INtroduction
Something About Style seeks to create an inclusive, genuine space for people to learn about fashion and styling themselves. Fashion is, and should be, accessible for all. This space should feel approachable and take out the negative stigma fashion typically has and should empower viewers to use what they have to build their own personal style.
*Something About Style is a hobby brand created by me for my capstone project as part of my Digital Marketing course with CareerFoundry.
Project overview
Develop a brand in order to apply the learnings of my Digital Marketing course and gain hands-on experience with various marketing practices and techniques.
My goal at the outset was to consistently increase website traffic, followers, and engagement over a monthly basis.
The Challenge
- Create a hobby brand from scratch
- Apply each lesson from course to brand
- Expand each portion to gain full picture of marketing strategy
The Process
- Define the brand
- Write a targeted blog article
- Design social media strategy
- Explore paid marketing strategy
- Develop multi-channel marketing strategy
Skillset
- WordPress
- Canva
- SemRush
- Google Analytics
- Instagram Analytics
Define the brand
market research
create persona
guidelines
Content plan
market research
Competitor Research
- Fashion Jackson: an influencer based on Instagram with a website. Regular blog updates and links to recommended clothing items.
- InStyle: a large magazine publication with regular posts on Instagram and other digital platforms. Focuses on celebrity and aspirational style.
- Style Analytics: an Instagram based account looking in to and reporting on the data behind trends in fashion.
Key Insights
- Myriad of style-based brands and accounts
- Influencers make up most of the market; major, well-established publications also strongly represented
- Designer garb and more unattainable fashion is the predominant content
- Space for a more grounded, approachable, and affordable approach to style
Target Market
- Age: 28-43
- Gender: female
- Income: middle class
- Education: some college – college graduate
- Family Status: serious relationship (married or committed), no children
- Location: urban
- Channels: Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook
- Values: inclusivity, ambition, fiscal responsibility, sustainability
Key Insights
- Millennial women value inclusivity and are mindful of their impact on the environment
- Financial anxiety is a prominent characteristic; achieving financial stability is a major goal
- Seek to live life to the fullest while contending with financial limitations
Create target persona
maggie
31, female
demographics
- Family Status: serious relationship, not married, no kids
- Location: urban, non-coastal city
- Employment Status: full-time HR representative
- Income Level: middle/slightly upper middle class
Psychographics
- Likes: spending time with friends, travel, looking put together, finding ways to be creative
- Dislikes: wasting money on trendy items, poor quality clothing, stagnation, inauthentic people
- Hobbies: reading, travel, crafts
- Values: inclusivity, sustainability, fiscal responsibility
- Goals: professional and personal growth, live authentically, make choices that positively impact those around her
Challenges
- Limited funds/financial anxiety
- Wants to present self as ‘always put together’ but doesn’t want to buy new things constantly to be in style
- Lacks confidence and knowledge on how to put together outfits with items already in her closet
Brand guidelines
Based off market research and target persona, define how the brand will look, feel, sound, and interact with its audience.
Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Empowering everyone to embrace fashion on their own terms by offering an approachable space to learn, experiment, and confidently create a personal style that’s uniquely theirs.
Services
voice & Tone
How should it sound?
- Approachable & Friendly
- Enthusiastic & Animated
- Smart & Honest & Authentic
Look & Feel
What are the visuals?
Strikes a balance between inspirational images & the every day so the audience can see themselves as they are in the content as well as something to strive for.
Ensures visuals align with voice and tone; viewers should feel welcomed and encouraged by the images.
Colors
- Primary: licorice & cream
- Secondary: caramel
- Supporting: white
- Neutral with warmth, allows for audience to apply easily in their life and see themselves in the content
content pillars
- Education: clothing care, wardobe how-tos, quotes on style, what to invest in, what to skip, etc.
- Styling: polls on trends, outfit breakdowns, what to wear for specific events, styling aroudn statement pieces, etc.
