It has been a decade since Instagram was launched, but the active use of the platform by fashion brands has become a good and systematic habit just recently.

And despite the fact that the industry is one of the most active and large-scale within the social network, very often it is the fashion segment that is presented not as effectively and understandably.

Social networks in general is a great opportunity to increase the income of the company, while also to build a large community and increase brand loyalty. Because in addition to direct sales it is very important to engage, inspire, love and immerse the potential client into the world of the brand. It is important to sell your worldview, your mission, your vision, and not just the product.

Brand mission statement

For example, the American clothing brand Reformation, whose important principle is sustainable development, very often talks about environmental issues and gives different eco-tips. While teaching the audience they once again remind us about the brand&rsquo;s main mission through the environmental stories, which significantly increases audience&rsquo;s loyalty.

© Reformation

Reformation also like to show behind the scenes and conduct virtual tours of their factory, as well as arrange Q&amp;A with brand employees.

Day with the owner or whatever

The French clothing brand Jacquemus, generally has a fairly free style of content on Instagram. What about the pictures of the brand&#39;s designer or his dog? And it really works in this case.

A bit hackneyed, but undoubtedly working technique for the&nbsp; stories &quot;a day with...&quot;: here you can show everything that the brand designer or team does, where they go, what they eat for breakfast, or how they talk about the favorite things of the brand.

© JACQUEMUS

This creates a sense of presence and immersion for the user, and of course people like to look at other people, so the brand becomes even more human.

Style advice

The European shoe brand Dear Frances gives Instagram style tips and shows how and where to wear their shoes. This kind of content works very well, as it allows users to see the full picture and imagine how this or that thing could look within a complete look.

© Dear Frances

UGS content

It is also very important working with UGS (user-generated content), which is a huge social proof and allows other potential customers to see all the brand reviews and live pictures of the real people wearing the product. And it&#39;s not just influencers and bloggers, it is regular customers who don&rsquo;t have as many followers on Instagram.

© NORBA

For example, an essential wear brand NORBA shows their users how the others style the brand&rsquo;s things, what life situations they wear them in.&nbsp;Yet unfortunately, even in late 2020, a very small percentage of brands are working with this type of content.

Instagram mask

Frankly, it is quite difficult to find fashion brands&rsquo; Instagram masks. That is because many of them were timed to the release of a new collection or a drop and were very rarely released as a type of entertainment content.&nbsp;

Perhaps here Dior came out ahead, because they have quite a lot of masks you can interact with and try on the brand&#39;s pieces.

© Dior, COS

Another good example of the use of Instagram masks was in the framework of COS&rsquo; collaboration with the architect and artist Harry Nureyev. The creation of the masks in this case had a more social subtext. The source of inspiration for the collaboration was nature, and the creators wanted to remind us once again that we should be careful and cherishing with it, go eco-friendly and sustainable.

When you&#39;re promoting a fashion brand on Instagram, you should use all the tools: live broadcasts, masks, quizzes, UGS content, stories, individual columns, and even stories shows. But, a kind reminder: no matter how much inspiration you get from other brands, it&#39;s always important to remember what your brand&#39;s specific goals are.

Remember that content of any kind including the visual one, has to serve certain brand&rsquo;s goals. To do this, you should be clear about what you want to get out of a particular platform and communication.&nbsp;

And yes, you have about a second to get a user interested. Still there is no and cannot be a golden rule for a brand here on what and how to do exactly. The main thing is to find and correctly define your offer, goals and positioning.

Collage: Lesya Pakharyna

The author: 
Alina Dowżenko

smm expert, brand consultant

Fashion on Instagram: the visual showcase of brands

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