WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO LAUNCH YOUR NEW COLLECTION?

You’ve spent months, maybe even years formulating the perfect product. People who are passionate about clothing are the ones looking to start off with launching their own clothing line. Fair enough! But, it is not only passion that yields you customers and profits. For businesses to be successful, all aspects of marketing, operations and retailing need to be addressed.

Is there a best time?

There is no one best time for apparel designers to launch their collection. It all depends on the type of clothes they make, the market dynamics and the competition. The time that you choose to market your product can ‘make it’ or ‘break it’. For example, if you are a manufacturer of t-shirts, then you would not want to launch your brand in winter or when an existing brand with much higher reach is launching its products. You will have to identify the gap in the market, take into account various festivals that take place and scrutinize the launch plan of your competitors in order to make your launch a success and worth remembering. Evaluation and planning is an essential part of creating brand identity because at the end of the day, you want to build a customer base and not just reap money out of your business.
To launch a clothing line, you need to first develop your brand to know why it exists and for who, create a digital media presence, find production facilities, create a sales plan and find investors. Following are the marketing strategies that will help you launch your brand to an extent.

1) PRE-LAUNCH GIVEAWAY

How can you create excitement among the customers for a clothing line? Organize a pre-launch giveaway to gain rapid exposure. This could be arranging competition on social media channels and giving out your clothes as a winning prize. Pre-launch give aways will help people recall the brand name and will get them talking about your brand.

2) BUILD A WEB PRESENCE

Customers are going to take a lot from your web presence. The kind of colors you have used in your brand logo, the layout and your fashion design aesthetics ranging from the quality of your product to clothing labels and price tags. You may want to create a look book or individual shots of the products in detail so that the potential customer can relate to your product. A website is a very powerful social media marketing tool without which you cannot broaden your customer base.

3) BLOGGERS AND INFLUENCERS

To launch your clothing line in the market, this strategy should be your topmost choice. Bloggers and influencers have the most dedicated and loyal audience who are willing to try anything on their recommendation. Choose fashion bloggers who love to dress up and are inclined to beauty and clothes. They are the ones who you can send an exclusive invite to your exhibition before the launch or send them free samples. This way they will recommend their audience your clothing brand which in turn, will result in exposure.