- Personal Style: ‘real life’ application of Education & Styling
Image guidelines
- Photos, not illustrations
- Overall neutral in color and tone
- Predominantly brand colors
- Can be black and white, otherwise no filters
- Clean lines and look
- Should feel organized, yet personal and real
content plan
Based on research, persona, and voice & tone, brainstormed ideas on types of content and where to place it.
blog
Long Form Content
- Wardrobe staples
- What items are worth investing in
- Capsule wardrobe pros and cons
- Clean out closet how-to
- When/how to follow to trends and when to skip
social media
Short Form Content, Focus on Visuals
- Outfit flats
- Quotes on style
- Polls: love/hate trends, hardest part about styling an outfit, favorite jean shape
- Tips on wardrobe maintenance
- Outfit of the day
- One bold clothing item styled different ways
Writing a targeted blog article
Keyword prep
Keyword research
publish article
keyword prep
Service Category
- Lifestyle
- Fashion
SEO Goal
- Increase website traffic
- Get email sign ups
- Get social media followers
What problems are potential buyers trying to solve?
- Put together stylish outfits that feel authentic to her without spending more money
- Best utilize her existing wardrobe,
- Develop personal style without financial burden
What search habits might potential buyers have?
- Frequents Google, instagram, and Pinterest
- More likely to use mobile rather than desktop to search
- Likely to use voice search tech;
- More likely to come across my brand on social media,
- Has resources nearby (lives urban, close to stores),
- Used to immediacy, likely to want instant answers/help
- Professional employment: likely to not have excess of time and wants time to be used efficiently
Keyword research
Strategy
Determine which keyword phrases will be relevant to buyer persona and have high search volume (likely to be searched for frequently) and low keyword difficulty [KD] (measure of how hard it is to rank high in the search engine results).
short tail
Broad, general search terms of 1-2 words
- fashion hacks [volume 110, KD 24%]
- closet audit [volume 140, KD 6%]
- style inspiration [volume 260, KD 37%]
long tail
More specific, targeted phrase of 3+ words
- I have nothing to wear [volume 110, KD 24%]
- how to put together outfits [volume 70, KD 19%]
- help find my style [volume 90, KD 39%]
publish blog article
Blog Topic
How to conduct a closet audit: a step by step guide on taking stock of what you have and how to use it.
rationale
- Less popular search term, more likely to cut through noise and achieve higher SERP (search engine results page) ranking
- Pairs naturally with “I have nothing to wear” a much more popular search that still allows for high SERP ranking potential
- Aligns with major pain point of Maggie (buyer persona) of not knowing/lacking confidence to put together outfits from what she already owns/has in closet
- Closet audit = crucial first step in developing personal style (major goal for Maggie)
“I have nothing to wear – help!”
social media strategy
goals & metrics
platform selection
content Creation
goals & metrics
Identified overarching brand goals to define goals for the social media efforts and selected metrics to measure success of each goal.
brand goals
- Build awareness of brand
- Create an active community
social media Goals
- Gain followers on social media
- Increase engagement on posts
metrics
- Number of followers
- Likes
- Comments
- Shares
Platform selection: instagram
- Primary used by women
- 47% all adults use this platform (increasing from previous years)
- 59% adults age 30-49
- 49% adults with income level 70k-99k
- 55% adults with education level college+
- Best for visual content- photos and videos
- Engagement is simple and easy
The audience on Instagram is predominately the audience I’m targeting and is the platform where my target audience hangs out. The type of content I’m looking to create is more visual which is optimal for Instagram and what the users seek out. Additionally, Instagram makes engagement easy for users leading me to believe I can grow the audience and community organically.
content creation
Created templates for each content pillar that allowed for flexibility with content while keeping the brand’s look and feel consistent.
