As early as 2005, the rise of many social media platforms changed the world for the better. Not only did we witness the creation of Twitter but also for the first time, various social networks (e.g: Etsy) gave the opportunity to creators to safely create their own businesses and introduce to the world the future of online marketing. While in a conversation with two up-rising fashion-driven businesses SLNCD & modernmodels (or Softcharms) on Twitter, my observations regarding the impact of Social Media on the Fashion Industry came out to be true because they corroborated my claims about the subject.
What we know for sure is that social media marketing is no new concept. After having been around for years, we have brands with their own at-home working teams dedicated to managing their social presence and smaller entrepreneurs who run a solo based business such as Nisha Kaur (modernmodeIs) or Ifabiyi (SLNCD), who claims to solely be assisted by his brother to tackle the operating of his company. Without any doubts, any starting corporation has to face a certain difficulty to get a customer base and to eventually make profits out of it, and that’s where Twitter comes in place. For Nisha, it was high-fashion accessories that inspired her to start her company: ‘‘[…] I definitely use social media a lot more than usual to try to create a big as a following as possible. Me creating this platform really did help in the role of promotion, as my target market are fashion lovers (a large chunk of my following). And yes, there is a lot of competition out there that are in the similar field but I just try to differentiate my brand as much as possible to keep things fresh and unique..” Kaur says.
On Social Media, and especially with marketing, the key is to keep people, your followers, engaged and interested in your brand. Not only do you have to constantly innovate and offer to your audience (in this case, your customers) a voice regarding your products but you also have to keep up with the competition. According to Ifabiyi, the essence of his business is trusting the reviews and opinions of his customers and just rolling with it, and it shows through the link he formed with his followers, by displaying his latest creations with his tweets. ‘‘[…] I’m aiming to display these stories through quality aesthetic streetwear pieces. I feel like I’m just grazing the surface with this though. I have so many ideas I want to put out but I’m just being patient with the process.” He adds, ”I feel like the brand is at a good place. It’s pretty amazing thinking back to when this was all just an idea in my head a few years back. Having supporters around the world is surreal to me and I’m forever grateful to the internet for that. ”
Orange Theory 🍊 pic.twitter.com/6kdQltu52h
— Silence (@Silenceclo) March 17, 2017
A good tweet (like the one above) can get thousands of “retweets” which is undeniably a massive asset and benefit to increase a brand’s popularity and engagement. Nevertheless according to The Current Daily,
”Twitter finds it particularly difficult to attract brand marketers to advertise on a platform with restricted growth (albeit its advertising revenue was up 6% year-on-year in Q3 2016). What’s perhaps more troubling for the long run in that vein, however, is a potential shift in the way the platform is used.”
As uncertain as the Internet is, Social Media marketing is in no way going to be a dead business anytime soon. Every Social Media outlet can potentially be used to promote a company’s brand, to get it exposure and engagement and simultaneously get it in touch with its potential customers. While in conversation with Nisha and Ifabiyi, I found that the future of e-business is bright in both the streetwear and the hand-made jewelry sector.
Ifabiyi: ”I’d love to take this brand well beyond clothes and more towards a lifestyle brand. I want to see anyone that sees power in silence to resonate with something that the brands doing; whatever capacity that may be in. In terms of the internet fashion industry; we’re on the cusp of some game-changing technologies. I have a lot of ideas as to where this might go. Should be exciting.”
