Trend Article
● Written article on trends in contemporary media consumption and how these will shape the way you promote yourself
Currently there are many trends in which people consume contemporary media. These include fashion films, trend-forecasting websites and one of the main forms of contemporary media is social media forums. The use of social media has become part of our day to day life and is used widely across the world with the most popular forum being Facebook ‘with over 1,590 million active users, it holds an 18% market share’ (Dave Chaffey, 2016)
Social media has transformed the way we use the web, it has become more and more popular over the years and it is predicted that by 2018 the number of worldwide social media users will reach 4-5 billion, meaning over half of the world’s population will be utilizing this media, with 91% of retail brands using 2 or more social networking channels. Brandwatch.com stated ‘38% of organizations plan to spend more than 20% of their total advertising budgets on social media channels in 2015, up from 13% a year ago’ Although this statement is two years old it is still highly relevant as the use of social media is always on the rise.
Social media has now become a huge trend for self-advertising and promotion, with many up and coming fashion and fitness models, designers, make-up artists and entrepreneurs are now using this outlet to promote themselves in the industry, this is to get seen by their target audience and the general public, which is in order to gain status and increase potential clientele. Understanding and knowing how to create engaging content to promote yourself to a specific audience, and how customers consume media is important.
From researching the trends on social media, it is evident that if you are wanting to promote ourselves via a digital form, the wisest solution is to look into what people, in the same field as you, have previously showcased. This then enables a clear understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Statistics can be easily obtained through social media, i.e. – Likes, shares and comments on posts. By viewing these stats, you can see what posts gain the most popularity and interest.
Instagram, another popular social networking site, used as an online photo and video sharing service that enables you to upload images and videos to your account that you can use as a private account that only people you accept as a follower can view what you are posting or as a public account that can be viewed by just about anyone using the web.
Taking all of this research on board I have decided having an Instagram account for my brand, Fit.tee, will be a good way of interacting with potential customers and giving women who are interested in working out and fitness a chance to see what we have to offer them. I will use my Instagram account to post photos and videos of clothing we will be selling, competitions and general fitness related posts. I will use relative hashtags in order to get seen by a wide audience as well as reposting photos and a snapshot of my account on my other personal social media accounts in the hope of gaining more followers.
Another form of social media I have used in order to promote myself and my brand is twitter. I recently created the account to use alongside my Instagram page which has included some of my previous Instagram posts, new images, retweets and my own written posts. Twitter is used worldwide for both personal and leisurely use as well as professionally. It’s a great way to ‘get yourself out there’ and get seen by your aimed audience. Like Instagram, twitter is great for self-branding but I feel twitter gives you more of a platform to post and share while Instagram is more visual.
Setting up these social media accounts has already enabled me, in a relatively short amount of time, to connect with a growing audience who want to get involved in what I am sharing. I have received good feedback through comments on my Instagram posts, which shows that people are wanting to contribute their own opinions and ideas, further growing a community interested in the same things as me. This motivates me to carry on trying to source the best recipes and capture the best images to further inspire my audience and grow my following.
Other ways I may use to self-brand is through advertising in relevant magazines such as health and fitness magazines that are aimed at women, for example, women’s health, women’s running and slimming world magazine. These magazines are read by a large population of women every month, so this is another great way of getting seen by my target audience. As well as this I intend on opening up pop up shops around the UK. This is a much more personal approach for customers to get a feel of the brand as people will get to talk and get advice on products that suit and flatter them. As well as this the customers will be able to see first-hand the high quality of all of our products as well as being able to try on clothing.
As my brand is a women’s fitness wear brand I intend on creating a website to showcase and sell my products. The website will also contain multiple pages including an ‘about’ page which will explain who we are as a brand and what we have to offer as well as why we are unique in this industry. The website will also have a gallery page showcasing customer photos wearing our clothing with a short caption of how they felt when wearing our fitness wear. There will also be a reviews page where customers can give their opinion on our brand and products. As well as this we will have a page dedicated to health and fitness tips, including short exercise videos and healthy food recipes, this will be updated weekly. Along with a website I will also create business cards and posters to hand out to gyms across the UK in the hope their female customers pick them up and have a look at our brands social media.
As my brand is still up and coming I currently don’t have any income coming in from it. I will need money in order to have my products manufactured as well as being able to showcase these products in pop up shops I will need money to pay rent. In order to be able to afford to set up my business I will need to get sponsorship. I am hoping to gain this sponsorship from both small and well established gyms. For this the gyms will pay me to promote them on my social media, my website and on any of my promotional products.
Overall I intend on using social media pages to promote my brand and get seen by my target audience. These pages will also help me interact with my customers and reply to any questions they may have about my brand and products. I will start to promote my brand to UK gyms in the hope of gaining sponsorship. Once I have received this sponsorship I will then go on to set up my website and pop up shops to initially start selling my products in order to start gaining income from my brand.