Why Marketing Is So Important For Direct To Consumer Apparel Brands
One of the best components of having a direct to consumer sales model is that you can execute marketing for your clothing line in so many different ways. The other great news is that there isn't one right way to "do marketing" for your clothing line. However, there are some tried and true methods that have been proven to work time and time again.
However, it's worth noting that you cannot simply design products and post them for sale with the expectation that people will just "find them" and buy them. As the head of fledgling brand and business one of your top priorities has to be developing a way to ensure your potential market knows about your brand and products and that you have a way (or ways) to get those people to your website.
Remember, every website visitor is now an opportunity to make sale! But remember, it's unlikely that every person showing up to your website is going to buy something, so you will need to plan on getting as many visitors as possible.
So what are the best marketing tools to get started with?
When you are just getting started it's best to begin using tools that are less expensive and can provide great sales results. At the top of the Return On Investment pyramid is a tried and true favorite, email marketing. With today's technology it's easier than ever to send your customers or prospective customers the right message at the right time to get that sale. We definitely recommend checking out apps like Klaviyo, that work out of the box with your Shopify store. Most of them also have a free trial, so it exceptionally easy to get started.
One of the most important aspects of email marketing is your ability to get people to sign up to receive your emails. Don't hesitate using the out of the box sign up forms or modal windows to start getting email sign ups. Every email address you capture is an asset to your new business.
Using the time BEFORE you release your collection to start gathering email addresses is a great reason to get people to start signing up.
In addition to email marketing, another great way to reach your audience is through your social media accounts, and as an extension of those accounts, paid ads. If you are just getting started with ads, it makes the most sense to get started with Facebook, because it also gives you access to Instagram. Setting up your Facebook pixel is easy. And it will allow you to target specific audiences from your website, using custom audiences. For example, it will be easy to target folks that have already been to your website with ads, or even people that have taken a specific action on your website, like adding a product to their cart.
Targeting website visitors is a great strategy since it is common that returning visitors are far more likely to convert than new visitors.
Laslty, a huge part of marketing your collection is developing creative assets that you can use to tell a story about your brand and products. This is why ordering sample products is such an important part of building your clothing line. Not only does it enable you to inspect the quality of your items upfront, it also provides the opportunities to take great photos of your products that you can share with customers as part of your online markeitng.