Digital Marketing in Fashion

I would like to do Digital Marketing within Fashion and promote or run a Fashion Brands social media page. Fashion business today isn’t as traditional as it used to be with fashion shows and press releases. Today brands need to provide people with a two way communication system and ways to search and buy. In relation to my research on how to get started in digital marketing , I have discovered an online course on the University of Arts London website. The course provides you with insight and  knowledge about marketing your own business , building up a brand , and engaging with your customers providing creative online marketing strategies. Throughout doing the course you discover the crucial role digital marketing and social media actually plays in creating successful integrated marketing campaigns. It teaches you how to use the internet to its best promotional effect The topics include

• Digital marketing strategies
• Online branding concepts
• Basic principles behind using social media
• How to leverage social networks for social shopping tactics
• Introduction to fashion blogging
• Setting up an editorial calendar and online organizational tools
• Building and maintaining consumer relationships using online communities
• How to market your fashion business online
• Introduction into digital analytic measurement tools

The course has major outcomes and by  the end of the course you discover the main channels fashion brands can use to communicate with their consumers using digital marketing. It enables you to have discussed current trends in digital marketing and the future of the consumer. You understand how new existing tools enable customers to take a more active role in developing and branding products. Another key outcome is learning the importance of pricing in a successful digital marketing campaign and you also receive personal feedback from an industry expert on the assignments that you carry out.   Who is Digital Marketing for Fashion (Online) for This course is for people 18 and over and  will be incredibly relevant for anyone who works in Fashion and wants to learn how the industry uses this essential tool to connect with consumers, develop their brand, and drive profits. It will be particularly useful to you if you are considering launching your own fashion brand or fashion business, and want to know the best Digital Marketing strategies to employ. In the future I would love to launch my own fashion brand or business but in order to do that I need to work my way up and this course is great to give me an insight on digital marketing further. This could be something I do when I leave college to give me a basis on digital marketing  or after University to develop my knowledge further.   Why choose an LCF Online Short Course? The  online learning short courses allow you to experience London College of Fashion from home or anywhere else that you are. The sessions are fully interactive allowing you to communicate easily with the tutor at the same time as fellow students. Additionally all LCF Online Short Courses include;

• Live sessions with expert
• Lesson recordings
• Practical assignments
• Personal feedback
• VLE with course content
• Forums for support
• 3 months online access
• LCF Certificate upon completion

The course is 6 weeks long and costs £465.  All I would need to do to take part in the course is go to the UAL website , and purchase it. I retrieved all of this information from the UAL website UAL. (2019). Digital Marketing for Fashion (Online Short Course). [online] Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/fashion-communication/short-courses/fashion-marketing/digital-marketing-for-fashion-online-short-course-lcf [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].

case studies

As part of this assignment we have research and case study people who are already doing the job we aspire to do.

The first succcessful digital marketer I have come across is a man named Jeff Bullas. He is an entrepreneur , blogger and digital marketer. His blog infact aims to help educate businesses on the digital marketing landscape. He has been named the number one Global Digital Marketing Influencer by Onalytica and the number one Content Marketing Influencer by Appinions as well as many other achievements. After reading a few marketing books , he became passionate about marketing and began to write a blog. . Jeff found that blogging offered him many psychological benefits that helped him overcome difficult times in his life. And he was fortunate enough that his passion resulted in a profitable business.

Looking into Jeff’s blogs he gives some great tips on choosing a social media app for your business. He advice’s that your business needs to be everywhere and for consumers aged 16-24 , social media is the top method for research. The research I have conducted has helped me with my knowledge moving forward because of the advice he gives about managing a social media app for a business. I know now the best strategies to use if I was managing a digital marketing business of my own or if I was managing a social media page for another company.

In order to vary my research , I have spoken to a past student from college through Instagram who studied the same course I am currently doing and is also studying the course that I would potentially like to do at University. The courses I am interested in are Fashion Promotion and Advertisement and brand management. I asked her a few questions in order to try and understand what the course is about from someone actually studying the course rather than reading the overview on the University website. I asked her whether she finds the course interesting , is it competitive ?. I also asked whether she has done any work experience in relation to the course and if so , where did it take place ? The key thing I wanted to know was whether the course involved any aspects of digital marketing as this is the field I want to go into however preferably , digital marketing for a fashion brand.

 

 Luckily , she responded straight away and was really happy to help. Rather than digital marketing , she wanted to take a more creative route by doing the course and experimented with photography instead. This has given me an insight that the course won’t just be intense marketing but it will have a lot of creative aspects too it. She informed me that the course has been upgraded and they split the course into 4 different chunks. This means that you won’t be doing 4 assignments for example all at once.

In response to the question I asked about work experience , she told me that she is currently working as an e-commerce assistant for a vintage brand in Manchester. She helps with photography and web manager and this also gives her the opportunity to assist with new promotion ideas. I want to help promote and advertise brands within fashion and this tells me that the course will give me a good opportunity to do so. The course offers a placement year which she suggested that I do if I want to find my area within marketing.

