Online women's e-commerce giant, Revolve, has recently come under fire for lack of inclusion and diversity between their brand ambassadors. "The search for the next girl squad" is a new strategy for an upcoming brand ambassador search. below are the working ideas of the plan.
Process Doc
Workshop CritiquE
Social Media Influencer
Interview
Meet Kelsey Breisinger, the 24 year old Pittsburgh lifestyle blogger that has racked up over 12,000 new followers to her Instagram account in under a year. Get to know how the young social media queen developed her own unique brand, and became one of Pittsburgh’s most notable Instagram bloggers!
When did you decide to make your social media more professional?
Whenever I was in college I had the social media position in my sorority, meaning I was in charge of our presence on all social media channels. That's when I learned how to get creative with social media. Then, after graduation I worked at a social media marketing agency where I was taught the marketing side of social media. Not long after getting that job, I started applying the knowledge I would use on my clients to my own platform.
How has your professional presence helped you score jobs, partnerships, and other opportunities?
I can confidently say that the fashion aspect on my blog and sharing it on social media has helped me land my current position as a personal stylist for StitchFix. I went to school for marketing, so I didn't have any fashion or retail experience at all when applying for the position. That's why I believe my Instagram really helped me land the job.
Which platforms do you use the most, and what are your reasons for being more active on one than the other?
I definitely use Instagram the most out of all the other platforms and am just recently on Youtube. The reason I use these two the most is because my demographic uses them the most. Plus, Instagram is really multiple platforms all in one, so it's easy to choose that as a go-to.
How would you describe your brand personality and what are some power words that describe your brand?
I would describe my brand as funny, girly, edgy, and unfiltered. My platform is somewhere women can go to figure out the best in beauty, fashion, travel..really anything!
How long did it take for you to create your brand and how do you keep up with your brand appearance off of social media?
It took about a year to grow a foundation, practicing making content, practicing modeling, etc. Then, it took about another year for me to grow an actual brand out of it. I switched my branding 3 times over the course of that year. Experience makes you learn more about yourself and how you want to present that to the world.
Is your personal brand consistent with your online brand?
I do believe that my personal brand is consistent with my online brand. This is where my unfiltered aspect comes in. I try not to come off as 'perfect', even if I want my social media to look perfect, because that's not realistically me.
How do you stay active on social media to grow your following?
I stay active by posting at least once a day, engaging, liking and commenting on my favorite bloggers/friend's accounts because they will like and comment in return. I utilize the story, live and highlight features. I include a few very specific hashtags on the caption of my photos. I respond to all comments and direct messages. Sometimes it's hard because you get so many messages, but I really make it a point to answer everyone because that's what builds a community.
Last question! How do you work with Instagram's changing algorithms to make sure your content is seen by your intended audience?
To be honest, I don't. Instagram's algorithm is constantly being talked about by bloggers and other social media influencers. Many will tell their followers to turn on post notifications, but I personally think that's too much. The one thing I will say that I do is experiment. I experiment with times that I'm posting, hashtags I'm using, and how fast comments come in and how fast I respond. Every aspect of posting on a platform I pay attention to, record what happens and then try to repeat that if it was a success.
Social Media Strategy For
I would like to create a strategy for Revolve because it complements my interests in fashion and will be a good addition to a professional portfolio. Revolve is a company that is built off of social media influence, so it will be interesting to analyze their current branding and develop a new strategy for something they are seemingly pros at.
Revolve has been under fire this year for its continuous lack of representation of women of color, and tricky advertising tactics. They have been using the same group of ambassadors to promote their vast brands they carry, and it is time for a refresh and new look. Additionally, Revolve has confusing branding. One look on their website and they do not have a mission statement or insightful ‘About’ page. Also, their social media platforms do not have bios describing the brand. I would like to work on a strategy that pins down their branding, accommodates their target market, and shows some diversity.
I chose to interview a Pittsburgh influencer because she ties into the fashion platform. While she is not the most diverse influencer she did give me more insight into how to use fashion as a branding tactic, and it is more than just posting pictures in outfits. My initial thoughts for Revolve include a nationwide brand ambassador search that will diversify their current roster. This search will hopefully generate a brand for Revolve that is more multifaceted than the rich girl one they are currently running with.
