The world of fashion content and e-commerce is a competitive space. As a fashion retailer, you need to pull out all the stops to differentiate yourself from the competition and make your offering as appealing as possible.
There are many ways you can do that, like producing the most stylish range possible, but you can’t neglect the very thing that will lure potential leads into your website in the first place. Advertising and copywriting.
As a fashion copywriting agency, we know first-hand what a difference the right words can make. Here’s everything we’ve learnt about creating great fashion copy, along with some great fashion copywriting examples.
Focus on your target market
If you think your target market is ‘everyone who buys clothes’ then you probably haven’t put enough thought into your brand.
Fashion tastes vary enormously between individuals – as do budgets. But you’re not trying to sell to everyone; you’re trying to sell to a very specific demographic who will love what you do.
So, if you’re not trying to impress everyone with your clothes, you’re not trying to lure everyone in using your copywriting either. Don’t be afraid to use the language, perspectives, and attitudes of your core market. If that means annoying or offending someone outside of your target demographic, cut your losses and move on.
You’re selling a feeling, not a product
Good marketing and copywriting tap into how a product or service will make its core customer feel. This is especially true of fashion – why else would we buy a new outfit other than to make us feel good about ourselves?
Are you selling to teenagers who want to display their individuality and uniqueness? To pregnant women who want to prove they can still be stylish? To business people who want clothes that make them feel powerful?
Until you can answer this question, your fashion content efforts will be doomed to fail.
So, how exactly can you sell a feeling? You’ll need to have your core demographic in mind and know how they speak to write with them in mind. A fashion copywriting service can help you with this.
Think about your brand
Successful fashion companies and designers don’t sell products in isolation – they have a consistent brand that overrides individual items.
Once you know your core demographic and the clothing they’re looking for, creating a brand with this in mind is the natural next step. What is the unique selling point of your company?
Then, it’s all about consistency. Create a document outlining your brand and use it to create the content for your social media, website, and marketing campaigns. You can also pass this on to copywriting agencies and contractors as you work with them.
Focus on mobile users
People are increasingly using their phones to browse the web, including making clothes purchases. Fashion retailers currently get 65.4% of their traffic and 57.1% of their sales from mobiles; this is set to increase further in the future.
How exactly are mobile consumers different from web consumers? For one, they prefer to consume information in shorter chunks. When writing fashion content, leave plenty of white space, write shorter sentences, and don’t beat around the bush.
As attention spans drop, this is increasingly important.
Choose images wisely
Good copy isn’t just about words. Selecting the right image can be just as – if not more – important. Pictures can light up our imaginations and influence our subconscious thoughts.
Remember how we said that your brand should target the aspirations of your target audience? So should the images you choose. If you’re selling to the teenager who wants to showcase their individuality, show a picture of a free-spirited adolescent stood on the edge of a cliff or in an abandoned building. For selling to professionals, you might opt for a shot in a big city or a smart building.
Just make sure your images are consistent with the message of your copy.
Bait, hook, sell
All brands dream of having a loyal following who will actively follow everything you do, but most your customers are unlikely to fall into this category. Instead, they will be casual leads who you must continuously convince and convert over time.
There are a few steps in the buyer’s journey, but ultimately it comes down to three key things. Baiting a potential buyer with something that will attract their attention, hooking them in by keeping them interested, and finally, making that sale by prompting them to take action. Sounds easy, right?
Let’s look at each stage in further detail.
To bait potential buyers, you need to give them something worth clicking on. Make sure each item you’re selling has a brilliant image and title. Plus, your webpage should look enticing – maybe have a special offer or discount.
Hooking your leads is about keeping them interested. To do this, your product descriptions should be appealing. Focus on benefits rather than features and keep the aspirations of your demographic in mind. Should you be emphasising price, style, quality, or something else?
Now for the obvious part: selling. If you’ve successfully baited and hooked your customer, this part should come naturally – but nothing is a guarantee until they head to the checkout and enter their card details. So, make the process as simple as possible with minimal distractions. If the customer has to spend even ten seconds trying to figure out how to view their basket, you could lose them.
The bottom line
As you can see, great fashion copywriting largely comes down to having a clear idea of who your target market is and making sure you send out a consistent message to them. As long as you can get this right and provide items the public wants, there’s no reason you can’t succeed as a fashion retailer.Of course, it’s a lot to think about when you’re already focusing on creating great products. If you need to outsource some of your copywriting work, we provide fashion copywriting you can trust.