Try these expert tips for building your brand!

In today’s digital, fast-paced, phone-driven world, social media is king when it comes to advertising,
creating buzz around your products and building a brand. Whether it’s your newest batch of autumn
accessories or a single pair of winter boots you think people will love to wear, parts of your inventory
can be seen through social media channels. Whether your store hasn’t opened its doors or you’re a
boutique-owning fashion veteran hoping to entice new customers, we’ve got 5 tips to boost your brand
awareness through social media channels.

1. Send products to Instagram or YouTube influencers
If you don’t have a lot of followers yet on your social media channels, having influencers try out,
review and endorse your product is a great way to get the word out about what’s new and awesome in
your inventory. Simply send products to an influencer’s work address, and they’ll do the hard work.
Influencers often post thoughtful images and videos on Instagram and YouTube, highlighting a product
in a sponsored post.
While you’re shipping your product off and losing a small amount of inventory, this venture is well
worth it. Building relationships with popular influencers will not only get them on board with more of
your inventory while pushing your name out into the world — it’ll also grow your trustworthiness as a
brand. Shoppers trust their favorite influencers to only back high-quality products.

2. Promote your posts on Instagram
If you’re going to take a social media channel by a story, why not target the millions of Instagram users?
According to this article from CNBC.com posted in September of 2017, Instagram now has 800 million
users and 173 million daily active users. While there are many ways to advertise on Instagram, we’re
just talking about promoting posts. We suggest taking high-resolution photos of a flat outfit or an
awesome on-model shot. Don’t have too many pieces in the photograph but don’t just shoot a single
scarf, like a product shot. We like pairing pieces together that go together, as you would if you were
styling a mannequin or window display.
The key to building your brand through your Instagram posts is consistency. While you can play with
different angles, lighting, etc., there needs to be a defining aesthetic that can become recognizable.
Check out the Instagram accounts for Anthropologie, Amazon Fashion and Nordstrom for inspiration.
They know how to post and promote images that uphold their brands.
The two calls to action you may choose from when creating a promoted post are visiting your online
website (and online store, hopefully) or reaching out to your brick-and-mortar store, whether that’s by
visiting in person or calling to inquire. You then choose your audience based on gender, age, location
and interests, set a budget and select the number of days to run your advertisement.
If it’s your first time creating your own Instagram ad, we highly recommend checking out this
amazingly thorough article by Buffer. There are many types of ads and promoted posts you can utilize
to grow your audience and entice customers to buy.

3. Purchase Facebook ads
And just like Instagrams promoted posts, Facebook allows you to purchase advertisements to increase the
number of eyes that are able to be caught by your business pages’ post. One critical thing to
consider when making your first Facebook ad is the audience. Who is your product for? You can target
your audience by location, age, gender, interests and more.
Another is creating a Facebook ad that has the potential to receive a lot of click-through engagement is by
using Audience Insights. From gender and relationship status to age and education level, Facebook’s
pulls data that may be useful to your marketing efforts — before you dish out the money to create and
post your advertisement.
For example, you may think you should target an post only to people who like your page. However, by
using Audience Insights, you reveal that 72% of the people who like your boutique’s Facebook page are
actually men and your product is mostly for women. Okay, this is an extreme example, but you get the
point: this eye-opening data may change the way you target your next social media advertisement.

Have you marketed through social media yet? We want to hear about your efforts below!