Marketing Series: Marketing 101 For Your Fashion Line
What is marketing and why is it so critical for your brand and your product’s success? In this blog, I will cover an overview of marketing and explain why a solid marketing strategy will lead to your success and future growth.
What is Marketing? Marketing is a crucial step towards success because if no one knows about your brand, no one will buy it. Our previous series, Branding, went over what it means to define your brand. Well. think of branding as creating your flag and marketing as raising it and waving it for all to see. Marketing is the process of promoting, distributing and selling your brand.
When it comes to a Marketing Campaign there are 5 key elements including Product, Pricing, Promotion, People, and Placement, they are often called the 5 P's or “Marketing Mix”. As a designer you can use these same elements to catapult your line to success. I will go over these 5 key elements and then go into more depth in later blogs.
Pricing:
Pricing is critical to your product’s identity and the perception your buyers have of it. Pricing should cover your cost of goods and overhead and then include a comfortable profit margin so you can profit and grow into the future. You should test several different prices to discover the right one. A low price may generate a high volume of sales but profits are too low to survive. A high price may deliver plenty of profit but not enough sales volume to keep you going. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your price, but remember… Your prices say a lot about your product. Want to know 5 Costing Tips you Can’t Afford to Miss? Click HERE.
Product:
Having a good Product is like having a good foundation for a home, without it things begin to crumble. Marketing starts with your product. This is the actual item you are selling and it includes all the extras, add ons, and services that come with it on every purchase. Your product always needs to remain consistent with your brand name and product line. All the features that went into your designing decisions are included in defining your product. That includes the quality of craftsmanship, materials, accessories, and other things that make your product the vision you had for your fashion line. In short your product should reflect your brand. Click HERE to check out the Branding Series.
Promotion:
Promotion includes any communication you create to promote and sell your product. This includes your advertising which is direct selling and positioning of your product and your brand. It is usually paid media. Media can be traditional like television, radio, direct mail, and print. It can also include relatively recent disruptors like online digital, and email. You can buy time or space on all of these media and control the message you send and the offer you present. Promotion also includes public relations which can be charity or special events or any indirect promotion that is intended to create “good-will” for your company, brand, and product. Social Media has recently become a critical form of promotion. It can be paid for as advertising or free as valuable content that appeals to your audience.
People:
People consist of two components: Your target market and your relationship and customer service and experience. Your target market consists of the people you “target” to be your largest buyers. You can actually have a Primary target audience - this is your base - the most likely buyers, and secondary target audiences - others who may also be buyers of your product but not at the same frequency. Additionally customer service and experience is also important. By ensuring your buyers have a positive experience and feel valued, this raises the chances of “word of mouth” advertising. If one customer shares their great experience with other people, they might soon also become customers as well.
Placement:
Placement is defining where your customer can find your product. The outlet where your product is purchased says a great deal about your brand and your product. Consider your perception of a fashion product sold at Saks versus one that is available at Walmart. Each one has its benefits. Saks gives your product the perception of exclusivity, luxury, and quality. Walmart gives your product the perception of affordability, comfort, and everyday simplicity. You may get a much larger volume of exposure selling from Walmart than you do from Nordstrom. These are all important decisions you need to make that should be consistent with your branding and your product identity. Each channel of distribution should be chosen to give the best perception, and traffic for your brand.
These are the Five “P’s” of Marketing or the “Marketing Mix”. They are the 5 key elements of any marketing campaign. Each one is important and must be considered for how it can advance and position the perception of your brand and your product. In later blogs in this series, I will go into each component in more specific detail to give you a more detailed understanding of how important these marketing decisions are and how they can impact your success.
Not sure how to go about your marketing plan? The V.Mora team can help you develop your Brand Identity and Marketing Plan that shares your values. For inquiries please contact: vmorainquiry@vmora.com
Have a Marketing plan already, but need help with producing your line? V.Mora can help you take your brand voice and turn it into products. We will help each step of the way to design, develop patterns, and connect with the right vendors for your project through our Production Development and Management service. Please contact us if you are in need of the Production Development and Management Services below:
Sourcing
Technical sketches
Pattern Making
Prototype making
Sample Making
Fittings
Digitizing and Grading
Marker Making
Manufacturing
Please contact us at: vmorainquiry@vmora.com
