How to launch a clothing brand online in 2024?
Many would-be entrepreneurs are trying to launch their own online clothing brand in 2024. However, it is estimated that 90% of clothing brands created end up failing. Launching a clothing brand may seem rather easy at first glance. And yet, it's probably one of the most difficult markets to grasp. In this article, Zeyna Agency takes a five-step approach to elucidating the most important points to bear in mind when launching a clothing brand on the Internet in 2024.
Stand out from the gigantic competition
It's an extremely competitive business, as you already know, and you certainly didn't come to this page to hear us harp on all the negative aspects of this sector. No, you haven't. But it's necessary to be aware of these aspects in order to tame them and grow your clothing brand. Thousands of brands are launched every year, as you can see from social networks such as Instagram and TikTok. If you take a look at these companies a year later, unfortunately not many of them have persisted. So you realize that it's necessary and vital for your clothing brand to stand out from the competition. What's your target market? What's your universe? The first step is to target a specific segment of the population so as to adapt your products and marketing.
Draw up your digital communication plan
A digital communications plan is an essential tool for ensuring your brand's visibility. You need an online presence to guarantee it. This digital communication plan will encompass a whole range of tools and actions to implement. Like choosing your different distribution channels (e-mail, social networks, press, etc.), establishing a content and editorial schedule for your social networks, the type of audio, visual or audiovisual content you're going to create. Master design tools such as Canva and the basics of social networking is essential. However, we don't recommend taking on a 100% homemade digital communications approach. It's essential to team up with a specialized marketing and communications agency to guarantee your visibility over the long term. This is our expertise at Zeyna Agency. We handle digital communications for fashion, luxury and beauty brands.
But be careful when choosing your social networks. When you want to go everywhere, you can unfortunately end up going ... nowhere! The luxury, textile and fashion industries tend to be more present on digital platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and Instagram. Meta's Business Manager tool will therefore be one of your allies in establishing your digital communications plan and targeting your audience in the right conditions. However, only you or your marketing agency know which platforms to target.
A website optimized for SEO and user experience
UX Design and SEO: these are terms that will surely become more and more familiar, while for others it will be a total void.
In the first instance, UX Design refers to the user experience of your sales platform. UX Design includes the visual, interactive and intuitive aspects of your platform. Whether you're selling your clothes on your website (remembering that Shopify is the best platform for selling your luxury brand products), the user experience is not to be neglected. Don't forget that, whether online or at the point of sale, it's a user experience every time. Your future customer has arrived in your environment to live a user experience. Your platform therefore needs to be designed in such a way that everything is easily understood, clear, accessible and attractive. UX Design must follow a path so that the user arrives at the point of purchasing your garment without any obstacles in the way. If you're not comfortable with this skill, a specialized marketing agency like Zeyna Agency is just the thing. It's a real skill that's increasingly in demand as brands realize that UX Design plays a major role in the branding process
And secondly, SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This refers to all the technical aspects of your site or platform that you need to work on to ensure that search engines like Google list you in the first search results for your sector. Your digital sales platform must be technically perfect and high-performing to remain competitive. If this isn't already clear, here's an example:
Example: You have launched your own brand of dresses, 100% made in France, with a high-end marketing positioning. Your most frequently purchased item to date in your physical outlet is a floral maxi dress. On the internet, however, no one buys it from you. And when you Google "Dress made in France", none of your website's pages appear on the first page of Google searches. Well, your site has technical SEO problems. It turns out that you call in a marketing agency to carry out an SEO audit of your site. When you retrieve the SEO Audit you realize that the product page for your floral maxi dress contains various SEO problems such as no meta description, no H1 title tag and a lack of consistent text content. These are SEO problems that will plague your site's SEO, that search engines don't like and so your site will always remain invisible if these problems haven't been fixed.
Elements such as page loading speed, error correction, mobile readability and visual quality have a direct impact on the user experience. Poor technical configuration can also negatively affect SEO. If you want to solve these problems yourself, you'll need to understand how to do so, either by taking a training course or by calling on our expertise in the field. (Here are our contact details if needed)
Balancing online store and blog
To launch your clothing brand in 2024, your site/platform must be perfectly adapted to UX Design and SEO. But there's also something at stake for the development of your brand if your sales platform isn't structured according to its two compositions: its structure must be composed of an online store part and a blog part. This is the most complete offering. The store will present your catalog and facilitate sales. The blog section will provide information and reassurance, while increasing your search engine optimization through content and organic keyword positioning. (In our previous example, a blog article on current trends in long dresses would be perfect). The blog will communicate and educate your visitors.
It's therefore essential to take care of structuring the site into two parts, and to write regular blog posts related to your articles and the keywords for which you want to rank well on search engines. All this can also be outsourced to a specialized agency like Zeyna Agency.
And last but not least, keep innovating
How can you have a sustainable business if you don't innovate? For the online fashion industry, innovation is essential and must be part of your development strategy. Your brand must be perceived as a life project, with constant work and questioning. Whether in your communications, your marketing or your development, you need to innovate to stand out from the crowd and continue to share your values. We're seeing this more and more: clothing brands understand today's societal issues, and are going the extra mile to stand out from the crowd. It's worth noting, however, that the environment and inclusivity within clothing brands remain two non-negligible pillars in their development strategy.
To conclude, here's what you shouldn't overlook
So now you've got the knowledge you need to launch your clothing brand in 2024. With 2023 almost over, you need to be aware that competition in the online fashion sector is high and that you need to stand out from the crowd. You need to draw up a communication plan with a strong digital focus, and make your sales platforms technically perfect so that search engines highlight them. You'll also understand that a store and blog section is a good way of reassuring and communicating with your future customers, while gradually improving your ranking on your most sought-after keywords. Last but not least, innovation is essential if you are to continue to gain visibility while remaining true to your mission and values.
And if you're looking for a specialized agency to support you in all these endeavors, Zeyna Agency is the expert in luxury, fashion and beauty digital marketing. Don't hesitate to contact us directly using the contact form.
Written on November 14, 2023 by Antoine Sanières, Web Editor at Zeyna Agency
