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How To Create a Powerful Lookbook And Get More Customers
"Products are only 25% of what you market."
How To Create a Powerful Lookbook And Get More Customers
"Products are only 25% of what you market."
By Stephanie Kim & Bart De Pelsmaeker
Start publishing online newsletters like Deloitte, IBM, and Nike.
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Are you selling pieces of fabric or a way of life? That 'intangible feeling tied to a product', as our colleague-marketer
Fraser Larock
puts it.
You want to create that emotional connection with your audience, you want to show them how fitting your latest collection would be for them, how it would enrich their life, how it would make them happy and proud, and maybe even what inspired and drove your designers when creating your collection.
If you fail to create a connection with your customers, it is very unlikely that your online store is going to produce anything better than the average 3% conversion rate. And for many brands in fashion and apparel, 3% sounds actually pretty good according to Fashionmetric
.
But you know this already. And you also know that lookbooks can be a great way to go beyond the boring static pages displaying endless lists of products. Making a lookbook might not be too difficult. Making a GREAT lookbook that actually gets you customers, that might be a tad more challenging.
So that is the subject of this article. We will further explore the lookbook concept, how brands can benefit, and other best practices. Plus, we will share a sizable collection of lookbook examples later on, a handy resource, and a proven recipe for success.What is a lookbook?
What is a lookbook?
Lookbooks began as print publications, but are now used by many stylists, fashion designers, and ecommerce sites to show off their collections online. Lookbooks offer a collection of photos and/or videos used to display products. It is a rich visual experience that guides your customers through your collections.
Digital lookbooks differ from the usual ecommerce static pages in that they are immersive visual experiences. They offer a more creative design, a superior presentation of your products and allow you to better set a mood and tone for your collection. Visual content is not only easier and faster for humans to process, but it’s also great for
generating more views, clicks, and conversions
. It’s why 46 percent of marketers say photography is critical to their marketing and storytelling strategies.Psychology of lookbooks
Psychology of lookbooks
By showing your products in real-life scenarios, lookbooks will allow you to create stronger emotional connections with your audiences. The often referred to Paco Underhill (author of “Wy We Buy”) refers to the ‘pleasure and excitement’ that comes when shopping becomes an experience, not just a search.
Combined with a solid promotion strategy, the above ingredients of rich visual experiences combined with context (brand storytelling) is a recipe for successful
content marketing in eCommerce
.
You can categorize lookbooks in several different ways, but the majority are categorized by season. Depending on how many lookbooks a brand might have, you can also categorize them by month. It’s more appealing when the seasonal lookbook has a name for example, “Fun in the Sun Summer 2016” or “Frost Bite Winter 2017.”Image courtesy from Abercrombie & Fitch
Online lookbooks can be embedded on your site in several ways, or they can be offered as stand-alone micro-sites linking to your product pages. And last but not least, when correctly implemented (i.e. on YOUR domain) they will greatly contribute to your SEO and domain authority.
The Abercrombie & Fitch example (thank you Armondo Roggio from
PracticalEcommerce
for pointing it out) is a nice illustration how content and commerce go hand-in-hand: each page of the lookbook has an option to purchase individual items featured in the look.How lookbooks will benefit you
How lookbooks will benefit you
There are several ways you can benefit from incorporating lookbooks into your digital marketing strategies. In addition to improving the customer’s experience, lookbooks can benefit brands by...
- Inspiring and educating your customers - A ‘look’-book will show your collection displayed not as a separate item, but in a complete ‘look’. It will show your customers what pieces can be worn together, how they can be worn together and even in what setting they can be worn. It is more than just a display of your products, it is a ‘how-to-wear’ guide to your collection.
- Sharing the story behind your collections - Brand storytelling builds loyalty and trust, two things you cannot buy but have everything to do with the success of your brand and ROI. A great collection is not just a random selection of clothes, but it is a story in itself. A story or theme is what separates good from great on the runways. And your customers will want to hear the story behind your collection.
- Building brand awareness and word of mouth - If you can offer something unique and above industry standard, you can generate buzz around your brand and collections. Making the images and the whole lookbook easily shareable can drive organic engagement around your brand.
- Increase sales - Lookbooks should be made shoppable. If you can, you should include a button to buy directly on the pages. You will see increased sales not only because providing a great (content) experience vs static pages, but also because you are selling a complete look, not just a single product.
How to make a digital lookbook
How to make a digital lookbook
The majority of the work goes into production (gathering your visual elements, ensuring everything flows nicely together) and distribution (strategizing where and how to promote it).
If you are looking for a good platform to create your lookbook, you might want to check
digital publishing
tools, for example Readz
.
