When you’re first trying to build your fashion brand and find your tribe, it can be tempting to just post some pictures on social media and wait for them to find you but it’s just not a realistic approach to starting your own business.

There are many things that have to come together correctly in order for a credible fashion brand to emerge and be impactful. I think that has mostly to do with the character of the designer and their story.

On this podcast episode and article I broke down some important things you need to know in your journey. 

When a person discovers a new brand and product, they don’t just buy immediately. The buying decisions are based on things such as :

Need and Desire
Style and Fit
Quality and policy
Social Consciousness

All of these things  are wrapped in a nice package and delivered to the potential customer in what I like to call your band message.

How do you develop that perfect Brand Message?

It’s not just about YOU actually, it’s about the customer.. You must be a full face of the brand and allow people to fall in love with your journey, your world and your mission as a creator.

I spoke with a friend and fellow designer today, Zita Barbara about how she has built her brand and what she has learned in this process.

Listen to the episode: 

 

How do you get your message out ?
Content is the new social currency and you have to look at your activities online to understand how to connect your brand with the right tribe of people. 

We all spend a big chunk of our lives on social media soaking up random information and when it comes to fashion, most of us look to our idols and influences to direct us to great daily style. With this in mind, doesn’t it make sense that your designs need to be an active part of that world?

Today, we are what we share and this is what’s building identities of individuals and brands. 

If you can become someones source for new fashion ideas and inspiration, people will follow you and buy from you once you’ve developed a relationship with them.

I’m not saying that you have to know every intimate detail of every person who likes your latest instagram post, I’m saying that you have to share your voice through your work and those stories you are tell using the tools available on these pages.

You must learn how to be unique and stand out as you develop your style and direction. Ask yourself what will you be known for? What very specific details do you want people to understand about your brand?  As a Radio show host and entertainment branding and marketing specialist, I’ve done endless research on how to build an impactful brand and in my opinion it comes down to ‘Distinction’ and “Emotional connection’.

You must make your images and designs distinctive so people know them upon sight and you must find a way to nurture an emotional connection with your buyers and maintain that intense relationship as a consistent brand they can trust.

Todays Fashion brands sell more than just clothing, they sell experiences we fall in love with. 

The key to having that it factor is to become a brand that people want to share with their friends and families on social media. www.instagram.com/JaxCouture

In any industry, brands set the foundation to build a lifetime customer relationship through value on the things such as:

  • Perceived value
  • Personalized Shopping Experience
  • Honest, Openness & Realness
  • Supply and quality Management
  • Involving their customers in their success

 

Perceived value is…
what a customer believes merchandise to be worth, when he or she agrees to pay (or not to pay) for ownership of the product. Perceived value can be difficult to measure directly as it’s the buyers background and understanding of the product that helps to determine that perceived value. Brand loyalty plays a major roll in this as well as awareness and that emotional connection I was speaking about earlier.

Much of this is done by the designer and the content creation team in the form of product imagery, video, style guides and descriptive stories.

A production team will typically do the following:

Photoshoots : planning and execution
Still shots for the website : closeups and details
Video production
Model casting
Photo-editing
Copy-writing
Social media management

Pictures needed to help establish perceived value:

  • Fasteners (close-up shot of any details that should be highlighted.)
  • Material / fabric (extreme close-up shot to capture fabric details, you might need a macro lens for this)
  • Feel of the fabric (nicely lit environment to help the customer understand what can be expected)
  • Stitch, Seam & Lining (one close-up picture that captures both)
  • Emblems (zoomed & cropped shot of any emblem that shows how the emblem attached to the cloth)
  • Brand Tag (it can be captured in any of the above shot)

Other important factors: 

Product packaging:

This gives the buyer a more complete experience of what they have purchased and how it’s valued. Showing product packaging gives customer glimpse into product’s delivery experience before they place an order.


Product descriptions:

This brings value and can establish an emotional connection to the product. Brand with increased brand connection tell stories along with their garments.

The power of an about page:

Tell your story. Talk about the history and value of the merchandise. What you most want people to know about the company and yourself as the creator. Answer questions such as how, why, what, where and when.

Focus on your home page:

This is the first page people see so what does it say? How does this page set the stage for the online experience?

The launch:

Don’t just add new clothing to your store, build a story around it and develop it slowly. Let people anticipate the arrival and savor the timeline of possibilities by offering your customers a slow reveal on new products that will excite them and intrigue their curiosity.

 

Notes from the editor: Jacqueline Jax : Jax Couture

Did you enjoy the article and podcast today?
I know this is alot to take in. Probably much more than expected when you came into this article but you can save the page and reference it as needed. I’m going to be doing a series of launching your Fashion brand videos walking through my personal process of bringing my online store launch to fresh eyes.

Subscribe here and look for my Girl Boss Section, videos will launch in February 2019 :  https://www.youtube.com/user/JacquelineJaxVideo 

The social media pages for my Fashion brand and my personal pages are: 
www.facebook.com/JaxCouture
www.instagram.com/JaxCouture
www.twitter.com/Jacquelinejax
www.facebook.com/Jacquelinejaxtv
www.instagram.com/jacquelinejax

Check out this full article on Zita Barabara:

https://www.avaliveradio.info/featured/zita-barbara-dont-stop-1

Website & social media links:
https://www.facebook.com/ZitaBarbaraSanders
https://www.reverbnation.com/zitabarbara
https://zitabarbara.com
www.instagram.com/zitabarbara

https://shopvida.com/collections/barbaramaloneart

SHOP ZITA: https://zitabarbara.com