Everyone can wear fashion regardless of their size.
But marketing for fashion brands has no one-size-fits-all strategy that can guarantee success in the market.
We've witnessed how the fashion space has evolved over the years. One of the most interesting changes is the growing attention to plus-size clothing and the active movement for body positivity.
In the past, plus-sized people have had limited alternatives since companies have mostly catered to smaller-sized customers. Women used to hide their bodies in boring clothes that did not flaunt their styles. However, as a response to the movement, there is an apparent need for apparel in all sizes.
Plus-size apparel brands specifically cater to shoppers who are not just seeking for larger sizes but also desire quality fabrics, fashion-forward styles & designs that flatter diverse body types.
The fashion scene is always a lively conversation. With the continuous updates in the fashion industry - like focus on men's fashion, subscription, and plus-size clothing - your brand should keep up and stay abreast to thrive.
If you're looking for inspiration for your plus-size fashion marketing, let your search end here.
Encourage body positivity
Body positivity isn't just a buzzword; it's an empowering movement that has opened opportunities for individuals of all sizes to embrace their natural curves.
Encourage your subscribers to accept their bodies just as they are. Promote a healthy body image as a brand to challenge the unrealistic and harmful beauty standards that have been perpetuated for far too long.
This fosters inclusivity and helps resonate with a wider audience. The following marketing tips can help:
- Feature diverse body types to reflect your brand's commitment
- Share messages that encourage self-love
- Provide tips for body confidence and self-care
- Showcase how your products flatter various body types
- Highlight some of the customers' real stories wearing your products
Shapellx celebrates diverse body shapes and sizes and promotes a body-positive mindset in their email newsletters.
In this email, the brand is able to effectively associate their shapewear to helping bigger-size women feel more confident in their shapes while affirming yes to an important question, "Can body positivity and shapewear coexist?"
Build a community
Creating a community for plus-size fashion involves recognizing the unique experiences and challenges faced by plus-size individuals, and therefore providing a space where plus-size people can connect, share, and support one another.
These communities demonstrate the power of collective voice where plus-size individuals can feel seen, represented, and supported.
Social media can be a great place to start building communities that goes beyond just amassing followers.
These platforms provide a space where meaningful interactions happen, fostering support that may be hard for some to find offline. For example, if you're struggling with a certain body image problem, you could ask your friends and family for advice, but there's no guarantee that they can give you the best answer if they have not experienced the same issue themselves. However, if you ask a social media community, you're likely to get perspectives from people who have gone through the same experiences.
Dia & Co fosters a community-centric approach.
Through their newsletter, the brand invites its subscribers to join their social media community with convenient CTA buttons that direct to their Instagram, Facebook and TikTok channels. On the same email copy, they promote their blog articles – spaces devoted to style, empowerment, and inclusivity.
Here are some additional ideas your brand can follow:
- Create a discord community & share exclusive promotion
- Share fashion & lifestyle tips through an Instagram broadcast channel
- Develop a podcast community discussing relevant topics
Tease new products and list down reasons to love them
Start marketing early and tease products the right way.
A great product launch should begin with a teaser campaign. Teaser campaigns are designed to offer glimpses of products and information to serve as clues prior to your launch.
They help build excitement, curiosity, and anticipation and ensure you have a solid group of people interested in what you’re offering. So when the big day comes, customers are excited about your product and ready to share or buy it.
Unveil your new products or collections in a gradual and intriguing manner. Sometimes, simplicity is the best way forward as exemplified by Universal Standard in this email.
Here, they give their subscribers ten (10) compelling reasons to fall in love with their upcoming product. They use a clean, simple copy that is enough to emphasize the positive attributes customers can get out of the teased product.
Are you launching a new product or collection soon? Try this strategy and start captivating your audience early.
Share styling tips
Being able to dress stylishly every day is a skill that can be difficult to master, regardless of body size. Luckily for you as a brand, you can use this wardrobe challenge to offer style advice and position yourself as an authority in the fashion space.