Producing your lookbook
Producing your lookbook
Design Guidelines
The simpler the better. You won’t see a lot of chaotic or intricate templates for lookbooks. Most are straightforward to put an emphasis on the story and the product. Most lookbooks have white backgrounds to create simplicity and separation from each look or photo. When it comes to aesthetics, minimalism and a cohesive flow are a solid foundation for not only standing out in the crowd but gaining respect as a legitimate brand.
How a lookbook should appear template or format wise can be determined by the price point or focused audience of the brand. A lot of higher end brands go for more simple and editorial. The lookbook should be more than just a shopping experience.
The cover page is the main attention grabber of your lookbook. It’s vital that the page is visually appealing and sets the tone for your look. It should feature a captivating image, the brand name, and the title and date of your collection.
What to include in your lookbook
There are several directions you can take your lookbook, but there are several elements that are essential to your success. This includes an alluring cover page, smart navigation, engaging visuals, attractive product descriptions, social share buttons, buy buttons, and contact options.
An alluri
ng cover page
Image from
Holt Renfrew
(built on Readz)Smart navigation
Simple and intuitive navigation is essential to a positive shopping experience. Shoppers should be able to move from page to page seamlessly, without interruption. Make your navigational elements obvious and uniform throughout.
Engaging, quality visuals
Visuals are the meat of your lookbook. Every photo and visual element should be professionally taken and superior in quality. Every aspect of the photo matters. Lighting, props, stage, accessories, styling, color, clarity, etc. The most important and main purpose of a lookbook is to show off a product through the photo.
See that the images convey a consistent theme, and are laid out in a logical way that tells your story.
Attractive product descriptions
Get creative with your product descriptions. Craft copy that is both informative and intriguing. But keep text to a minimum. The descriptions should make sense for the collection and your brand. Your product descriptions should be 30-60 words long.
For details on a lookbook, most retailers will try and keep as little words as possible to stray away from distractions. However, a customer should be able to know what product they’re looking at. If you would like to include words or a short description, you should try and create a narrative to follow the theme/concept of the lookbook.
What is also helpful is naming the products. This way the product is personalized and easily remembered by the customer rather than having to memorize numbers.
Palace Skateboard takes a unique approach:Image from Palace Skateboards
Social share buttons
Lookbooks are naturally geared toward social media, where images generate more engagement
. Make it easy for shoppers to share the look with their fans and followers. Be sure to provide sharing options for popular image-based platforms.
Buy buttons
Buy buttons or links are crucial to your lookbook's success. Unless the goal is to drive shoppers in-store, be sure to include multiple options to purchase. These buttons should stand out on the page, look clickable, and feature clear, readable copy. Link them to corresponding product pages where shoppers complete the purchase.
Contact options
Offer shoppers multiple ways to interact with you. Display contact info, link to your social media accounts, and incorporate an email sign-up form. This is a great way to collect shopper information, which you can follow up with.
A mobile variant
A good user experience also optimizes for mobile devices. According to Mediative Labs, 70 percent of mobile searches result in an action being taken within one hour - as opposed to a week for desktop. If your lookbook isn’t very mobile-friendly, you are going to miss out on a large and lucrative audience.How do lookbooks work?
How do lookbooks work?
In order for the lookbook to actually fulfill its purpose, you need to drive traffic to it. Promoting your lookbook is crucial, but it can be tough to know what to really focus on. Lucky for you, our clients have shared their best distribution and promotion tactics. Here’s what works.
Where to publish and promote your lookbook
Email marketing
Forbes calls email marketing the most effective
and least difficult digital marketing tactic to implement. Execute an email marketing campaign to promote the look. Even incentivize recipients to keep the sharing going.
Social media promotion
With social media, one lead can become 100 in an instant. Promote your lookbook on visual sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for even more traffic, leads, and sales.
Advertising
The most successful campaigns employ a healthy mix of paid and organic tactics. Paid search, display ads, and social advertising are all great options for your lookbook promotion.
Smart SEO
Ensure that the lookbook is optimized for search. Identify your target and brand keywords and include them in meta descriptions, title tags, alt text, and URLs. In addition, be sure to optimize image sizes, load times, and check out process.
Influencer Outreach
Reach out to bloggers talking to your audience, and ask them to review or share your lookbook.
Additional strategies
Other methods of bringing in more leads include contests, giveaways, promotions and special offers (68 percent of consumers
state they are more loyal to brands that offer promotion codes or online coupons).Conclusion
Conclusion
Lookbooks are not only a portfolio to showcase brands' collections, but are also a tool for promoting your products through a visual experience in order to attract more customers.
A lookbook can be a powerful marketing tool to help you create an emotional connection with your audience and market a lifestyle with your product. Secure more leads, sales, and conversions.
However, success is a matter of implementing the right visual content and text to bring your story out, combined with smart marketing tactics to promote your lookbook.
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