Toni also informed me that the course is a lot more competitive now than it used to be. She got an unconditional offer with no interview so all that was required from her was a statement and a portfolio. I know from this that I also will have to prepare a portfolio in order to give me a better chance at getting onto the course. Throughout college I am going to make sure that I prepare some mood boards. She advised me to create some on trend forecasting and also if I have done any marketing myself which I have , see if there is a way of linking it in to what the course is looking for. The portfolio I need doesn’t have to be large , but it will help me stand out against others who are applying.

She advised me that Manchester Met also offers a business management course which would be good for me to look into since I am more interested in the marketing side rather than being creative however , she also advised that it is a break from intense marketing when looking at the more creative aspects. Speaking to a past college student who is currently studying the course I am looking into had definitely helped me understand the course more from a students perspective. I feel I now know how to prepare for the course and I also know to look into others as well that I may even prefer or may be better suited to the career I want.

Digital marketing

People use the internet for everything and the ever – growing popularity of the internet gives people the opportunity to expand their business online. I would like to have a career in digital marketing

What is a digital marketing professional ?

There is a rising trend in digitizing businesses so therefor , this has created a need for a new kind of professionals. These people have skills necessary to create content for creating effective advertising campaigns , blogs , web pages and social media postings. These are all aimed at connecting with online customers. They will have a strong positive influence on customers wanting to know more about a given product or service. The ultimate goal is increased sales for business and digital marketing is the most efficient way of getting to this aim. It is all about creating engaging written, graphic, and video content while staying up-to-date on the latest marketing technologies and social media.

Digital Marketing includes…

• online content developer
• social media marketing
• brand management

I carried out some research on the types of job duties digital marketing includes.

• Develop and implement SEO and PPC strategies
• Create and manage link building strategies, content marketing strategies, and social media presences
• Innovate and present new marketing platforms and strategies
• Develop engaging online content including clickbait, forums, videos, graphics, and blogs; monitor and analyse content success
• Forecast marketing campaign growth and ROI for marketing campaigns
• Manage email and social media marketing campaigns
• Contact, interview, and hire third party graphic designers, web designers, and videographers to create unique and engaging content
• Use Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and other relevant sites
• Drive traffic to company pages
• Develop and manage projects and team members, including delegating tasks, reviewing team member work, adhering closely to deadlines and to budget, developing and revising ideas, and implementing projects
• Keep abreast of new social media sites, web technologies, and digital marketing trends; implement these new technologies in developing campaigns and update current campaigns to include new information

I also carried out research on the desired skills wanted when trying to gain a career in digital marketing. People want someone with.

• Flexibility – Able to change what is not working to move you towards your project goals.
• Strong Organizational Skills – Able to manage several different campaign aspects at the same time.
• Sales Experience – Must have hands-on sales knowledge and expertise. Digital marketing requires being able to understand and anticipate changes in sales trends.
• Branding Experience- Must possess the ability to create an effective branding strategy.
• Knowledge of Content Writing Platforms, such as Word Press.
• Strong Social Media Skills – Must be able to create effectively, potentially ‘viral,’ social media posts aimed at increasing brand or product exposure. These types of posts are highly shareable among social media users.

I have also looked into the skills and qualifications needed when applying for a digital marketing job the majority of the time. You need a bachelors degree in advertisment or marketing and from 1-4 years of experience within marketing.

On top of these qualifications , its extremely important to be passionate about creating things , innovative and thinking outside of the box . I discovered that it is important to be patient with digital marketing when you are first beginning your career because it is sometimes a trial and error process. Its also important to have a social personality and the types of people who succeed are out going and good at interacting with clients.

Looking into the pay for digital marketing , it is a career that is consistently expanding. It can be broken down into several levels of responsibility and finance. Here are some examples.

1. Direct Marketing Associate – A DM Associate typically has less than ten years of direct marketing experience and averages a salary of $ 43,900 annually.

2. Direct Marketing Specialist – Average annual entry-level pay for a DM Specialist is $48,500.

3. Digital Marketing Manager – Entry-level DM Managers can expect a median annual salary of $62,100.

4. Digital Marketing Director – DM Directors average roughly almost double the annual salary of an entry-level DM Associate. $80,900 per year for an entry-level DM Director position is the national yearly average.

Hafizmuhammadali.com. (2019). Is Digital Marketing a Good Career?. [online] Available at: https://hafizmuhammadali.com/blog/is-digital-marketing-a-good-career/ [Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].

How to get started in Digital Marketing ?

Digital Marketing is a fast pace and constantly changing career field. There are currently several different ways in getting started with digital marketing. Doing some research , I discovered that Austin Paley, the current Director of Corporate Marketing at Blue Fountain Media, suggests that anyone interested in getting started in a career in digital marketing should take a standardized test, such as the Google Analytics I.Q. Exam, as a way to demonstrate to potential employers that they have a solid understanding of the industry.