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The influence of fashion bloggers on trends and fashion

Fashion Blogging is rapidly increasing in popularity, with new fashion blogs springing up everywhere and the number of people turning to fashion blogs as a source of information or inspiration for style and trends growing. But how much influence does fashion blogging have on trends and fashions and why is blogging becoming the latest media for fashion?

Fashion blogs are about fashion, clothing and accessories and also include runway trends, celebrity fashion and street style. Fashion blogs have been reported in the US as early as 2002 (Sinclair, Jenny. Fashion blogs, "The Age", October 17, 2002.) and have been increasing in numbers since, In 2003 The Wall Street Journal reported of 40 bloggers being given invites to New York fashion week (Dodes, Rachel. "Bloggers get under the tent", The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2006). Today blogging has become a very significant media for the fashion press with independent fashion bloggers and funded fashion blog networks competing for dominance in the blogosphere.

The significance of fashion blogging in inflencing trends and fashions is evident in the increasing number of companies looking to promote their clothing through fashion blogs and fashion blogging and the money associated with fashion blogs. Fashion Bloggers report increasing profits with Manolo’s shoe blog reportedly making a six figure sum and the bag snob generating a five figure sum. The emergence of fashion blog networks such as Coutorture Media and Sugar Publishing Inc have attracted large amounts of investment into the fashion blogosphere. The significance of fashion blogs is also evident in the number of commercial organisations chosing to set up their own fashion blogs such as the Telegraph. In December 2006 , fashion blogs were recognised by Vogue in an article about their significance . In Jan 07, the Daily Mail published an article on the fashion blog stars advising readers to “Forget waiting for the monthly glossies, the sharpest fashion advice is now online”.

Perhaps the popularity of fashion blogs is because they are written or perceived to be written by a real person and not a marketing professional. They give individuals honest opinions of trends and fashions and in most cases are not influenced or paid directly for endorsing products although most generate revenue from advertising. This gives fashion blogs a very realistic approach to fashion, more so than many of those working in fashion and fashion marketing. Fashion blogs are often scathing about a new designers collection and so can diffuse much of the hype created around fashions and trends by marketing professionals. They can also popularise and create crazes for products, which have little or no marketing budgets. Probably the most important factor in attracting so many readers to fashion blogs is the enthusiasm and love of the bloggers for the subject on which they are blogging. Most fashion blogs are started as a hobby and an outlet for individuals with a love of fashion and clothes. The individual styles of writing often make the blogs an interesting and sometimes very funny read. Blogs do not have to conform to a particular style of writing and so are usually much more informal in tone making it easier for the reader to relate to them.

The nature of blogging means that they are a quicker and more interactive form of communication than traditional glossy magazines, reviews of collections and runway shows can be instantly posted giving readers instant previews for the next seasons trends.

Why fashion blogs are so important for online fashion retailers

A fashion blog is a great way for online retailers to create lots of regular, relevant fashion content for their website. It serves three important purposes, to provide a service and information for readers that will make them want to visit the site again, to help optimise the website and increase its search engine rankings and traffic for relevant key words and to provide a showcase and information on the sites products which help increase the conversion rate. Fashion is all about being up to the minute and it is important that that everything you do including your methods of communications end the right message about your company. Blogging is currently a very fashionable and trendy form of communication.

A fashion blog will add credibility to fashion website by showing that the company is up with the latest trends and knows about the fashion industry. It can talk to customers in an appropriate language and tone and is a great way of communicating with the younger fashion consumers that have enjoy reading blogs. A big attraction of blogs for readers is the speed at which they can be updated allowing them to give up the minute information on the latest trends and styles.

Search engines love blogs, partly because of the huge amount of content and partly because they are frequently updates. A fashion blog about the latest trends or fashions will naturally include lots of relevant keywords so will be great for bringing lots of interested customers to a website. In fact recent findings by Heathcote Communications suggest that fashion blogs give a much higher ROI than many other forms of Internet marketing including pay per click. It all comes back to that old SEO mantra ‘content is king’.

Finally a blog allows the retailer to showcase their products and help in your customers in their decision making process. You can give them information on how to wear your clothes and what combinations go together well. Also how your clothes relate to current fashions and trends giving the customer assurance that they will look stylish and up to the minute in the clothes that they choose to purchase.

In the competitive industry of fashion and the current global economy, a successful online retailer will be one that takes advantage of every opportunity available to them and stays ahead of the game with the latest and most innovative methods of communication. A fashion blog is an ideal way for online fashion retailers to do so and drive traffic and sales to their website.

Online Fashion Retailers - When the going gets tough, the tough get blogging.

The down turn in the global economy and high inflation in the UK is likely to have a huge effect on the fashion industry and particularly the luxury goods sector. In order to keep profitable companies are having to become increasingly innovative in finding way of communicating with their customers and driving traffic to their websites.

Whilst many fashion retailers are already using blogging as a very cost effective way of promoting their products and driving traffic to their sites, there are still many late adopters of new technologies and forms of communication that stand to gain massive advantages by implementing their own fashion blog.

Heathcote Communications

Creating a fashion buzz