Fashion is a visually focused field, and what better way to share those visuals than through pictures? Social media is a necessity for businesses from all industries, but it is especially relevant for fashion and design. Social networks like Instagram, Facebook, and even Twitter can allow you to share your designs and style with a larger audience, working as free marketing tools to grow your business.
For anyone to see your style, however, they have to follow you first. Building a large following on social media takes time, effort, and money in some cases. To grow your following, you’ll need to know how to find followers interested in your work and use the best practices for sharing content online. To get started, try these tips to grow your social media following as a fashion designer.
Fashion design is an artistic field, so you’re already ahead in terms of style. Your fashion line probably already has a consistent style, trend, or theme, so use that on social media to make it clear what you’re all about. The best online content has a clear theme or aesthetic, so figure out what your brand’s aesthetic is and stick with it.
It goes without saying that you should always share high quality content: images and video should be clear and focused, and any written content should be on-brand, proofread, and convey the right message for your brand.
Instagram is becoming one of the most popular forms of social media, and it’s also the most visual, so you may want to focus on that platform. Make sure your Instagram has a cohesive theme or aesthetic. Your style will come through not only in the clothes you share, but every other aspect of your social media. Create a color scheme to make your profile look put together and also to showcase your brand’s specific look.
Hashtags may seem cliché, but they serve a vital purpose on social media. Using hashtags can help you reach a larger audience and find new followers who will be interested in your fashion. The key is using the right hashtags.
Target fashion hashtags and focus your hashtag use further based on style, location, and other elements to get more specific. You don’t want to use a hashtag that is so specific that no one else has used it – no one will search for that – but using only #fashion will result in your posts getting lost among a sea of fashion posts. Do the research, check out competitors, and use the best hashtags for your brand.
To keep your captions clean and prevent them from looking spammy, hide your hashtags by using spacers (bullet points or other punctuation entered line by line), or by commenting the hashtags instead.
Location tags can also help if you’re trying to grow a local following. Tag your location for a chance to be featured on location-based stories and pages, or use hashtags with the location included.
Yes, having a lot of followers is great. Having the right followers is even better, however.
By “the right followers” we mean followers who are real, interested in your content, and who like, comment, share, and engage with your posts. There’s no point in having a huge following if you don’t get any likes or engagement from them – in fact, this can hurt your accounts and overall reputation.
Look for followers who show interest in fashion and fashion design. Target the followers of your competitors, or based on hashtags or location.
If this all sounds like a lot of work, you’re not wrong: building a solid, loyal following isn’t easy. You may want to employ the help of a social media service to help you grow your following. Companies often charge expensive prices, but other tools online, like an IG growth service, can help you target the right followers without breaking the bank or breaking a sweat.
As your following grows, and with the followers that you already have, it’s important to engage. This means following and interacting with other fashion designers or brands, liking back those who like your content, and promoting a relationship between yourself and your followers.
Ask questions in captions or posts about what your followers or customers would like to see from you. You can even just ask questions about what they like as it relates to fashion to encourage more comments or an open conversation about your industry. The best brands online engage with their followers to make them feel like there is a true relationship there, and to foster further engagement on the end of the followers.
Engagement is a driving factor in influencer marketing, brand deals, and for many social media platforms’ algorithms in ranking and showing content. If you engage with your followers, they will engage back, improving your presence on social media and furthering your reach.