Why You Need to Systemize Your Fashion Brand and How to Start Today
Systematising any business is an inescapable task if you want to scale your brand. The earlier you introduce efficiency into the cogs that run your company, the easier you will find crossing hurdles down the line, because believe me -there is such a thing as too many sales! Introducing efficient and sustainable systems isn’t a one-off task, expect to continue to improve your processes over time. But the important factor is you start somewhere and start now.
When I speak about systems, I am talking in relation to anything that improves efficiency in your day-to-day and general management of a business. Many of my clients launching a fashion line do so as an initial side project to their full-time job. Introducing structures that automate as many areas as possible benefits their circumstances and supports the growth of their startup. The structures you create can also be used to block tasks together saving time, and ultimately money. Basic examples within a fashion brand may include scheduling social media posts, accounts, admin or postal systems.
Many tasks are worth delegating to free up your time to work on profit and sales producing activities. If you’d like to read more on what areas are worth investing in, you can do so by clicking here. In this post, however, I am going to focus on systematising techniques that cost little to no money for the sake of someone with a budget conscious start-up.
Social Media
There are many tools out there to schedule posts, analyse data and boost the potential of your select marketing channels. Your customer research should clearly outline which platform your avatar frequents.
Facebook
You can schedule posts within Facebook itself. This also works to your favour within the algorithm (opposed to using third party platforms like Hootsuite) and Facebook is apparantly more likely to organically boost this content. The schedule feature should be available on your chosen page using the publishing tools. You can plan daily posts, weekly or whatever aligns to your marketing strategy.
Instagram
There are many third party apps used to plan feeds and arrange images for the grid in an aesthetically pleasing kind of way. Although trends seem to be pointing towards returning to the more “instant” roots of Instagram, you can still use apps such as Planoly, Unum and Preview to schedule that content when you’re tight on time.
Hootsuite / Buffer / Meet Edgar
Social media management platforms are on the rise. Scheduling tools can really take the pain out of many daily required tasks when running a brand and trying to gain visibility, Hootsuite, Buffer and MeetEdgar are top contenders. Though proceed with caution and try to stay up to date with algorithm changes across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as often a third party platform can penalise your reach.
Tailwind
Also a great resource for Instagram scheduling, Tailwind has gained recognition more for the convenience it allows throughout Pinterest. A free trial allows for 100 pins to be scheduled, take advantage of this and the life-span a pin has over an Instagram post (3.5 months vs 24 hours!) and watch your monthly unique viewers grow whilst driving traffic to your e-commerce store.
Email Marketing
Growing your mailing list is the pathway to sales. But nurturing your audience is the essential steps needed for conversions and loyal customers.
Although this post isn’t intended to cover the theory and importance behind lead magnets, it is written on the assumption you have one and are gathering leads and customers whilst building your mailing list. Once they are signed up it is important you maintain valuable touch points to develop the business to customer relationship and establish trust between your brand and them. On average it is meant to take 7 to 13 touch points to establish a sales lead. By automating your nurture sequence, elements of this process are being taken care of.
Try to avoid a constant stream of sales pitches or offers, add value to their inbox with sincerity. Styling tips, behind the scenes updates and surveys are all great ways to connect with your audience valuing both their opinion and support.
Mailchimp, Mailerlite and ConvertKit are all great email marketing platforms with a variety of price ranges to suit any budget,
Project Management
Organising and establishing your management style early-doors can benefit you tenfold in the long run. You don’t need a team of people to start using the techniques and processes platforms like Asana and Trello provide. Clarifying your goals and outlining project timelines is a great way to systemise your business and gain a clear overview of tasks at hand.
When you are in a position to do so, you can then invite appropriate members onto the platform and manage deadlines effectively whilst delegating areas of collection development seamlessly. Keeping everything in one place and at your fingertips.
If you would like any further support systemising your business or feel ready to take the first steps in making your clothing line a reality, don’t hesitate to get in touch.