SOCIAL MEDIA & MY BUSINESS
​
Hanson Johnson (CEO, Start Innovation Hub)
As we explore social media and our businesses, we need to understand that there's more to social media than posting content and hoping it resonates with your target audience.Posting content for content's sake doesn't move the needle as much as you'd hope.You need a strategy in place-a plan of action that helps zone-in on what you post across social media to meet the goals you're setting for your business.Followers, engagement, and sales are easier
​
WORTH OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY
The global fashion industry is worth over $2.5 trillion, with Africa's share estimated at less than 1% of that total. Meanwhile, the Euro monitor suggests that the Sub-Saharan fashion market is worth $31 billion, with Nigeria accounting for 15% of that ($4.7 billion). Fashion has since pivoted to online retail and it isn't slowing down any time soon. In the UK for example where they have data that we can access, 28.8% of UK fashion sales take place online-up from 20% in 2019. The industry as a whole saw 5.7% year-over-year growth in 2021.
​
Social media plays a huge role in how Internet users find your fashion brand. With a sound strategy, you can successfully funnel social media users toward your products. (s)He that comes here without a strategy will soon go home.
Fashion brands mostly go hand in hand with lifestyle and are often influenced by the environment and culture of the people. In your strategy, don't forget to leverage it to become more successful in your quest for visibility.
​
There are additional reasons why fashion brands must consider a solid social media strategy.
1. Build brand awareness
As a brand, it's paramount to constantly ask, “How can we get our customers to know, like, and trust us so we can build brand loyalty?”
Building brand awareness is an important first step in that process. Consumers can't buy from you if they aren't aware of your product offering. Being consistent about establishing your presence on social media channels changes that.
​
2. Get influencer support
influencer support-whether it happens organically or through a paid partnership is with an already-established presence on social platforms. The more strategic your brand is about increasing visibility, the more it can score strategic partnerships that work to increase traffic, revenue, and a recurring customer base. Brands in Nigeria are already working with influencers. Brands are competing to be and remain leaders. As a fashion brand, the bid for influencer support can't be ignored.
​
3. Drive website traffic
Data from industry professionals say social media is the most effective digital marketing channel today. One of the most known perks of having a sound social media strategy is the access to cost-effective traffic that you wouldn't have access to otherwise. Driving traffic-especially if you're a younger brand-can be an uphill climb through channels other than social media. For instance, if you choose to go the SEO route with content marketing, it can take anywhere from six months to a year to see any real results. Even if you eventually do see results, you have less control of what those outcomes will be.
​
So, what does that strategy look like?
​
1. Choose the right platforms
Every social media platform has potential customers in it. But some are more conducive to sales than others. According to Statista, some of the best places to learn about, discover or buy fashion apparel are Facebook and Instagram.
Since Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, it doesn't take much extra work to execute an effective ad campaign for both platforms from the Facebook AdsManager.
The opportunity to engage a new audience and create brand loyalty on Facebook's platform is too big to be ignored. It's also key to note that, according to Facebook, its platform is a key place to target 18-34-year-old fashion buyers. Specifically, women claim to draw fashion inspiration from influencers and celebrities on the platform.
Facebook's survey found that Instagram is the number one place to discover fashion products. By preparing a fashion social media strategy that focuses on this platform, you're in with the shot at reaching a sizeable percentage of Instagram users across your target locations.
video content. But the time investment is worth it: more than a billion people use the platform.
So, what type of content should you share on Instagram? Research shows that mobile-created story ads tend to outperform highly produced ads on Instagram. To add, if you're going the advertising route on Instagram, don't forget to include a call-to-action on your Instagram Stories. This type of ad-one with a CTA tends to perform better 89% of the time. When it comes to video editing, Reels is the best. It offers additional video editing features to allow you to create more sophisticated videos than with the Story editor. These tools allow you to slow down or speed up clips, trim content, and align or "stitch" videos for smooth transitions. Reels have the ability to travel farther than other content formats.
YouTube
While smaller eCommerce brands are generally better off executing Facebook ads (especially if you're working with a smaller budget), it's worth noting that larger fashion industry brands like Chanel, with over 1.95million subscribers, and Louis Vuitton, with over940,000 subscribers, are huge players on YouTube.Each luxury fashion brand dominates the space by creating organic content through its own YouTube channels, instead of only using paid ads.
Even if you are going the YouTube advertising route, are port by Strike Social found the average cost per view on YouTube is $0.026, while the average view rate is 31.9%.
Snapchat
Snapchat lends itself to storytelling through Snap Adsend Story Ads. And while just 14% of Snapchat users use the social media platform to discover new products, more than a quarter purchase when they see something they like. As for content formats, Snap Inc. reports that Discover content commercials increase ad awareness by as much as 65%, alluding to the effectiveness of video ads on the platform.
​
TikTok
While TikTok is the new kid on the block in more ways than one, it shouldn't be ignored as a possible avenue for revenue generation. Your fashion brand might have to take a more native approach to ad creation with video content. But the time investment is worth it: more than a billion people use the platform.
​
Pinterest is a visual social media platform where users “Pin” items to virtual boards. Native shopping pins-those saved to Pinterest from a website-unlock a new way for savvy brands on Pinterest to get their products in front of fresh eyes.
​
The best part? According to data released by Pinterest, 70% of users discover new products on its platform, a whopping 90% say Pinterest helps them decide what to purchase, and as much as 66% of its users buy something after seeing a brand's pins.
Hal, You want to bam ba?
You wanna chill with the big boys?
​
You need a strategy!
Apply the knowledge shared here.
​