The Ultimate Marketing Checklist for Online Fashion Store's with a Small Budget

So you finally decided to launch your online fashion boutique; congratulations! You’re one step closer to finding success with your passion for fashion. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy and although your online fashion store may look fabulous, there are many additional steps needed before you experience a rush of sales flooding in.

Don’t be discouraged! With the right marketing techniques, you can take your online fashion store to the next level in as little as a couple of days; you just need a marketing checklist and that’s exactly what we have here for you today.

12 Steps to Building Your Fashion Brand on a Budget

Once you have your online fashion boutique all set up and ready to go, it's time to narrow your expertise in on the marketing. The best part? You don't need to spend a lot of money, if any at all. You just have to be willing to put in some time and effort for the first little bit. Trust us - it'll pay off. Here are the 12 steps to marketing your fashion store without much money.

1. Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Everything you do that pertains to your online fashion boutique should stem from a strategy. A content strategy will help you understand your audience better so you can narrow in on potential customers.

There are various aspects to developing a content marketing strategy, such as keyword research, analytics to follow to track your goals, creating a content calendar, etc. If this is not your expertise, it’s highly recommended to opt for a professional to create your content marketing strategy.

2. Produce Content Consistently

An excellent way to market your online fashion store is originally through content. With the right type of content, you can build your ranking with Google which will increase your rank on the search engine result pages when customers type in a related search. It’s also entirely free if you are a writer yourself and if you’re willing to commit to producing content consistently.

However, just any ole’ blog won’t work and it’s important to infuse your content with SEO tactics. Again, this might be another area that you may benefit from hiring a professional content writer.

3. Share, Share, Share

Everything you write must be shared across all of your social media platforms. Pinterest is an incredible platform that generates consistent leads, as it’s estimated that 80% of people go to Pinterest with the intent to purchase.

However, Instagram and Facebook are still marketing powerhouses and should not be overlooked. So, make sure you have all three of these platforms set up and ready for you to share your content and products across.

4. Engage With Your Audience

Speaking of social media, a key to marketing your online store is to spark interest in others. And what better way to do just that than with a genuine connection with your potential customers?

Start connecting with similar accounts on social media, commenting on pictures, posts and sharing content that appeals to your target audience. While it may seem like you’re promoting other people, you’re actually building your marketing potential while also branding your fashion store with the use of relevant content created by others. (Of course, you wouldn’t want to share other fashion store’s products).

5. Turn Your Product Pages into Masterpieces

Your product pages are the biggest selling feature. It’s where your customers are going to go to learn more about your clothing and fashion accessories, and it should convince them to make the purchase.

Since the first thing people will see when they go to your online fashion store is the picture, this is where a lot of your attention should go. Without great pictures, it’ll be hard to sell the product. Fortunately, when you purchase wholesale clothing from Mikaree, you can use our product photos which are clear, crisp and compelling. Although, it’s highly recommended to also take your own product photos to separate yourself from others while also branding your business.

Additionally, your product pages should have a clear description of the item you’re selling. Your customers cannot be left wondering or wanting more information. Again, when you purchase wholesale clothing from Mikaree, you are provided with all the information you need to make your products sell. However, it’s important that you take the information you need about the products and change them to make the descriptions unique and specific to your brand.

6. Make Use of Social Media Ads

Gone are the days where you have to fork over a fortune just to advertise your business. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and Instagram all offer promotion right through their websites and apps. The best part? You choose how much you want to spend.

Using social media ads can take some time to truly figure it out. So, create some ads on websites such as Canva and produce ads with a daily max of $5. Play around with keywords and demographics, as well as content and visuals and see what works for you. Once you find some ads with an excellent click-through-rate, increase your daily max.

7. Consider Youtube Videos and Podcasts

Creating Youtube videos and podcasts can be an excellent way to marketing your online store on a budget because all they require is your time, knowledge, and personality. If you aren’t too tech savvy, you may have to do some research about creating videos/podcasts but modern technology has made it really easy. These two marketing tactics take more time than they do effort, but it pays off in the long run and it’s not as difficult as you think.

8. Stay Current With The Trends

As an online fashion boutique, you don’t need us to tell you to keep up with the trends. However, we aren’t just talking about fashion trends. In order to find success online, you have to follow the trends of life – holidays, gossip, special dates, hashtags – you name it. The more you know about “the now”, the better your marketing strategies will be.

For example, you need to make sure you have an abundance of content prepared for the holiday season (gift guides, gift ideas, gift listicles, etc.).

9. Remember Your Customer’s Special Dates

Speaking of dates, it’s important to remember special occasions that are important to your target audience. For example, if you are launching an online fashion store that donates to mental health organizations, you’ll want to be well aware of dates surrounding National Mental Health Awareness Day, #BellLetsTalk in Canada, National Suicide Prevention Day, etc.

Additionally, you want to remember special dates for specific customers as well, such as the anniversary of their first purchase and their birthday. Don’t worry, it’s much easier to get this information than you may think.

In fact, all you need to do is require your customers to fill in their birth date when they make a purchase or sign up for your newsletter.

10. Build Your Newsletter Campaign

Another excellent way to marketing your online store when working with next to no budget is with a newsletter campaign. You can use free platforms, such as Mailchimp, install a pop-up on your website and design the template in a way that encourages your customers to sign up. For example, “Sign up for VIP deals and discounts!” is likely to find much more success than “Sign up.”

Once you have a newsletter campaign audience, start sending them newsletters on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. Just remember that your customers do not want to get spam mail filling their inbox on a regular basis. So, make sure all of the newsletters you send out offer something to your customers, whether it’s a discount, valuable information from your blog, style tips, etc.

11. Make Data-Driven Decisions

Your analytics are your best friend – and most platforms, such as Shopify, Wordpress, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook offer them to you for free. Get in the habit of reviewing your analytics on a regular basis so you can fully understand your target audience, as well as key data that can unlock doors to future success, such as cost of goods, advertising costs, popular posts, popular times to post, etc.

The more information you have that is driven by data, the better decisions you’ll be able to make. Think of it this way – you can either walk into a room blindfolded or with your eyes wide open, which one is going to get you to where you want to go faster? Of course, having your eyes wide open and knowing exactly what you’re walking into is the right option and that’s exactly what your analytics allow you to do.

12. Keep Going

You’re going to have bad marketing days and good marketing days; you’ll see a spike in traffic and then no traffic at all. It’s all a part of the process – trust the process. Building an online fashion store takes time and a lot of consistency. So, don’t give up! Keep going; continue filling your store with quality clothing suppliers that your target audience wants and market them all over the internet.

As a rule of thumb, it’s imperative to produce content regularly (a minimum of three blogs a week should be your strategy for, at least, the next year), take amazing product photos and post them everywhere, and interact with your audience daily. For everything else, simply follow this marketing checklist for your online store and you’re well on your way to trading in your passion for fashion into a full-blown success!