How to build brand authority in the fashion industry

How can you differentiate your brand in the current fashion market, where so many brands struggle to stand out? One way to do this is to cultivate brand authority with your customers.

Brand authority refers to the trust a brand has earned among customers, and the degree to which people see you as an industry expert. When you’re seen as a brand authority in your industry, customers are more likely to buy from you and listen to what you have to say. Building brand authority can therefore be a powerful marketing and sales strategy.

Wondering how you can boost your brand’s authority? Look no further than these 5 tips to help your brand rise above the competition.

Choose your niche: don’t be a generalist

Remember that you can’t be an expert on everything, so align your brand with a specific niche area.

The advantage of having a niche is that there will be less competition, so you have a higher chance of being seen as the expert in the field. Narrowing your focus and becoming the go-to authority in one area will attract the attention of potential customers.

When choosing your niche, consider who is your target customer, what are your business values (sustainability, local community support, gender equality?) and your passion or skills related to the fashion industry.

Invest in content marketing

If you want to walk like an expert, you must talk like one too. Create valuable and relevant content for your audience that shows your expertise. This could be via a blog, social media, or email marketing. Think about issues and topics that would interest your target customer. Make sure that you create a regular flow of content, to keep the audience engaged and enticed to come back for more. Offering high-quality and informative content will build trust and contribute to your brand authority.

Conduct industry research to share

Sharing new industry insights with your audience can help improve brand authority, as you will be seen as a trusted source of information. Choose a topic in your niche, do your own research (this could be polls, surveys and questionnaires), then share the results. You could either publish the results yourself or offer the information to a media outlet. This strategy can help your company gain a reputation as an authority in the industry.

Gather social proof

Social proof is about proving that other people find value in your company or product. For example, using customer reviews of your clothes and accessories or testimonials from other B2B buyers you have worked with will help demonstrate to others that your brand is worthy of time, money and trust. This type of testimonial can help customers see you as a trustworthy authority.

Align with other trusted brands and partners

Associating or collaborating with other trusted companies can help your brand earn customer trust. For example, someone in your team could contribute an article on an authoritative fashion website. You could also contact journalists who write about the fashion industry and offer an expert quote. This strategy can also bring more traffic to your own website while building brand recognition and trust.

Similarly, when it comes to your wholesale business, you need an established and trusted partner for your wholesale management solution. BLANC is trusted by over 20,000 retailers and we work closely with buyers to assist in their search for brands. We also work with key partners and institutions who share our vision and goal to build a community of online fashion businesses, such as the British Fashion Council and ApexBrasil. As well as connecting you to global buyers, we offer the must-have tools to conduct your wholesale business smoothly and provide excellent customer service.

If you’re a fashion brand looking to build brand authority, a digital B2B platform such as BLANC can be just what you need to take your brand to the next level. Schedule a meeting with one of BLANC’s consultants to learn how our platform can be adapted to your business.