As a fashion blogger, you’ve no doubt noticed how hard it is to stand out. It’s a very competitive field, and that means being prepared to put in the work to build a blog that’s going to stand out from the rest! You have to be able to put together content that tells people things from a different perspective.
While the world of fashion can feel like it has a billion commentators, not every idea is as clearly expressed as it could be. This is where you can come in. Yes, the fashion world can be a frustrating and difficult experience. And yes, it can be rather challenging to get yourself noticed, but it is by no means impossible.
In fact, one of the best ways to work as a fashion blogger is to collaborate with brands. Naturally, brands want advertisement so if you can give them an incentive to work with you, then you can exponentially raise brand appeal and performance far higher than it is at present.
If you would like to collaborate with brands, then, here are my top tips on how you can get started.
Becoming an influencer & using influencer marketing
One of the most powerful tools that you have at your disposal as a fashion blogger stems from your ability to successfully influence people and to get them to see your point of view. That can be hard to do, but influencer marketing is, without doubt, one of the most effective ways for you to grow and improve the way that your business works.
Most people, though, will be rather put off by the idea. However, in the fashion world, everyone is an influencer in their own way. Isn’t that the point, after all?
Influencer marketing doesn’t mean you need a huge following either – that is one of the most common misconceptions of the idea. You don’t need thousands of followers; you just need enough people that actually act on what you say and who trust your influence and understanding of the fashion world. So, to help you keep that on the go, you need to move towards becoming an influencer starting from today.
You could also sign up for platforms online that help you to work with brands too. If you’re one of the UK fashion bloggers out there, there are so many ways to start getting yourself noticed and working with the brands you’ve always wanted to.
Getting brands’ attention
However, you need to be able to draw the attention of the companies you want to partner up. You need to focus the companies’ attention on you before you can collaborate with brands and make any meaningful impact.
To start off with, your blog has to look very stylish. Brands are unlikely to work with someone who is using a very generic look or who is using a basic WordPress design. Instead, you should look to find something that helps to shine your business in a more positive, optimistic light.
Also, when you wish to collaborate with brands, post about them on social media – about how much you like them – and then follow it up with your post that promotes something they are doing or selling. This makes it easy for the brand to pick up on what you are saying and then check out your fashion blog, which will make them more likely to interact with you themselves.
If the brand contacts you first, you need to act on that interaction immediately. Choose to work with the ones that have a good correlation and thematic fit with your fashion blog. The closer they are to your fundamental ideas, the more likely your branded partnership will be a success.
Contacting brands
That being said, what if the brand does not contact you first? When you extend the hand of contact to a fashion brand, you expect them to get back to you. However, this is like a job interview; they might get so many replies that you can slip through the net, or they can simply forget to have a reply sent to you. Firstly, avoid taking it too personally; most of the time, it’s an accident or they are simply too busy to assist otherwise.
Start off by searching their website for the brand email and contact details. That is a decent starting point. Avoid trying to introduce yourself via social media, though. While it may be good for working with the brand and advertising your partnership, trying to get them to check you out via there can feel a touch informal.
Now that you have a means of contacting said brand, if you want to collaborate with brands in a professional manner, I’d recommend that you now take the opportunity to get in touch with them with what is called a “pitch email” which can be a very strong and effective way to get them to pay attention to you.
You’ll need:
- A clear explanation of why you love their brand and why you think your fashion blog is a good fit for them.
- How you relate to the brand and the personal or professional reasons that pull you towards them.
- A clear call-to-action to feel like responding to you is going to be a worthwhile exercise and why they should consider doing so.
Give them a media kit, too. This should give them ideas about site visitation rates, performance analytics, user information about social media and anything else that you can feel makes a good sell for your business. At the very least, tell them how many unique visitors per month your fashion blog is getting; it’s a rather fine way to start making your point to those who are reading your pitch.
Give them one week to reply, and if you do not hear back from them, send them a follow-up e-mail within that week. If they still do not reply, then it might be time to move on. Some brands just won’t be interested, regardless of how natural a fit you are.
Don’t stress
As you can see, there’s a fair amount that you can do as a fashion blogger to collaborate with brands and to capture their attention. Your branding work takes a lot of effort, of course, but it is by no means impossible.
If you use the above ideas, you should find it much easier to make a positive and lasting impact on the fashion world. Visibility of your blog takes a lot of work, of course, but it is by no means impossible!
