Week 2 Part B
Big Bud Press
Big Bud Press is a growing independent clothing company based in and manufactured in Los Angeles. The company specializes in "everyday rainbow wear" including bold colored unisex clothing and bags, featuring occasional print designs from indie artists.
The company uses Instagram primarily while also having accounts on Twitter and Facebook. Their last post on Twitter is a retweet from August 26, 2019 and has no further posts. I was unable to check their Facebook page as I currently don't have an account and the page seems to be restricted to users. Their Instagram page updates around 1-2 times a day most days with their last post being today, 9/12 (Sorry for the late assignments!!). On Twitter they have 2,742 followers and their Instagram has 240k - what a huge difference!
Big Bud Press's use of Instagram is very responsive and personable. Their posts are informative yet informal, allowing users to freely ask questions and receive quick, personable responses. Their use of Instagram over Twitter makes sense as their brand is entirely based on their aesthetic. The bright colors and size inclusivity are what draws people in most so to use a visual platform seems like the obvious choice.
Alana Jones-Mann
Alana Jones-Mann is an individual brand based in Los Angeles specializing in desserts, notably "shag cakes" which have gained increasing popularity on Instagram. The cakes are bright, unique, and beautiful.
Mann uses Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Youtube as her social media platforms while using her website as a blog. Her social media following count and last posts are as follows: Youtube, 258 subscribers, no content; Facebook, 3,477 followers, last post was on December 13, 2018; Pinterest, 36,325 followers; Instagram, 250k followers, last post was July 21st.
Mann's use of social media is here and there, mostly sticking to Instagram as of late. Upon looking at her Facebook page versus Instagram, I found that the former had more casual blog-style posts. The posts are longer and more interactive with what seems like quick and friendly responses. Her Instagram page takes you from her early cakes to now and most images/cakes are captioned with either an accomplishment such as creating cakes for Food Network, Chrissy Teigen, and Modcloth, or captions advertising a workshop, or captions stating that she's just proud of her work.
Lirika Matoshi
Lirika Matoshi is an independent designer brand based in New York City and Kosovo. The brand is known for its whimsical dress designs, currently taking Instagram and TikTok by storm.
Matoshi has accounts on Instagram and Etsy. Their Instagram account has 880k followers posting around 1-2 times a day, the most recent post being September 13. The Etsy page has 33,335 followers.
The brand's social media is mostly limited to Instagram, though that's proven to be a very efficient due to a combination of IG's algorithm and constant posts from both the brand and users tagging the brand in their posts. They're very responsive to questions left on their posts. Overall they seem to be friendly, interactive, and active.
Selkie
Selkie is a small clothing brand based in Los Angeles started by the co-founder of Wildfox. Selkie is quickly gaining followers for its dresses.
Selkie has accounts on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram. The brand's Facebook has 1,244 followers with their most current post being September 5; their Tumblr has an undeterminable amount of followers (you have to be the account owner to know) with the most recent post being September 12; their Pinterest has 7,576 followers; their Instagram has 101k followers with their most current post being September 13 - their fourth post of the day!
This brand is by far the most active of the 5. Their Instagram is constantly updating with images of new products and collections which trickle down the Selkie pipeline instead of collections dropping all at the same time, a smart move in order to keep followers engaged and eager to see what the brand posts next. The brand's creator also has her own personal Instagram page and is frequently updating her own account as well as the brand's other social media. Their response to customer inquiries and comments on socials are prompt and friendly, almost conversational.
Glossier
Glossier is a skincare and makeup brand based in New York City and Los Angeles known for their no-makeup makeup and well reviewed skincare. They have expanded from a national brand to opening pop-ups in Europe.
This brand has Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube pages. Their Instagram has 2.8 million followers with their most recent post being September 13; their Pinterest has 87,307 followers; their Facebook has 364,646 followers with their most recent post being September 13; their Twitter has 106.8k followers with their most recent post being September 13; their Youtube page has 155k subscribers and their most recent video was posted September 1.
Glossier is the largest, most established brand of the 5 I've listed in this post so they clearly have more organization going on: Solid webpage design, social media accounts on multiple platforms, and a cohesive post schedule. Their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages were all updated with the same post at the same hour and post the same merchandise updates. They're very responsive via social media and email and tend to reply in a friendly yet professional manner. They are by far the most successful on Instagram, their feed full of smooth skin and products packaged with aesthetic in mind.
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Overall I think it's a fairly obvious statement that the largest brand - Glossier - has a more professional and established online presence. The rest of the brands which vary from national and small to accruing international acclaim (Matoshi) are heavily relying on Instagram to promote their businesses. It's very easy to develop an "aesthetic" for your feed which can draw users in and potential get a follow. All of the brands I've listed are ones that I personally follow and are a part of the same/similar branches of fashion Instagram: Ethical, independent, or size/diversity inclusive. Chances are that if you've heard of one, you've heard of at least one other.
All of the brands listed are easily marketable by their pleasing visuals, evident by the growth each of them has experienced from the time I began following each one. Matoshi has grown upwards of 300k followers in a year, no doubt thanks to the now notorious strawberry dress all over Instagram, Selkie has grown a few tens of thousands in under a year, and Glossier has grown hundreds of thousands over the last couple of years. I assume that these brands will only continue to grow now that it seems that they've all figured out the type of content their followers respond to most.
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