Set a basic schedule and content calendar to maintain regular posting to promote engagement.
quote sample (post)
outfit formula sample (post)
education sample (post)
Poll trends template (story)
outfit breakdown sample (story)
new post template (story)
basic Schedule
Monday: Education
Wednesday: Styling
Thursday: Personal Style (story)
@Something_About_Style
paid marketing strategy
exploration
paid marketing funnels
ad mock-up
exploration of paid Marketing
Benefits
With the goals of my brand focused on building awareness and engagement, paid marketing would help increase the reach my brand has beyond solely organic means. Increasing the audience that is exposed to my brand would in turn drive more people to my Instagram account and blog. By placing my brand in front of the target audience, rather than waiting for them to come across it organically, I can reach more people.
Social media Ads
Place visuals (images, image carousels, videos) in the feeds of the targeted audience (women age 25+ inurban areas with interest in fashion) to increase awareness of the brand.
Ads can be crafted for each stage of the funnel to gain awareness, promote consideration to join community, and finally converting to following the account and actively engaging with the Instagram content.
The platforms utilized would be Instagram and Pinterest as these are the platforms most used by Maggie.
Partnerships
Something About Style could partner with influencers followed by Maggie to demonstrate our value and relevance. By partnering with someone who has a larger following/reach than Something About Style, we will increase our brand’s reach and direct a larger audience to our brand.
This tactic leverages established accounts and the typical operations of Instagram in order to bring more of an audience to the brand.
awareness
Platforms
Metrics
- Reach
- Impressions
- Profile Visits
Desired Actions
- Visit profile
Content Ideas
- Image post of outfit formulas
- Image carousel highlighting tredns and applications
consideration
Platforms
- Display
Metrics
- Followers
- Likes
Desired Actions
- Follow the account
- Like a post
Content Ideas
- Video showing quick rotation of multiple outfits on one person “Learn to build your style with what you have!”
- Image carousel quiz on which items are an investment and which are a bargain “What’s worth the price tag for you?”
conversion
Platforms
Metrics
- Comments
- Shares
- Engagement Rate
Desired Actions
- Share
- Comment
Content Ideas
- Image of outfit formula with missing pieces “We can help you fill in the gaps”
- Video of clothes being tossed out of a closet “Nothing to wear? We can help.”
Ad mock up
Need help planning your outfits?
We can help you fill in the gaps! Confidently put together outfits with what you already own. Share with a friend and follow for more! #PersonalStyle #OutfitPlanning #Closet
multi-channel strategy
data analysis & recs
Full Funnel Goals & Metrics
Customer Journey
consistent storytelling
Data Analysis & recommendations
the goal
- Analyze the performance of the blog article and Instagram account
- Perform data correaltion analysis to identify relationships between the two channels
- Draw conclusions to outline a full funnel, multi-channel marketing strategry for the brand
the process
- Used Google Analytics to pull data of blog views
- Used Instagram Analytics to assess each posts’ performance
- Imported each data set to Google Sheets to conduct correlation analyses
key insights
- Limited data (only one blog article and a handfull of Instagram posts) meaning the data is most likely not statistically signifcant
- Organic Social draw-backs; creating an organic social media account from scratch requires a long time and consistent posting to build up an audience and following; this project was done in just a couple months, not quite enough time
- The data analyses still prooved helpful and provided insights for optimization and direction to move forward
Channel performance
Blog Article
- Total Views: 52
- Active Users: 37
- Views per Active User: 1.41
- Key Insights: users are reading and returning to the content meanign it resonates with the target audience; more content is needed
Instagram Grid Posts
- ‘Education’ content proved most popular (Likes: 16, ‘Styling’ recvied 4 total)
- Followers stayed consistenyl at 31, no single post resulted in new followers
- Most recent post achieved largest reach (164 vs. 21 average) but lowest engagement rate (7.31%)
- Key Insights: content should be posted regularly to build on momentum; future posts should focus on ‘Education’ content; CTAs (calls to action) should be included to make desired action clear
Instagram Story Posts
- Reach grew over time
- Profile vistis increased over time (from 0 to 2), but no new followers were gained
- Poll engagement is hard to measure after the fact as Instagram only saves data of likes, replies, and shares
- Key Insights: content is reaching people but not successful in moving them to engage; regular and consistent posting is key to growing a following and increasing engagement
Correlation analysis
organic social & Blog Views
Key Insights
- As Instagram’s reach increased/spiked, so did blog views
- Instagram has a larger audience and helps bring attention and viewers to the blog
Recommendations
- The Instagram profile does have a link to the blog, but no posts direct the viewers to that link; making an effort to connect the two would result in more traffic for the blog
- Mask URL for blog on profile to align with brand
- More content on both platforms will benefit both
Impressions & Engagement Rate
Key Insights
- As impressions decrease, so does engagement
- Impressions sharply increased in first week of March, but engagement rate declined
- More impressions do not always lead to higher engagement rates
Recommendations
- More impressions are helpful in increasing engagement rate, but it’s more complicated
- The content needs to be engaging on its own, and the Instagram account needs to have a wealth of content so that as new viewers are reached and exposed to the brand, there is something compelling them to stay
full funnel goals & metrics
Navigating life’s intricate fabric, choices unfold paths to the extraordinary, demanding creativity, curiosity, and courage for a truly fulfilling journey.
