As an entire entity, social media as it is currently used is extremely useful in terms of reaching and influencing mass audiences. Through sharing, rating, and re-editing, social media is continually pushing a shift towards a joint sharing of all the world’s knowledge. In general, social media applications are entirely open to the public, and allow for anyone to participate. A specific example of a social media platform that has this open characteristic, as well as major influence in modern society, is Pinterest.
Pinterest, which is predominately used to create wish lists, save items for later, and plan outfits, is a social media platform that more fashion and retail companies should look into. With over 100 million active users, the potential reach that can be achieved through Pinterest is vast.
Additionally, Pinterest is a female-dominated social media application, and has significant influence on women, specifically in the United States. When choosing what professional clothes to buy, Pinterest influences 22 percent of all US women, and in terms of clothing for special occasions, it influences 28 percent. One fashion company that has strategically tapped into this market is online retailer ModCloth.
ModCloth Pinterest Photo of Skirt For Sale
ModCloth, an online retailer that offers women’s clothing from independent designers, has accrued a great reputation over the years, based on their fantastic customer service and copywriting. With their solid reputation as a driving force, ModCloth’s social media marketing strategy is equally as impeccable and strategic. With more than 2.2 million followers, the brand’s Pinterest has more followers than any of their other social networks, and rightfully so.
With consideration to what Pinterest is mainly used for, it is only fitting that ModCloth, a women’s fashion retailer, taps into a female-dominated social space that is basically made for the fashion and retail industry. Through strategic planning and posting, ModCloth has used Pinterest as a quick and relatively inexpensive way of marketing to its main fan base.
Predominately, the brand has created a “Trending on Pinterest” page that is a separate page on their site which highlights their most pinned items. Due to the fact that credit links are easily lost on Pinterest, ModCloth created this page to help shoppers track down the source of a certain clothing article or accessory. Additionally, each displayed item strategically has the “pin it” button beneath it, so that they have potential for users to spread the item throughout their network and onto others.
Along with that, ModCloth’s other Pinterest activity includes a separate page where their stylists curate and share full outfits that are “ModCloth Approved”, with each piece being from their brand, accompanied by the names of the items. Overall, ModCloth’s Pinterest strategy is based around two goals:
- Help consumers as much as possible
- Increase sales on their highlighted products
The key ideas to takeaway from ModCloth’s social media marketing strategy is quite simple; stay goal-oriented, deeply understand where and who the target audience is, and make sure to resonate with the concept that social media is a fluid sharing of knowledge and ideas. Incorporating these ideas into their strategy has seen successful reach, with their items all having thousands of reviews and tens of thousands of pins each, as well as the aforementioned influence it has on American women. Solely based on their strategic use of Pinterest, ModCloth has seen a significant rise in reputation and profitability, and has benefitted greatly because of it.
SHΛRP 
Firstly, that’s pretty eye opening how you talk about information constantly being manipulated and a shift towards a joint sharing of all the world’s information. I hadn’t ever thought of it that way but it makes plenty of sense, especially on Pinterest. Fashion companies can put up their clothing lines in a well ordered meticulous fashion, but it is up to the consumer to pin the items however they see best fit for the circumstances. This means that a company’s product must work in a variety of framings, and not just how the company wants to present the item. Do you think this shifting paradigm offers challenges that cause companies to strive to create better products?
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It really is eye opening isn’t it! Before writing this post, I hadn’t particularly thought of social media in that way either. Also, you’re definitely correct in how it relates to Pinterest; all fashion company’s products must work in various situations, and this is only heightened by the nature and difference of all of the Pinterest boards in the world.
To answer your question, yes, I absolutely think this shift offers challenges and pressure for companies to send better products to market. All in all, just as the industry has been for a long time, creating successful fashion products is all about understanding and segmenting your audience. Companies need to strive to produce pieces that are in-trend according to consumers, based around their target audience, and that can be used in various different styles, rather than just one are a couple.
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