Studies prove it and make it clear: besides tickets, flights and leisure products, what sells most online is CLOTHING. Online fashion has hooked both compulsive shoppers and undecided ones who search high and low, hopping from store to store.
Just look at the parade of stores on Google’s results pages to get an idea of the huge global shop window we can reach in a single click. There isn’t enough floor space to build a mall with room for them all!
But behind this phenomenon lies effective, up-to-date design, constant product updates to show new arrivals every week (we all love walking into a store and finding new things we like more and more…) and, above all, them: bloggers, instagrammers… in short, influencers. They can get more views than clothing stores’ carefully crafted lookbooks. A product goes viral when, instead of a catalog model, the fashion blogger is the one wearing it.
But among all the blog and Instagram names and profiles, influencers aren’t the ones who write about a product or ask for clothes in exchange for a post. True influencers are those who:
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- Make their content go viral thanks to the creativity with which they present it. They create buzz around products with a single post or Instagram image.
- Show the product to a specific group of users who follow them for their topics, image and visibility.
- Can spark new conversations and reactions when a new product or trend comes onto the scene.
And…. most importantly…
- They increase the store’s conversion rate thanks to the pull they have. But of course, not all influencers are the same, and not all of them will reach the audience you’re after….
How much do they really influence sales?
One brand that bases its strategy entirely on social media is Double Agent USA. In just over a year, “we have more than 200,000 followers on Facebook, 84,000 on Instagram and incredible engagement”, says Maria Palos, the brand’s head of communications.
While Facebook has become a channel for customer service and new promotions, on Instagram many brands have found a large number of influencers who visually champion products from their favorite brands. Some of the instagrammers Double Agent USA works with have more than 20,000 and even 250,000 followers, to whom they show images of the store’s latest trends.
Instagram has undoubtedly become one of the fastest-growing social networks in recent months. It has opened a new channel where designs and images get the user’s full attention, which is essential for eCommerce. While Facebook is a channel for customer service and promotions, Instagram’s immediacy and huge user base have made it skyrocket and become the main showcase for a store’s products.
One of the most talked-about campaigns was run by the US brand Lord&Taylor. To promote its new collection, it gave one of the designs to every blogger with thousands of Instagram followers. The luxury store’s dress sold out within hours after 50 bloggers wore it and posted it on their Instagram profiles, all under the same hashtag #DesignLab.
Are we seeing a shift in the influence of blogs?
Blogs have become places to comment on and post new events, outfits of the day and news, while Instagram serves as the photo platform and showcase for everything the blogger wears.
To run a strategy with bloggers or instagrammers you need to work consistently, analyze each social profile (to see how professional it really is) and, most importantly, know who you’re branding with so you understand the target audience and, in turn, increase sales.
Do you already have an Instagram strategy?