customer journey
Navigating life’s intricate fabric, choices unfold paths to the extraordinary, demanding creativity, curiosity, and courage for a truly fulfilling journey.
consistent storytelling
Navigating life’s intricate fabric, choices unfold paths to the extraordinary, demanding creativity, curiosity, and courage for a truly fulfilling journey.
reflection
What went well?
Getting to build a brand around something I love and find endless fascination with was fun and helped make an overwhelming project feel attainable.
Defining how a brand looks and feels and by extention creating the content is where I shine. Once I had done the research and identified my target persona, setting up brand giuidelines went smoothly. As a result, crafting content that fit with the brand was intuitive.
Having a well-thought out brand and clearly idenitified audience, creating various marketing strategies made sense. I found I was able to adapt depending on the channel quite seamlessly.
I leaned on my personal network for support. When I launched this brand, I sent the word out to friends and family who in turn read the blog and followed the account. I even had a friend share a post to her sizable following- this accounts for the major jump I had in reach for my 5th post. Leveraging an existing community can help build a new one.
what didn’t go well?
Being a novice meant I had a lot of trial and error. One thing that is glaringly obvious is how much work it is to maintain and manage an organic social media account. Given that this project was undertaken during a full-time course meant I was unable to devote the necessary time and energy to the Instagram account. The consequence of this was that I didn’t have a copious amount of data to analyze. While I outlined modest awareness-based goals, I still fell short of my target metrics for likes, comments, and shares.
I was also on a budget meaning I could not put in to practice the paid marketing strategy I outlined. It is unfortunate that I was not able to test this strategy, nor make adjustments to optimize the strategy.
Mostly I struggled with making a brand that, although real, was not a business. Defining what a conversion looked like for this brand was a challenge. Focusing on awareness for the majority of the project meant that when it came time to make a full funnel, multi-channel strategy, I had to go back to drawing board and readjust what I wanted this brand’s goal to be.
Future Steps
To continue this brand would require more consistent posting of content both on the Instagram account and blog articles. The data I was able to collect leads me to understand my audience prefers educational content- moving forward, I would focus on this type of content.
I would continue to find ways to leverage the network I have personally to help build the community of Something About Style (ex. posting on my personal account and asking friends to do the same).
I would also take steps to regularly plan out content on a monthly basis and stick to a schedule in order to keep the posting consistent and with purposeful frequency.
Conclusion
Since I began this project as a true marketing beginner, I learned continually as I progressed. Now that I have this experience and knowledge, I feel I’d be able to move forward with this brand with the outlined strategy. I now have the skills to think across platforms. I can keep big picture goals in mind while focusing on crafting optimized content for specific platforms. Knowing now all the aspects that feed in to a full funnel, multi-channel campaign gives me an ability to act strategically for all projects moving forward.
megan kalan 