H&M, Louis Vuitton, Nike… These are household-name brands known around the world as some of the biggest players in the fashion industry. As consumer behaviours are changing, so are they.
Today, consumers’ expectations of a top-tier shopping experience are completely different to what they used to be. Retailers have had to move focus from building flagship stores in busy highstreets and spending marketing budget on massive billboards, to instead focus on building a presence online that caters to a younger demographic who seek out their shopping inspiration on social media first and foremost.
Companies that succeed in 2022 invest in influencer marketing to help build that online presence and can therefore keep their household status. In this article, we’re going to explore the affinity between fashion brands and influencers, as well as why fashion influencer marketing is a potent solution to achieve sustainable ROI.
The similarities between fashion brands and influencers
Think of all the qualities that (successful) fashion brands possess: uniqueness, consistency, loyal consumer bases, and strong audience understanding. All of these traits can be directly transferred to successful influencers. If you wish to achieve higher-than-ordinary levels of engagement with your customers, these are the qualities you’ll need to incorporate into your online presence.
Fashion brands’ objectives are likely to be similar or the same as those of influencers, which stems from a fundamental aim to build up a loyal following of people that love their products and/or content. For these two parties, achieving a high customer lifetime value is ideal as it is more expensive to acquire new customers than retain them – even though influencer marketing can do both.
Why do fashion brands use influencers?
With so many channels at these brands’ disposal, what has drawn them to using influencer marketing? There are plenty of reasons why fashion brands in particular use influencers to help them with brand awareness and sales.
They understand consumer behaviour
As previously discussed, we’ve seen a cross-generational shift to social media, with platforms such as Instagram and TikTok dominating the attention spans of an array of audiences, most notably Gen Z and millennials. As fashion brands are naturally drawn to the opportunity to meet their customers where they are online, social media is a no-brainer, with these younger generations of consumers spending an average of three hours (and counting) of their time on social media every day. Influencers therefore present an alternative (and we might be biased here, generally superior) avenue through which to connect with their target audience, allowing a brand to showcase their identity and USPs via an already trusted third-party.
Peer-to-peer influence
When it comes to communication nowadays, people trust other people more than they do brands. This has become a challenge for many fashion brands who are trying to speak to their customers and prompt them to take action. For this reason, influencers are able to evoke trust and relatability in modern consumers who wouldn’t be swayed by direct communication from brands’ owned channels.
Research we carried out on consumer behaviour in 2022 showed that 75% of Gen Zers and millennials see influencer content at least once a day and 72% said they were more likely to trust an influencer’s recommendation if they showcased the same products or brand multiple times. This frequency of exposure, combined with consumers’ greater inclination to trust influencers over a brand’s own content makes influencers prime ambassadors for fashion labels.
Niche audiences
Competition is tougher than ever for fashion brands, but luckily influencers can be the conversation tipping point for a brand, helping them to stand out from the crowd. Influencers, especially micro-influencers, generally have access to organically refined audiences that care about and love the particular niche in which the influencer’s content sits. As an example, we’ve seen how body positivity has trended lately. Younger generations have become tired of brands excessively photoshopping ad campaigns and promoting outmoded and (for many) unrealistic physical ‘ideals’. Instead, these shoppers have turned their attention to influencers who show their real selves; stomach rolls, body hair and tips on how to survive summer with chafing thighs are popular topics amongst the generation who wants authenticity and relatability more than anything else.
Niche-ness allows influencers to share content that is genuinely of interest to these audiences while still retaining relevance to the product or brand they’re promoting, making it easier for prospects to progress through the purchasing journey – even if they are in high involvement areas such as fashion.
Fashion brands and influencer marketing: a match made in heaven
With the similarities between fashion brands and influencer marketing, it’s clear that these two go hand-in-hand when it comes to authentic ways of promoting products and engaging with audiences. Influencers are a powerful tool for fashion brands, and can be significantly more effective in driving engagement, brand awareness and ROI than other, more traditional channels, particularly when you consider that just 30% of consumers would even consider turning to the television for fashion inspiration nowadays (Cure Media, 2022).
Becoming a successful fashion brand online
Ending on one of the most important takeaways from this read – how do brands work with influencers successfully? The truth (which may be difficult to swallow for some) is that it’s crucial to understand that influencer marketing is a challenge you’ll need to invest a significant amount of time and resources in, scaling your efforts, if you hope to see equally significant results. In order to become top of mind and stand out from the crowd in a space that is only so big, implementing a range of influencer marketing strategies is a must-do.
At Cure Media, we’ve seen first-hand how influencers can propel a fashion brand towards sustainable success and maintaining a loyal customer base. If you’re a fashion brand that’s interested in how we work, don’t hesitate to reach out. For further reading, check out our influencer marketing for fashion brands Q&A.