California Apparel News

Almost every fashion brand and retailer has a presence in social media, but the jury is still out on what kind of return on investment businesses gain from social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

At a May 15 California Fashion Association seminar, called “Social Media: Retailing of the Future,” panelists charted how businesses benefit from social media and where their gains might still be vague.

Speaking on the panel, held at the California Market Center in Los Angeles, were Chelsea Matthews, co-founder of Los Angeles–based digital-marketing and events agency No Subject, and Mitesh Solanki, principal founder of the Creative Intellects digital-media and advertising agency in Los Angeles. Also speaking was fashion-industry veteran Ron Perilman, president of Liverpool Jeans Co., headquartered in Los Angeles.

For Perilman, the benefits of social media are obvious. In 2007, Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, his former employer, ran an advertising campaign on Facebook.  The Los Angeles–based brand’s ads popped up on Facebook users’ screens if they used specific keywords. In the next two days, Not Your Daughter’s Jeans’ sales increased by more than 20 percent at Nordstrom. “It’s probably the most effective and inexpensive way to get your product out there,” Perilman said.

However, it is harder to gauge immediate gains from maintaining a Facebook brand page or mounting a Twitter campaign. “You can’t put a hard figure on it,” Solanki said.  “But you can see it as your engagement increases, as your followers increase [on your social-media sites].”

Not all advertisements are effective. For example, Facebook, the dominant social-media site, was hit by bad news on May 15, when General Motors Co. pulled its paid ads, which the car company felt were having little impact, according to a Reuters article. The news broke a few days before Facebook launched its IPO and started selling its stock on May 18.

However, Facebook and other social media remain a compelling way for a company to start a dialog with its consumers, Matthews said. Brands can gauge what consumers like about the product and spread the word about their product. “It’s telling your story,” Matthews said. “It’s hosting your message.”—Andrew Asch