Chief Marketing Officer at Launchmetrics, a leading Brand Performance Cloud in Fashion, Luxury and Beauty.
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As the world continues to become more digital, brands must adapt their marketing strategies to keep up with the ever-changing landscape. With the increased number and complexity of consumer touchpoints, companies need to understand how to successfully navigate the digital landscape in order to gain a fair share of the market. Social media has become a key touchpoint for brands to connect with their customers, and it is crucial that CMOs understand how to use it to its full potential.
In this article, I want to highlight how fashion, luxury and beauty brands can maximize social media to help achieve their marketing goals.
Optimize your data.
Building a presence on social media allows brands to collect detailed customer data, enabling them to gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ interests, needs and desires. This data not only helps brands create accurate buyer personas but also provides valuable insights into customer feedback on current products and services. By utilizing this data effectively, brands can improve their marketing campaigns and ultimately drive revenue growth.
Make it easier for customers to convert.
In the past, marketers have utilized social media primarily as an awareness-driving tool. Now, however, with the increased importance of social commerce, brands are looking to optimize social platforms to become revenue drivers. In this new landscape, brands need to evaluate their social strategy with respect to achieving business goals and focus on boosting conversion rates to maintain a competitive advantage.
Sephora, for example, has successfully leveraged social media as a revenue driver. The multinational beauty retailer has invested heavily in its digital strategy and has integrated its social media platforms with its e-commerce website to create a seamless shopping experience for customers while using social media to showcase its products through tutorials, user-generated content and influencer partnerships, creating an engaged community around its brand. This has led to increased sales and customer loyalty, demonstrating the importance of optimizing social media for revenue generation.
Stay on top of trends.
Staying on top of digital trends is essential for brands looking to remain relevant in today’s fast-paced environment. The shift to viewing individuals as members of online communities is one trend that has gained significant momentum.
According to McKinsey research, companies have moved toward creating communities of shared relevance connected by similar interests and values. Moreover, according to Sprout Social data, 91% of consumers believe in the power of social media to connect people, which is a clear indicator that brands should participate in fostering those connections. By finding people who love the brand and connecting them together, brands can create an even more emotional connection between the customer and the brand, which leads to an increasingly loyal audience.
When it comes to building an online community, one brand that stands out is Nike, which is all about motivation and inspiration. The brand has leveraged social media to create a strong and highly engaged community around its products. On its social platforms, Nike interacts with customers, responding to comments and questions and encouraging user-generated content. The brand also has its own social media platform, NikePlus, which offers personalized product recommendations, exclusive content and access to events.
Social media platforms also offer brands the opportunity to foster communities by using creators’ voices. For example, in our TikTok Takeover report, we found that creators represent 72% of the app's share of voice. Leveraging a community on social media can allow the brand to share user-generated content, which is viewed as more authentic and trustworthy than branded content, and can provide a relatively cost-effective strategy in the long run.
Understand that social is a two-way street.
Engaging with the audience is also crucial for brands. Social media managers should monitor the general conversation around the brand and, if needed, attempt to steer it in a desired way. In case of negative mentions, comments or any controversy that a brand is involved in, immediacy is key when adopting a crisis management strategy. Monitoring the conversation around competitors can also provide valuable insights into what is resonating with the audience and what isn’t.
Measure your efforts.
Last but not least, tracking campaign performance on social media is crucial for brands looking to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Executives must use accurate measures when tracking campaign performance on social channels. Our data suggests that executives still have a difficult time turning awareness into conversion measures, as 80% of marketers use economic measures to gauge the efficacy of influencers, and only 24% prioritize reach and views. Regarding influencer partnerships, 40% of managers count on influencers to report back the results of their campaigns, which can lead to misinformation. Thus, the right performance measurement tools are crucial to monitor ROIs and, in turn, produce reliable results.
Conclusion
Social media is an incredibly powerful marketing tool for fashion, luxury and beauty brands. However, in order to fully leverage its potential, CMOs must approach it strategically and with a deep understanding of their target audience. Navigating the social media landscape can be challenging, as people are overstimulated and their attention spans are increasingly shorter. By embracing the latest digital trends, creating online communities, interacting with their audience, and accurately measuring performance, brands can maximize their presence on social media and achieve their marketing goals. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, it's essential for CMOs to stay informed and adapt their strategies accordingly in order to stay ahead of the curve and continue to achieve growth.
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