Working with fashion bloggers can be tricky. With hundreds of brands online and offline vying for their attention, it can be tough to stand out from the crowd (especially when you're locally focused).
Typical sponsored links, banner ads, and product mentions are overdone. These types of promotions provide less ROI for retailers because customers recognize these old-school ads and have learned to tune them out.
But 55% of people trust bloggers, compared to just 47% people who trust traditional advertising messages. That's why more brands are creating an influencer marketing strategy — to connect with influencers like fashion bloggers and get their products in front of those highly engaged, loyal audiences.
While many other fashion ecommerce brands may be jumping on the influencer marketing bandwagon, you can differentiate yourself with a creative pitch. So, before you engage in any influencer marketing, have a laser-focused idea for a promotion. The less thought a busy fashion blogger has to put into incorporating your product into their content, the more likely they are to work with you.
Looking for a few ideas to get you started? Here are four ways you can pitch a fashion blogger to promote your product.
1. Ask the Fashion Blogger For an Outfit Post Feature
Outfit posts are one of the easiest ways to get your foot in the door with a fashion blogger's audience. Fashion or lifestyle bloggers regularly call out each piece of their entire outfit at the bottom of each post. Take a look at the brands they're already featuring and see if your products are similar.
It's important to make sure your product aligns with their personal brand before you approach any fashion blogger, as they typically queue items they will accept to feature.
If the blogger has accepted your product feature and price, be sure to share the post with your networks as well to amplify the impact.
For example, Aimee Song of 'Song of Style' mentions all the brands she's wearing in her posts. The brands she wears are mostly for a more luxury-focused audience, so it wouldn't necessarily make sense to approach her if you run a budget-conscious retail brand.
If you have relevant products, send over some items from your collection for fashion bloggers to try. In return, request a feature on their blog.
You can also create an accompanying promotion to incentivize their readers to buy from your brand. The fashion bloggers post an affiliate link to your product, and their readers can use a special discount code. You benefit with more traffic and sales, and the fashion blogger gets a kickback from each purchase.
2. Get Your Product Featured in the Blogger's Next Apartment Tour
Closet and apartment tours have become a hot ticket for fashion bloggers to promote products that aren't directly "fashion related." These videos are heavy hitters, with at least five to six different products being promoted at once.
A good way to slip your product in their next apartment tour is to simply ask if they can mention the brand/site in their photos or video. Make sure to send over the flashiest, most attention-grabbing product you have in stock to further highlight your product.
With candles from West Elm and housewares from a variety of other places, Ingrid Nilson of MissGlamorazzi mixes DIY with name brands to give her more than 3.8 million YouTube subscribers some home decór inspiration. Have a look at the video below:
Home/apartment tours are a great opportunity for an independent design/decór brand to offer a product to for a well-known blogger to feature in their next apartment tour.
3. Create a Lookbook Featuring a Fashion Blogger
Lookbooks are one of the most flattering ways to approach a blogger to work with you, but this method can also become complicated. In this case, you need to make sure your brand completely aligns with the blogger's style.
A good way to indicate this is whether or not they've worn your products before, or if someone has mentioned it in their comments. If you have a strong eye, you can tell if your blogger is boho, edgy, high-fashion or a vintage-lover (with, of course, many sub-genres included).
If you're launching your new summer line, recruit a top local blogger as a model for your photo shoot. The fashion blogger's recognized face can help you obtain more traffic than a regular old lookbook.
Kendi Skeen of Kendi Everyday has appeared in multiple lookbooks for small and major brands alike. One such example is a lookbook collaboration she did with Fossil. Using Fossil apparel and accessories, she styled 30 different looks and promoted the collaboration on her popular style blog.
This is a perfect example of a symbiotic relationship between blogger and a fashion retailer.
4. Invite Fashion Bloggers to an In-Store Party
This is your chance to make a first (or second) impression on the blogger and build a relationship in person. This is also a chance for the blogger to naturally take pictures of themselves in your store.
Many fashion bloggers love to be handpicked and invited to exclusive events, so bust out the hors-d'oeuvres, champagne, and fancy gift bags for them to take home to snap and post on Instagram. Make sure to include a hashtag for your shop or event prior to inviting them.
FURTHER READING: Learn more about how an event series can help retailers build community and bolster sales.
One such example is when Simons partnered with LouLou magazine to host a style challenge and shopping event for fashion bloggers in Vancouver. Style and travel blogger AliciaFashionista not only covered the event for her readers, but also participated in a styling challenge: creating two outfits for under $200 using Simons apparel. She wrote about the challenge and reflected on her styling experience using photos of the final outfits.
San Francisco's Azalea boutique hosted an event for their new "Obey" Spring 2014 collection in the store. This was a great way to get their physical shop promoted by top local bloggers. Kathleen Murillo of Inspirafashion wrote about it in her blog:
Moving Forward With Influencer Marketing With Fashion Bloggers
Influencer marketing with a fashion blogger doesn't have to be complicated. Whether it's promotion from an outfit post, an apartment tour, a lookbook, or a blogger party, these are all creative ways to promote your products with a prominent fashion blogger.
Remember, the less you make the blogger think about how to promote your product, the more likely they are to do it. By having an idea ready, you can make it easy for them to make a decision about working with you.
Need a little more help with influencer marketing? Learn more about creating brand evangelists>
About The Author
Shilpi Tomar in a content strategist for creative brands. Get more from her on Twitter and visit her site.