Fashion Bloggers and Social Media
Guest Blogger: Innov8tiv magazine sits down with Ada founder of Afrizion and Co-founder of Avaloni Studios to discuss social media and fashion. Below is her story in her own words.
Flash back to 2010 when I first opened my first account ever on twitter. It was like walking into a crowded room with unfamiliar people, searching frantically for a welcoming face. Even my friends seemed so unfamiliar to me in 140 characters and it was interesting to see peoples unfiltered thoughts a hairs breath away from being questioned. Cascading wordy characters of opinions on a virtual portal that everyone could see.
I dived in headfirst a little bit unsure and excited about this new tool that was very different from what I was used to; Facebook that is. It seemed like some personal source of opinionated recreation, which was all it was for me at the time. My personal account has been just that, my personal account.
But far more interesting than my setting up a personal twitter, instagram, and what have you, was deciding to do the same for my fashion blog Afrizion. Using social media as a brand ambassador seemed more daunting and a bit more complicated, especially when I was just starting out.
It took a bit of getting used to and it’s pretty clear using social media as a brand and for leisure are two entirely different things. Now that fashion has morphed into some life form of its own, there’s a need for more cross promotion and with a huge saturation of fashion blogs, one fashion blogger is merely an individual in a crowded room full of people all trying to speak at the same time. To remedy this “epidemic”, if you will, social media platforms serve as the number one solution to having a voice and being heard online. Also being super professional, than not is a plus.
Don’t get me wrong blogging requires personal interaction with your audience, and although there’s personal information we would rather hide from prying eyes, we still need to be relatable. Sure the occasional “how I spent my day” blog entries might suffice, but a lot of fashion bloggers, including myself, use instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. to share a little about ourselves and what we are up to in life.
Take for instance fashion week, which was in the past exclusive to the “fashion elite” if you will, has become more accessible to a broader audience. Thanks to the ever evolving digital age and social media platforms, it’s become faster and easier for fashion bloggers to share information, their activities and content.
There are more innovative solutions for on site commentary during fashion week. You can share content via photos, live tweets and useful hash tags on different platforms right as the show is happening. Makes for an effective way to upload content immediately, interact with followers and other fashion bloggers.
Just as it’s important to check the safety on a gun while brandishing it, it’s important to be mindful of what you share. I share my own carefully researched content, but I also share useful information from someone else, because it’s that good. That’s another way to interact with people who have the same professional interest as you. Which is certainly another use of social media that’s advantageous to fashion bloggers.
Fashion bloggers also see social media as a great tool and resource for useful information. What’s happening on the fashion scene? What’s happening in the industry? What new tools are out there for effective marketing? Social media is a huge bevy of useful content and it’s important to listen and observe more than you type.
Although I’m still trying to discern most the inner most workings of social media, it’s definitely been a tool my brand can’t do without. If at any point as a fashion blogger you find yourself between your phone and a need for brand rejuvenation, your bright idea is a swipe away.
For more information on my blog Afrizion, follow Afrizion on Twitter: @afrizion and like us on Facebook: Afrizion plus follow Afrizion On Instagram @afrizion