keywords and customer reviews, to ascertain whether your online clothing business offers products that customers are looking for. A different value is assigned to each factor to judge how trustworthy and authentic your website is. This helps create a digital footprint for your business.
One advantage of SEO is that it is cost effective. One of the easiest ways to use SEO is to create quality content for your website and include keywords relevant to your industry. A good digital marketing plan utilising SEO techniques will help boost your business on Google’s search results rankings.
5. Content Marketing Techniques
You could generate many forms of content for your website or social media. This could include text, photographs, blogs, or customer reviews. Each form of content plays a vital role in building your brand name and attracting customers to make a purchase decision. All forms of content should be visually appealing, engaging, original, relevant, personal, and informative. If your products and website is able to catch a customer’s eye, they are more likely to be tempted to try your product at least once.
Do not overlook the importance of a blog. Generating content for your online clothing business like “5 colour combinations that will never fail you” or “5 traditional Indian styles that everyone needs to have in their cupboard” would address the needs of your target audience while also providing them with solutions to improve their clothing style. This could create a positive relationship between you and your customers. Make sure to add relevant keywords to increase the number of engagements you receive on your website.
6. Social Media Marketing Techniques
Today, children and adults are active on at least one social media platform. They also spend considerable time scrolling through social media, websites, or online shops. If your business is not on top social media channels like Instagram or Facebook, then you will not be able to tap into a large pool of potential customers. These are some ways in which you can use social media to promote your business:
1. Visual elements are more likely to be remembered by users when compared to text. Frequently posting visually aesthetic photographs or videos will also help build excitement and desire in your customer’s mind
2. Social media is the best place to inform customers about the latest offers and discounts offered by your business.
3. Always encourage your clients to share posts and stories, tag your business on Instagram, or request them to drop a review on your Facebook page. Reviews from existing clients help build a positive image of your brand and inspire potential customers to make a purchase
4. You can also organise contests to attract new customers.
7. Organize Competitions and Giveaways
You do not need to make this a regular element of your Digital Marketing Strategy. However, a few contests and giveaways a year could drastically improve engagements because everyone loves free things. It can one of the more fun ways to promote your products and encourage winners to share stories on their personal feeds- allowing your business to tap to gain visibility among their followers. A contest or giveaway is an affordable way to get people talking about you.
At the end of every contest or giveaway, evaluate how you performed in terms of traffic, new engagements, new followers, and any increase in sales to understand if another contest in the future will be beneficial and sustainable for your company.
8. Collaborate with Influencers
Partnering with influencers has become a famous Digital Marketing Strategy today. This is because influencers help companies bridge the gap with their customers by validating their products and services. In a study, 60% of marketers believe that content shared by influencers leads to a more significant number of engagements and traffic when compared to content put out by the company. Imagine this; you share a post where a random attractive person is wearing clothes sold by you versus Deepika Padukone posting a series of photos showcasing the different styles your online clothing business sells. Now, what do you think? Which one of these posts will receive more views and likes and cause a boost in traffic to your website?
Collaborating with influencers is thus a potent tool to shape a customer’s opinion and trust about your online clothing business by building a positive association with them. This happens because customers trust influencers and give value to their suggestions, much more than they would to a company trying to sell its own products and services.
9. Rely on Customer Reviews and Feedback
A brilliant way to attract customers and build credibility for you online clothing business would be to encourage past customers to share their feedback and reviews after using your products and services. This inspires potential customers to try your products at least once before they form an opinion of their own.
Additionally, feedback plays a dual role. Apart from the benefit mentioned above, it also boosts your company’s rank in Google’s search results. This is because feedback and reviews is an important SEO tool and should be included in your Digital Marketing Strategy. Do not ignore negative reviews or customer suggestions because they help you identify weaknesses or blind spots in your relationship with the customer and drawbacks in your product.
There are several ways to collect feedback available on the internet today. One of the most personalized methods is emailing past customers and requesting them to share their testimonials or reviews. Other methods to ask customers for feedback could include:
1. Asking them to fill in a form (online or offline)
2. Leave a review on Google or any other third party app
3. Share their experience on social media and tag your account
4. Leave a review on your website.
10. Review and Revise Your Digital Marketing Plan
Always remember that the first digital marketing plan you make is not going to be perfect, nor will it be the last plan you make. Once you begin promoting your business online, you will notice trends and online behaviour patterns among customers, giving you greater insight into their likes and dislikes. When systematically collecting this knowledge, you can assess and analyse the information to make appropriate changes and modifications to your current digital marketing plan. For example, if you see that Instagram is attracting a more significant flow of customers than Facebook, you could assign people to spend more time and effort creating content for Instagram. Or, if data shows that a particular kind of blog is drawing in more traffic than others, then you could put out those kinds of blogs on a weekly or biweekly basis.
Conclusion
This 10 Digital Marketing Strategies list can help you promote your online clothing business. From here, you need to design a plan that is suitable to you, keeping in mind company resources and budget. We recommend that you make posts regularly and engage with customers as often as possible.
The clothing business is not going to die out. People’s preferences might change, and new trends may come up, but there will always be a need for your products. So even if your first few trials haven’t worked out yet, you can rest assured that these strategies will give you a push to dominate the online eCommerce sphere.
Always remember, “Fashion is about dreaming and making other people dream.”
Check out the digital marketing course offered by Digital Scholar. This course will help you improve your online clothing business through digital and help you learn digital marketing strategies for your online clothing business.
Fill out the below form to learn more about the course.