Brand Analysis
Revolve, the e-commerce marketplace for rising boutique brands, currently boasts an exclusive persona that marries high end and carefree styles. They have tapped into their market by notoriously using influencers to to promote their fashions. With Instagram (2 Million Followers) as their main social media platform, they have been able to create mini campaigns featuring their influencer brand ambassadors. Revolve’s girl squad is composed on the rich girl blogger, unlike the more everyday girls one might see in an #AerieReal campaign. They choose girls that have similar branding on their own Instagram’s so that the line becomes blurred between blog post, and Revolve ad. It often feels that Revolve has piggybacked off of these influencer’s own brands, but this is what indeed has made them successful. They know how these influencers inspire others and have created a system where, through the influencers, they can create user generated content. Additionally, Revolve is THE happy medium for their customers that can afford to splurge sometimes, but still need midrange items on the site. Revolve even goes a step further to create collaborations with designers, celebrities, influencers, etc. with designs that make their current high end clientele happy, while reaching to a market of young 20 somethings that may need items of a lower price point. This is a brand strategy that keeps Revolve exclusive, but also inclusive.
While Revolve is heavily involved in Instagram, they also have Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Pinterest. They are pretty inactive on Pinterest, and Youtube. Every few months they might post a mini makeup tutorial or short campaign video. Yet, they mostly have been using Youtube for style diaries of their brand ambassador vacations they sponsor. Their Twitter is composed of sharing these Youtube videos, and mostly retweeting any news about their recent collaborations. As noted before, Instagram is where their brand’s persona comes to life.
On Instagram they have used popular hashtag, #RevolveAroundTheWorld, to accopmany pictures of their brand ambassadors on lavish Revolve sponsored trips wearing Revolve latest pieces. This ad for Revolve hidden through the hashtag targets followers of these brand ambassadors to shop the pieces and use the same hashtag in their own Revolve inspired pictures. It is not just about the hashtag either. Revolve will repost user generated content with a witty quote and name of the outfit in the picture. This is how Revolve generates a brand voice, while also directing customers to the outfit that can be purchased on Revolve.
Competitor Analysis
Right now Revolve's competition is caught somewhere in between Net-a-porter and ASOS. Luckily for Revolve, major competitor Nasty Gal has rebranded itself to only carry in house items. Therefore, I would note ASOS is the most closely related to Revolve even though they carry different brands. ASOS is larger than Revolve in inventory size, and is an online retailer that carries mainly lower priced items. They do carry some of the same designers as Revolve, but these items tend to be priced higher due to the fact that ASOS is UK based.
ASOS also boats 4.9 million more followers on its main Instagram account, and has stayed more centered on using only three social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat) for customer interactions. As a brand, ASOS also keeps a fun and witty voice on their socials. Yet, instead of sharing almost exclusive content from known influencers, they share pictures of the everyday aspiring blogger in their outfits. ASOS is about affordable fashion, and they are extremely inclusive. Instead of influencer’s, they have “ASOS Insiders”. These Insiders are normal people that have followings anywhere from 1,000 to 20K. Their purpose is to work for ASOS as a type of online stylist, and this eliminates the exclusivity since it is known they work directly for the brand. Like Revolve, ASOS also drives its users to generate content with the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe. Instead of making the hashtag seem exclusive to bloggers on fancy vacations, ASOS invited everyone to participate to be featured (they mention this in their bio). While they still have the some of the same clientele, Revolve aims to be exclusive and ASOS has a brand persona that encompasses style for every creative regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation. In the climate of 2018 Revolve can still be exclusive, but they need to expand their target market to be a bit more inclusive.
Scroll down an ASOS page and you will see individual unique styles
Scroll down Revolve's page and you will see the same influencers paired together or by themselves. The key word is SAME!
3 well done
Content examples
Although this post features two brand ambassadors constantly associated with Revolve, it is different in that it features fashionable pregnancy. Both of these influencers are well into their last trimester and it was smart of Revolve to show off how a pregnant woman can look stylish. They are featuring the bags, but this post features dresses very similar to dresses that Revolve has in their inventory. A potential consumer seeing this post, now sees how it is possible to style a dress even when they are pregnant. They also see that Revolve styles can possibly fit and stretch to different body types. This is one of Revolve’s more differentiating posts.
