Making it work before you've started work
Hey guys,
First post here but from what I've seen it seems like a great community that's been built up. I'm looking at starting an online tie company that will then expand, in due course, to a wider range of menswear.
The plan so far is as follows:
- Set up an instagram page posting pictures of men's fashion (in particular suits and ties as well as men's fashion quotes)
- Set up a landing page linked to the instagram page which will capture emails ahead of the website's official launch
- Receive samples of initial ties to be stocked (am thinking around 5)
- Open the website up for pre-orders of the ties ahead of myself purchasing them
- Place the order for the initial ties (following a certain pre-order amount)
- Invest in instagram ads, advertising the tie's and websites
- Hope for the best
- Expand into a wider range of menswear at a later date
So my questions are:
- Does anyone have good examples of very successful instagram pages which encourage followers to buy their products?
- Does the landing page/pre-order system sound like a good idea?
- Any other feedback and/or suggestions?
Cheers guys!
I'm not from the space of apparel, but a friend of mine has a successful company that sells sportswear. I can't answer about the Instagram thing as from what I understand, but it didn't looked like he was too successful with that (organically). However, he did have a relatively successful pre-order phase in his business, and so I'll share what I learned from him.
What he did was basically used Kickstarter to generate interest. He just needed to know how many people wanted to order so he could minimize his ordering and shipping costs with his supplier.
If you don't already have an audience, something like this can help jump start your online audience.
He then also leveraged the Kickstarter with some contest where if you followed his brand on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter you'd get entered to get free products as well. I think he spent around $200-300 and got about 1000 followers and about the same (~1000) email addresses.