How to Market a Fashion Show
Fashion shows expose new audiences to your fashion brand, generate interest and encourage sales. Market your fashion show using marketing techniques designed to target an audience likely to want to purchase your clothing. While establishing the correct target market is key to the success of your marketing campaign, marketing strategies implemented before, during and after the show are also essential.
Determine the audience you are trying to reach with this fashion show. Know their demographic characteristics such as age, education level, income level and ethnicity. Also know psychographic information about them, such as what are their hobbies; what types of stores they frequent; what forms of media do they enjoy. This information will help you determine which advertising vehicles you should use. For example, if you know your target audience is 18 to 24, enjoys digital media and consumes media via mobile the majority of the time, advertising in digital publications or social media would be more likely to reach your audience than print newspapers.
Choose the marketing tactics you want to use to promote your fashion show. Your marketing mix should help you achieve your marketing goals, which may be to increase brand awareness or encourage RSVPs for your fashion show. If you have an invite-only show, marketing is still important, but it will be a very targeted focus on the specific individuals you invited. The marketing mix for an invite-only fashion show may include: email marketing, direct mail, phone calls and direct social media marketing. Even if you have an invite-only fashion show, promote your event to the press and some members of your broader target audience to get people talking about your brand.
Host a press conference or press junket the day of the show for additional exposure for your fashion show. Leading up to the day of the event, invite members of the local press, journalists and local fashion bloggers to attend a short question and answer session before the event and give them press passes to the show. Consider inviting local college students interested in journalism or fashion to your show. During the show, promote your website address and social media profiles and tell people where they can purchase the fashions being displayed. Encourage people during the show to share pictures and comments about your fashion show on social media and tag you in posts. Collect the email addresses of everyone who attends your show in order to follow up with them later.
After your event, continue to market your brand while the show is fresh on the minds of the attendees. Schedule an email to go out the morning following your event and encourage people to purchase the fashions they saw at your event online or in specific local stores. Consider asking event attendees to submit a short survey about your show, fashions or brand. Create the survey with the goal of giving you insight you can use to improve your products or marketing in the future.