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Yes, this post leans on the side of “staged”, but it captures the essence of fun fashion. Revolve is in fact a Los Angeles brand, and what better way to capture the essence of the California girl than with In N Out. This is a great post because it shows the fun side of Revolve. It shows that you can wear their items in any situation, and it stays true to the brand’s California roots.
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This photo set shows a few pictures from the second women’s march. This was a good post because it was entirely dedicated to women, and that says something about the culture of Revolve. Also, the choice to do a gradient of skin tones for the strong arm emojis points to Revolve standing for all women. The choice to do empowerment posts rather than all clothing related content is smart because it gains respect from an audience. When looking at a competitor, a woman might remember Revolve was in support of the women’s march and choose to be their customer instead of the competitor.
Social Media Style Guide
Style Guide Intentions
This style guide is made to outline how we at Revolve would like to conduct our active social media accounts.
Updates will be noted accordingly, as we understand the way we communicate with the Revolve community may change.
Accounts We Use: In Order Of Frequency
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Instagram
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Facebook
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Twitter
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Youtube
Posting Principles
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Speak to the consumers interests.
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Be the fun friend.
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Keep comments short + sweet.
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Build upon the girl squad ideals.
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Be ready for the next trend.
The Revolve Voice
Who Is Revolve:
We are everyone’s go to girl squad. We value our girls and are ready to help them with everything fashion and fun. Our biggest goal is to stay current without being basic, so that our girls can find personal style that stands out from the crowd. We believe in women and the power they have to be effortlessly fabulous and fierce.
Tone:
Keep it informal! We are our consumers friend, so we need to sound like it. We stay fun and inspirational in our messages. We are playful, and never spread hate.
Grammar and Usage
Like we said, we are VERY informal. Yet, there is a guide to Revolve friendly online lingo and it can be found below:
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Always use lowercase letters, unless addressing a brand or name.
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Capitalization of all letters may be used in cases of extreme excitement about product (but rarely).
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Insert emojis between text in any post descriptions.
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When appropriate, note at the end of text “- link in bio to shop!”
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Incorporate hashtags occasionally between text.
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Try to use #revolvearoundtheworld every few posts.
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If posting any influencer posts, tag them in the description.
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If mentioning a Revolve item, always tag the brand it belongs to before mentioning the item.
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DO: @lpa shorts in 689 & pant 703
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DON’T: Shorts in 689 & pant 703 from @lpa
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Posting Style
Above all else, stick to our five style rules for posting!
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Use no more than three lines in descriptions on posts.
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Use slang text for certain common text words
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Ex: tho, fave, bae, luv
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Use exclamations in most posts (where appropriate)
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Use contractions
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Emojis should correspond to text + picture
Resources
Additional help in creating social media consistency can be found below. We have based our decisions from some of the best guides out there. Check them out below!
Example 3
Business Alignment
Rationale: Revolve needs new brand ambassadors for better morale between their audience due to current diversity issues. This is especially true for Instagram.
Goal (External +Relational): Find 12 New Revolve Brand Ambassadors
Outcome: Stronger/Supportive Audience
Brand: Will set Revolve as the only exclusive e-boutique that has specialized brands promoted by a diverse/notable traveling girl squad.
Cultural: Will have a more connected, yet still differentiated, audience
Revenue: New followers from brand ambassador search will generate more potential purchases on Revolve.com.
Operational: Run all information for brand ambassador search via social media, do not include any promotional materials for hashtag generation in physical forms (ex: postcard in packaging of shipped goods)
Strategy Distribution Plan
The new Revolve campaign will run strictly across the Instagram platform for 4 months, and culminate in a brand ambassador reveal. The campaign will utilize original picture and story posts that will be answerable to nominate a brand ambassador. Story posts may include questionnaires, videos, and polls. Additionally, through co-created content Revolve will gain attention( ie: sharing the questionnaire, using the hashtag, etc. ) and more postable content.
The campaign is set to launch on Instagram and expand over the chosen platform through audience involvement. Engagement will be maintained through participation incentives, and response tracking. Incentives will be updated weekly, and will range from discount codes to giveaway entries.
This current plan will fulfill Revolve goals in building stronger community morale. The searching of new girls to join Revolve ambassadors will bring the Instagram community together and show that Revolve’s image is diverse and collaborative. The prerequisite that only followers can nominate ambassadors allows for the exclusivity to be upheld because only those that follow Revolve can participate.