Help your customers master their wardrobe, accentuate their curves with confidence, and build a better outfit by rounding up expert style tips.
In this video advertisement from Universal Standard, they share tips for styling denim jeans for the holidays.
The video starts by mentioning a common issue – It is so hard to find jeans as a curvy woman. Then it goes on by revealing several styles you can wear and accessorize the jeans with.
Not only does it promote their jeans, but it also provides practical advice and highlights the versatility of their products: the ability for them to be worn in different ways and on special occasions.
Keep them updated about fashion trends
To stay updated with the latest fashion trends, people follow fashion influencers and vloggers on social media and subscribe to fashion magazines.
As a plus-size clothing brand, you too can be a go-to source of fashion inspiration.
You must stay current with fashion trends if you want to crush the competition.
EloquII keeps their subscribers informed about the latest trends and gives style inspiration through their emails.
They have a Trending Now section in their newsletter and relate the trend to their product lineup.
Through this, they establish themselves as a source of fashion knowledge and an innovator that adapts their offerings to the latest developments in style.
Mix and match bestsellers
Creating a mix-and-match product is a great way to let customers combine complementary items and increase your average order value. It provides a subtle nudge towards higher-priced products or additional items, thus improving your sales.
The best thing is that it's not just about selling products but making your customers happy. It’s about giving them the power to customize their shopping adventure.
Mix-and-match products are ideal for creating products like gift baskets, product bundles, and wine boxes. Impressively on this email, ModCloth is able to foster this technique and find cross-selling opportunities.
ModCloth promotes multiple bestselling items by mixing and matching them to create an outfit.
This approach offers customers style inspiration and shows outfit possibilities, which encourages them to explore the brand’s clothing pieces and find their dream combo.
Rank your bestselling items
Aside from suggesting mix-and-match, another way to showcase your bestselling products is by ranking your best products. This increases customers' desire for the products, creates a sense of urgency & FOMO, and is a way to show social proof.
Universal Standard promotes its bestsellers by creating a hall of fame for the year and ranking the winning items, a unique take on the usual bestseller roundup.
They also base their ranking on various metrics such as most recommended, highly viewed or rated, and most added-to-cart.
Maximize your products' impact by showing unique benefits
By underscoring your product’s unique benefits, you can show your customers how it’s different from similar products on the market.
Having tried several products with similar benefits and features, the uniqueness of your offer can help convince people to pick your product instead of your competitors.
Your unique value proposition gives you a competitive advantage.
This Good American’s ad features multiple individuals sharing why they love the product.
This approach uses user-generated content (UGC) while highlighting the features of their product.
Put your model front and center
As a company offering a plus-size clothing line, it is important to appeal visually to your target audience, given the fact that your products are essentially worn and therefore create a person's look.
The rise of plus-size modeling has challenged the traditional notions of beauty and opened up new opportunities for individuals of all sizes to embrace their natural curves.
Plus size models play a crucial role in allowing your products to speak for themselves.
ELOQUII adopts a direct and branded approach in their advertising.
This ad features minimalist style and music, thereby placing the product front and center using an effective model. The simplicity and absence of distractions contribute to the impact and effectiveness of the campaign.
As a plus-size fashion brand, strive to show the world that style and comfort has no size.
Take some learnings to proactively help your customers -- opening their closet and getting dressed should now be an elevating experience rather than a frustrating pursuit.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the important changes seen in the fashion industry?
The fashion industry has significantly evolved over the years with a growing focus on the less popular segment of the market like the plus-size audience and men.
2. How does the body positivity movement affect the plus-size industry?
As a response to the body positivity initiatives, fashion brands have redesigned their marketing campaigns to celebrate diversity in body types and recognize opportunities to influence desirable customer behavior.
3. What are the effective ways to promote your plus-size apparel?
Some of the effective ways to connect with your plus size customers and promote your products are: to empower your audience with body-positive movement; to build a community where similar audiences can actively connect, and feel supported; and to address customer challenges by sharing style tips and fashion trends.
