Top Pre-Launch Marketing Tips for Fashion Brands

Launching your fashion brand is a big step. You’re ready to take your brand to the market and see just how successful you can be. It’s time to set your dreams free and see just how much you can accomplish.

As you get ready to launch your brand, however, there are several steps you can take to increase your overall odds of success. Here are our top pre-launch marketing tips for fashion brands:

1. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your target audience.

Chances are, you had a specific target audience in mind when you started thinking about your brand. Your designs are likely based around that target audience. Now, it’s time to get to know them even better: not their taste in clothing and fashion, but their overall preferences. You need to ask questions like:

• Where does your target audience spend time online?
• What incentives will your target audience need to try out a new brand?
• What information can you offer your target audience to show them the overall quality of your brand and convince them to try out what you have to offer?

The better you know your target audience, the more you can shape your launch to those specific needs–and the better the odds that you can expand your overall reach, even in the initial days of your launch. In those early days, marketing quality matters. You want to make sure you’re directing your marketing materials to the right location and designing them the right way to reach your target audience more effectively.

2. Get in touch with influencers.

Influencers are a powerful marketing tool for fashion brands. Chances are, you’re already familiar with a number of the influencers within your niche. Now is the time to get in touch with them! Consider how you can create a working relationship with influencers who are able to reach out to your preferred target audience. What benefits can your brand offer them?

Make sure you’re choosing influencers that are most likely to reach your specific, niche market. Sometimes, it’s tempting to connect with influencers who have a large following. If that following isn’t similar to your target market, however, those individuals will be less likely to try out your brand.

3. Start building brand awareness before you’re ready to launch.

Brand awareness is a critical part of your fashion brand’s success. You want your target audience to know who you are–and your pre-launch efforts are critical to your success at launch. If you wait until you’re fully ready to launch your fashion brand to start raising awareness, it can take much longer to start seeing that vital return on your investment–and you may even find yourself wondering if your efforts will ultimately prove successful.

Take to social media and start generating ads. Have your influencers start talking up your brand and even modeling your designs well before your launch. Do a pre-launch countdown that will help generate excitement.

Building excitement in the days before that initial launch can go a long way toward helping your success when you’re actually ready to launch your product. Buzz is everything in the fashion world–and the more people are talking about your designs, the greater the likelihood is that they’ll be eager to jump in and buy once it’s actually available.

4. Make your launch a major event.

As you prepare for your launch, carefully consider how you can turn it into an event–whether you want that event to be online or in person. You want people to be interested in your brand. Making your launch into an event can help encourage them to be there, see everything that you have to offer, and get caught up in the excitement.

Launch your products with a full event on social media, complete with giveaways, discounts, and audience participation. Invite people to come to a fashion show or trunk show where they can check out your brand. Partner with a local business to encourage people to come in and touch, try on, and see your designs in person. If you want to see interest in your clothing grow, make it exciting!

5. Take pre-orders.

Before you’re ready to formally launch your brand, consider taking pre-orders from customers who want to be first in line to try out your product–especially if your product is something exciting or revolutionary.

If you’re offering something unique and exciting, customers won’t be able to wait to try it out–and they’ll be excited to be at the top of the list as your sales actually start rolling out. Consider taking pre-orders and getting them in the hands of your first customers as soon as possible. In many cases, your customers will become a walking advertisement for your brand.

6. Keep adapting your marketing to the needs of your customers.

During this pre-launch period, you have a unique opportunity to test your ads and marketing efforts. You can get closer to your target audience, get to know them better, and get a better idea of how they will respond to specific types of advertising. How are they responding to specific materials? Which ads are most likely to bring them to your website–or, even better, generate pre-orders? Keep testing your marketing so that once you launch your brand, you’ll know that you’re already in line with your target audience.

7. Build suspense.

Think about how many major brands handle new releases in their lines, whether it’s a new product just for a specific season or a seasonal line that will generate interest throughout the season: they start hyping it up early. Offer teasers. Show hints. Suspense is enticing–and as you get ready for your initial launch, you’re in the ideal position to take advantage of it.

While you can’t draw out the suspense indefinitely, you can continue generating interest and awareness–and as that suspense builds, you’ll often find that your potential customers are more eager to see what you’ll do next.

We hope these pre-launch marketing tips were helpful! Are you ready to launch your fashion brand or to learn more about how to increase your business’s success? Check out our webinar today for more tips on successfully launching your fashion brand.