I have to admit, when it comes to social media I can become quite the nerd. The day that Facebook updated their insights was single-handedly one of the best days of my life. When you take the time to think about all that social media is capable of doing, it is really quite remarkable. Today I want to focus on an area that social media is impacted big time: fashion. Yes that’s right, I said it, social media has made a huge impact in the world of fashion… bloggers.
The day that my request to join Pinterest was accepted, I easily spent the new few hours in awe of all the pictures that could be organized by category and stored on my boards forever. Whoever thought of that must have had me in mind with how organized they created this platform to be. There is another group of people that can show the same appreciate to platforms such as Pinterest too: fashion bloggers. It is networks like this that can someone’s simple love for fashion into a web wide phenomenon. Of course this can be related to all small businesses, but let’s just take a look at how.
One of my personal favorite blogs, Happily Grey, is no stranger to Pinterest. With over 14,000 followers, the ability for her to share her #ootd (outfit of the day) becomes unlimited. Let’s go over how I discovered this blog. I was browsing through Pinterest and saw her outfit that I just had to pin. Well then I just had to know where that adorable sweater came from so I clicked on the picture to figure it out. I was brought to her blog, a simple solution really. But then I noticed that she was a sponsored blogger. She works with local boutiques in her area to feature on her blog. How lucky is she? Just receiving free stuff from stores, but it was so much more than that. It’s a business plan. Those boutiques realized the big picture that Happily Grey was going for, they saw her popularity on platforms such as Pinterest or Instagram and immediately wanted in. Now when I click on that picture of the “#ootd,” I’m not only brought to a fashion blog, I’m lead to a site that shows me what stores she got the looks from.
As business owners, we can often think, “Okay, we have a Pinterest account now so what pictures do we post?” But the businesses that partner with these bloggers are thinking beyond that. Not only does the blogger become equipped with material to make his/her blog more successful, but the boutiques, shops, and businesses are gaining recognition as well. Social media really does offer us an unlimited platform but it is in our ability to utilize it in a truly unique manner.