Monday, November 14, 2011

TIPS FOR AFRICAN DESIGNERS TO PROMOTE THEIR LABEL ( PART 2)

I am really glad that the first part of this post was well received and many of you could not wait for the second part. So the last time I only gave you 3 tips to better promote your label today I am giving you more tips and part 3 and Final  will be posted next week .

GET A CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ( or get a very popular fashion/style blogger to wear your item.)
You are in the business of making money however to make money  you have to invest a bit , or give a bit. Do you ever wonder how the big fashion houses like Chanel , D&G, or even H&M get people to buy their stuff ? Good marketing and celebs endorsements. Let's be real as a starter you probably have 99%chance of not being endorsed by a celeb in your first years but never say never. Start by your local celebrities and or popular fashion/style bloggers and work your way up from there .

USE POLYVORE , AND TUMBRL
I still can't believe that young African designers are not taking advantage of these free tools. Polyvore is a site where you can upload you designs for millions of bloggers to use as a  source of inspiration. By using Polyvore you are exposing your work to millions of creative minds. Check out these posts I made using polyvore  and I did must of them by uploading the pictures myself. It will be so much easier if the designs were there already . You can also create a tumbrl page and by doing so people will reblog your designs  for everyone to see.

SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK , TWITTER ETC...) 
 I cannot stretch this enough  use the social media outlets , after all its free. Open a 
Facebook and twitter account and interact with your followers. find out what they are liking this season, do surveys and more . Make sure you separate you personal account from your fashion account. We don't want to follow you thinking you will talking about fashion and come to find out you only talking about your personal business. Trust me I have seen this over and over again.

SPONSOR A GIVEAWAY
Doing giveaways is another great way to promote your work. The item you are giving away does not have to be super expensive however it should be  good enough for people to enter. The more people enter the more buzz you will get  for your fashion line. An easier way to sponsor a giveaway is to do it through your favorite magazines and blogs. There are multitude of them out there so make sure you choose wisely. An example of this is when Africa fashion week New york gave away 2 tickets to ciaafrique readers to go to one of their shows, For a week Ciaafrique readers were tweeting like crazy. Another great example is when  Delabique sponsored this giveaway 2 months ago. Create the buzz is the key.
If you are a young  African fashion designer , or even one that is already established  I hope these few tips will you get to the next level.  So any thoughts ?  Are you using any of these tips yet ?  if you think I forgot anything make sure you comment below.You can read the part one here.

11 comments:

  1. wow Thank you so much Assa, this is a great article. I also love your look on this pics. I am an emerging designer and I think that will start using polyvore today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been a regular visitor on polyvore for a while now...I cant believe it never occured to me to upload my bag pictures *hides face in shame*
    Good job Ciaa.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are craking me up girl !!! polyvore is such a great way to put your name out there .Make sure you tag them properly so that people ca find it

    ReplyDelete
  4. HEY GAL
    i love this post.As much as i am a blogger i am also an upcoming fashion designer and i have just had more insight into the fashion industry..plus African print is the trend now. and i have learnt which category i fall into..

    xoxo
    Gwada

    www.ligwascurvyworld.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanx for the article,will definitely be putting that into practice

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whoaa! Thank you so much Assa for those tips! I put my hand up: did not know Polyvore!!! Now, I DO! Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just made created my first Polyvore set! What an amazing tool: i think it will really help me showcase my creations next to high fashion products to demonstrate that what I do is of high standards.
    I guess, as a fashion designer, if one is serious about entering the "grown-ups" playground, you got to understand their rules and play by their rules: you need to demonstrate your product is strong, current, and meet the standards of the industry. Polyvore helped me towards that! Onwords and upwards! Thx Sis! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. @kankou Yes polyvore can make wonders

    ReplyDelete

Thank you all for taking the time to comment.