Photo by SheKnows.com
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week kicks off today in NYC, and designers will be showcasing their collections for Spring-Summer 2015 to buyers, retailers, celebrities—and consumers like us. With such a high=powered audience and viewership, you can expect social media to take a leading role in spreading new styles like wildfire before they’re even released in retail. But what this means for you, the website publisher, is that events—like runway shows—are no longer restricted to attendees. Get your pen out. We’re about to rock your content strategy for next week.
Connect With the Right Influencers
The lucky few seated along the runway can make us feel like we’re there. Brands, celebrities, and designers will be live tweeting the event, making sure you don’t miss a beat. Publishers like Vogue, brands like TRESemme, and designers like Michael Kors will keep you updated in real-time. What this means for you, as the publisher, is that the world of social media is your oyster. You can find influencers in your space, like we found them easily for fashion week, and you can be on top of your game with creating relevant content that speaks to the audience you’re building.
Connect With the Right Network(s)
Remember when Pinterest was the hottest sharing network for photos? Well, it’s still pretty hot, but not as hot as Instagram (at least for Fashion Week). While the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has an official account for you to follow, there tons of others that’ll give you the feeling of a coveted front row seat. Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, and Nina Garcia are excellent examples of Instagram power-users to connect with to get Fashion Week news hot off the presses.
Although Instagram doesn’t work the same way as Twitter (when it comes to links), it can still be an effective driver to your site. Fashion brands like Anthropologie do a great job of driving not only likes of their photos, but conversions to their blog from photos. You can do small things like include links in the “Bio” section of your Instagram profile or in your captions/comments.
I personally love Anthropologie! They share not only outfit inspiration photos but recipes and non-conventional uses for dishware. Another thing to learn from them is that although they don’t limit themselves to just talking about clothing; something for you, dear publisher, to think about during Fashion Week. If you’re not a fashion blogger, no problem! There are plenty of events, celebrities, styles, locations involved in the event that could be fodder for your next blog post or campaign to engage your audience with a current event. (Remember I told you to think of how you can leverage popular events for your own site engagement?)
So now you have Twitter and Instagram users to follow. But Pinterest, like we said, is still hot. With an estimated 40 million monthly active users, most of whom are women, this is the right network to be on for that audience. Connect with the right network in order to connect with the right audience.
Get the Timing Right
When it comes to events, timing is everything. Last year, we saw engagement with Fashion Week content peak the Monday of the week-long event. So get your content ready beforehand (hey, we’re giving you a heads up here), and capture some of that activity next Monday, September 8th!
How will you be engaging with content during Fashion Week?