Below is a layout of the plan:
Revolve Community Connection Plan
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Goal: Create a stronger community of followers with a better understanding of Revolve’s image (especially in diversity)
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Target : Find 12 new brand ambassadors over 3 months
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Strategy: Use Instagram story/ feed to promote search for new brand ambassadors via hashtag + DM
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Tactic: Offer different incentives weekly for followers to nominate someone (10% discount, gift card giveaway)
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Campaign
Content
Examples
Ideally, there will be a video on the feed explaining what is happening with the nomination form.
Audience members will either fill a form out for themselves or nominate a friend.
The corresponding nominee as well as Revolve should also be tagged when re-posting this image to a story.
The "One Revolving Moment" portion is meant to explain a moment in the nominee's life where they stirred something up for the better. This is a way in which they can express something that changed their lives, or how they changed somebody else's.
This is a possible poll that could be used to determine if the Instagram audience would want to see some of the nominations being sent in. It has been very popular to share answers to questionnaires that have been shared on a company's story, and this might be a helpful way for the audience to see what kind of answers Revolve is looking for in a brand ambassador search.
Polling the audience will also determine, if they are responding well to this new search. If the majority answers "No", then the campaign can be adjusted accordingly to gain more engagement.
An Instagram post to nominate a friend or oneself, will also be something necessary to this campaign. A post like this will generate more traffic to Revolve's page as well as spread the campaign hashtag. It also gives users a chance to type more than could be said from the brand ambassador questionnaire, it will be used as an alternative.
This content from the Revolve audience will help Revolve be able to pull from user created content while knowledge of the campaign is spread by work from the audience.
I nominate @JaneDoe to be @Revolve's newest brand ambassador. She is a hard-working student that has built a successful fashion blog while in school. She is not only a young entrepreneur, but she somehow manages to use any extra time in her day to volunteer with underprivileged youth. Most recently she has been teaching a free photography class for young creatives that cannot afford to enroll in an after school program. Jane is always on the the go, but they does not stop her from helping others. #REVOLVESEARCH
Measurement Plan
*Will be working on a chart for final draft*
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The current measurement plan for the 4 month Revolve Brand Ambassador search will be looking at how brand value can be increased. Through the tracking of story posts and hashtag participation, the weight of a tighter culture among the Revolve audience will be understood.
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Engagement will be tracked through replies to the story posts, and how many accounts reposted the story questionnaire will be tracked through their submission into the Revolve inbox. Reach will be an important factor to determine how many people saw the posts, but chose not to engage further with them. Different shortcuts per story post will also be tracked to determine if the audience received the full messaged of the post, or just clicked to pass through it. Hashtags will be tracked through daily searches to see how many posts are being generated with the hashtag inclusion.
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Participation is the key factor in this assessment, but questions and polling will be a way to track any dissent with the current strategy. Polling once weekly will determine how the audience is responding the current nomination methods. Also it will allow for visibility of how many people are not clicking at all on the polls. Inactivity on part of the audience will show that this search is not a priority or interesting enough for them to engage with the content. Lastly, through DM’s it will be possible to track questions or concerns with the content and search. Revolve can also answer these questions and track satisfaction from this. These measurement actions will be tracked daily and then compared weekly.
Rationale
Instagram is one of the largest platforms for expression. Revolve Together, a new social media strategy is set to launch on Instagram due to the fact that 2.1 million members of Revolve’s audience reside there. Additioally, a huge issue in fashion over the past few years has been body positivity and represewntation.
(Insert scholarly article findings about body positivity)
The new social media strategy for Revolve looks to combat body positivity not only in the indusrty, but as well with our audinece’s perception of our own brand culture. Through an audience driven brand ambassador search, our audience of 18-32 year old women will be able to choose how they want to be represented on our company's largest social page. The reason to give the audience a voice is for the authenticity Revolve would hope to keep establishing, and to clear up any concerns of a lack of diversity. As Forbes notes (link), Authenticity has become the most important factor in a social media strategy. This critical factor that Revolve needs to combat recent backlash (link), will be essential for all social media strategies going forward. It's importance stems from the fact that it "creates a open space for conversation and feedback" (Forbes) with audiences.
Finally, the audience driven search will supplement our Instagram with an authentic voice going forward. It will allow for more co-created content and affirm Revolve's women empowerment message.