‘How to Sell Your Brand’ was the latest in a series of online seminars under the N17 Creative Callings business scheme, supported by the Mayor of London and the European Union. The session attracted twenty-eight participants all at various stages within their own businesses. Held on Friday 17th April 2020, CEO Jenny Holloway and industry expert Jax Johnson paired up for the in-depth 3-hour session.
Jenny Holloway began the session with some very honest and insightful advice based on her own experiences as well as using examples of stories from other brands that she has worked with such as Finery London. She discussed how having your own business will take over your life, you really have to have a passion and a drive to succeed and that it’s a level of commitment that doesn’t suit everyone. She talked about being nimble and adaptable, keeping on track of what is going on in the macro and being reactive to what sells, consumer demand and industry changes.
Other key areas Jenny covered included; rolling ranges, extending the product life cycle, USP – what is your brand story, understanding quality, knowing your target market and who is your core customer. Half way through the session Jax Johnson took over the seminar with some excellent information on making the most of the web, email marketing and social media.
She talked about website design, functionality, bounce rates, regularly posting topical content, design consistency, tone of voice, related links and regularly checking your website works on all browsers. In particular ensuring functionality on mobile phones as these are increasingly being used to browse and buy. She also touched on Google analytics to understand your audience – their likes and dislikes and focusing on what works.
Moving on to social media she discussed how to make the most of these free marketing tools by analysing your audience and working on the platforms they use. She discussed regular posts, building up an audience, and the increased popularity of short videos e.g. behind the scenes of making a garment or working on a fashion shoot.
Feedback included:
“The Finery case study was really interesting, as well as hearing about the speaker’s own experiences. I was familiar with all the social media strategies, but it was useful to review them in this way.”
“I learnt from the practical examples and that video marketing is the best form of marketing.”
“The speakers were really good to listen to and actually being online was really useful because we could never get to Fashion-Enter for their workshops in time as we were often out of London.”
“I found the slides really useful. Sometimes when people just talk it doesn’t all go in, so to have the slides up helps for the information to be digested.”
“The online marketing module was all new to me. Analytics and website optimisation, video marketing as a key tool, CTA, mobile as the primary device.”
“Lots of quality and practical nuggets of info peppered the session; such as the hallmarks of garment quality and how this relates to your brand placement in as far as knowing what your potential market will expect and where that will place you on the pricing scale. The smart directive to focus on testing out and demand first, rather than sinking capital without this necessary R&D (fast and nimble, as opposed to fast and loose), which also links to ratio ordering.”
“All the personal experiences and tips shared with us were really good. It makes it easier to “picture” the information.”
“I enjoyed the part about how Finery came about. This was very useful to me because I loved the idea and have been thinking how to standout in the saturated market.”
The N17 Creative Callings programme targets creatives working and living within the London postcode area of N17, the two-year programme is supported by the Mayor of London and the European Union. To find out more click here.