Four Fashion Brands that Use Instagram to Their Advantage

Fall is arguably the trendiest season. Whether through the warm colors adorning every outfit or the variety of cozy sweaters to cuddle up in, brands know how to bring fall fashion to the forefront of a consumer’s mind. Even though designers are the true talent behind these trends, the fashion industry relies on PR professionals to showcase their designs to the public. What better way to promote a clothing line than through visually simulating graphics? To identify what makes some brands more successful than others, here is a look at four brands who are using Instagram to their advantage this fall:

The first retail brand that has been on its social media “A” game is Old Navy. Its Instagram (IG) account has racked up nearly 900 thousand followers. Old Navy’s high volume of followers stems from its consistent posting. The brand posts daily, sometimes even multiple times. Along with its consistency, Old Navy keeps its captions short and sweet. It understands that IG is for viewing pictures and that users will give most of their attention to an image rather than a description. Because its fall collection is both trendy and inexpensive, Old Navy easily promotes its clothes through IG.

Coming up close behind Old Navy is Gap Inc., which has reached a little over one million followers. Just in time for fall, Gap Inc. has launched a campaign using the hashtag #DoYou. This campaign takes a deeper look at the models and the clothes they are posing in. Instead of keeping the models’ names out of the pictures, Gap Inc. includes their IG handles and offers a quote on how they “Do Gap.” This gives the models a chance to say why they dress the way they do and what makes their fall style unique to them. Not only does this give Gap a unique way to advertise its clothes, but it has also most likely brought more traffic to its page.

The next fashion brand on the list is Forever 21. Besides the fact that it has perfectly priced clothes for a broke college student, Forever 21 is “falling” into more IG followers by the second. With a whopping number of 11.6 million followers, this brand is definitely doing something right. Besides posting on IG daily and keeping its captions simple, Forever 21 also uploads a variety of photos. Its photos not only consist of models wearing the brand’s clothes, but also fun graphics, exclusive deals and much more. The company’s collection of different photos reflects its fashion designs, which all have their own unique style. Forever 21 is loved for its variety of clothing and reflecting this aspect through its IG account seems to be a bullet proof plan for the brand.

Similar to Forever 21, H&M offers millennials a place to shop that is affordable yet stylish and of course, their IG does not fall short of those same expectations. H&M offers its 17 million IG followers a way to view what it has in stores without having to actually leave their homes. Although the brand does not excessively post, it gives users a look at common fall hues and other popular trends. H&M’s IG gives both its followers and all IG users a more personal look into its line by adding short videos of behind the scenes footage. Even better, the brand currently has celebrities wearing its clothes for its new fashion line campaign. Through this campaign, called #KENZOxHM, celebrities pose for a photo or two and then H&M records them talking about why they love fashion or how they model. Since it has one of the top followings among fashion brands, there is no doubt that H&M’s celebrity tactic is working. 

​To wrap it all up, Old Navy, Gap Inc., Forever 21 and H&M all have noteworthy IG accounts. If you hope to have a career in social media or aspire to have skills in this area, keep in mind the different tactics that these fashion brands have utilized. By posting once or twice a day, keeping the captions simple, or executing a campaign, your brand can have the opportunity to reach millions of followers like these impressive fashion accounts.

By: Heather Tidwell