How to be More creative with Instagram

fashion brand instagram

Instagram is a hot platform for the fashion industry. It allows fashion designers, fashion brands, and fashion enthusiasts to create and share their favorite looks, styles, and upcoming product lines within seconds. We know this. Instagram is awesome.

But what else does Instagram allow for brands?

The key is creativity. And planning.

Use an artistic lens: Some Instagram bloggers take everyday objects and make them into an artistic photo. For example, one shot I saw used kitkat candy pieces as the black keys on a piano. It was crafty and fun. While this has nothing to do with fashion, a similar play could be done with a hanger, a sewing needle, or a sketchpad. Doing stuff like this demonstrates the creative side of a brand.

Add locations: Now that locations are becoming a part of discovery and trending posts, it is more appealing to add a location in order to join conversations. Similarly, this is an opportunity to look into what’s trending and what locations already are, in order to plan out real time (or near time) content.

Create a full look book layout: Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more brands utilizing each photo as a piece of a larger photo (or look book). It’s interesting to see one by one, but when you go to a brand’s page and look at the images together, it’s beautiful. The pieces of the larger image are an incentive to take a closer look. And it’s definitely an opportunity to stand out for a new line, special offer, or event coming up.

Lastly, look to see what your fans are creating and sharing. It could be an opportunity to emulate or demonstrate how much you appreciate their creativity and style too. For example, regram theirs, or use their photo as inspiration for your own and credit them.

It’s a great way to go beyond the typical Instagram shot and stand out among the many other Instagram bloggers and brands out there.

See original full post on Startup Fashion.

Five Must-Have Marketing Skills for a Startup Marketer

 

marketing skills

In the startup world, when you’re beginning your new business, everything is going really fast. You’re wearing twenty different hats a day. One minute you’re the marketing manager, the next you’re the project manager, and yet another you’re the production manager.

Unfortunately, with the speed of the startup scene, sometimes certain skill sets fall to the way-side. So instead of letting that happen, make time to ensure that certain marketing skills are kept polished like mastering the technique of pay per click advertising; whether it’s through workshops once a month, webinars, just diving in with a good old business book or hiring just seo to boost your reach to the right audience.

Here are five key marketing skills that every brand must have. 

Storytelling

This is a unique skill that any marketer needs in order to be successful. It allows a brand to be unified across channels, allow consumers to understand what the brand stands for, and believe in the brand. It allows for the human side to come out and connecting with consumers on a deeper level. In addition to online storytelling through images, video, and written content, storytelling transcends to in-person interactions with customers.

Thinking Mobile First

When it comes to marketing your content, realize that people are always on the go. The one device that is always on them is their phone (and most likely a smart phone). Therefore, when creating your content and social strategy, designing your website, and/or strategizing your e-commerce efforts, it’s valuable to understand how your content will live on mobile devices first, then tablet, then desktop.

Differentiating Social Media Channels

It’s important to understand how each channel works, what it’s used for, which audiences are on it, and how best to distribute content within those channels. For example, one brand may be better suited for YouTube with its variety of videos,  while another may consider creating a tumblr blog for aggregating their content in one place for a community that is hungry for discovering and sharing cool stuff. Each channel is different and provides different features, which may enhance your products or services. Being knowledgeable on the ones that best fit your brand and your competition is helpful in creating the best marketing plan to be successful now and in the future.

Understanding SEO

This is one of the underpinning of being successful organically. Although Google makes changes on how people will be successful with their SEO tactics, it’s important to keep up. Whether it’s tagging your content with the right keywords, getting more shares on social, or distributing on partner channels for a larger audience – make sure you take the time to understand how SEO can play to your benefit.

To check out my tips around Data and Why it’s important to Understand all of the above, check out my full post on Startup Fashion!

Image via colinlogan

Get the Inside Look on UGC Fashion Startup Sketch Street

Always on the lookout for interesting new start-ups in the fashion world, especially those that are doing something to shake up the industry a bit,  I was looking forward to the opportunity of speaking with Anthony Chan from the new fashion start-up Sketch Street, a brand that is rethinking the fashion cycle around the community.

Sketch Street

StUF:  How did Sketch Street begin?

AC: The idea really stemmed from an ordinary fashion lover’s desire to buy high-quality, unique designs without burning big holes in one’s pocket. I love high-street, love their trendy pieces and love them being affordable to young people like me. However, I slowly got frustrated by seeing the same fashion pieces, in the same chains across the globe.

Fashion is a statement of personal taste, a showcase of individual style. Of course, for some privileged individuals, they can afford to buy customized clothes, or high-end designer limited edition clothes. But I believe that fashion should be enjoyed by ALL. It is a simple pursuit of beauty. So why can’t we have unique designs that are high quality and yet affordable? We definitely should – that is what we are trying to live up to at Sketch Street.

A second important propelling force behind the Sketch Street idea is to disrupt the hierarchical nature of the fashion world. For emerging designers, it can take years before they see their own designs been made and sold. Worse still, many of them may never see that day.  The film “Eleven Minutes”, depicts well the difficulties faced by young designers such as Jay McCarroll (winner of Project Runway). The difficulties faced by emerging talents are at best understated!

We want to establish ourselves as a platform, a jumping board for these [emerging] talents. We finance the sampling and the production. We want to allow these designers to focus on what they do the best – design. For designers, participating in Sketch Street is a sure-win with no downside risk.

Powered by these two beliefs – bringing unique and affordable designs to fashion lovers + supporting emerging talents to produce great designs, Sketch Street was born.

 To read the rest (trust me there’s lots more awesomeness), check out my full interview on Startup Fashion !