Alice Martin | ASV

Nano Influencer? Micro, Macro, Mega? Which is Which?

Alice Martin — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 08:00:00 +0000

With the influencer market set to hit $21.1 billion in 2023, it’s more important than ever that you’re staying up to date with the ever-evolving world of influencer marketing.

And picking the right partner is absolutely crucial to success. So, before you start on your first campaign, you’ll need to know your terms!

What's the difference between a macro, micro or nano influencer?

Nano influencer: someone with a following under 10,000.
Micro influencer: someone with a following from 10,000 to 200,000 followers.
Macro influencer: someone with a following from 200,000 to 1,000,000.
Mega influencer: someone with a following over 1,000,000.

Should you choose a nano influencer or a mega one?

But which category should you be focusing on?

If you’re a newer business with a fairly small social media presence, you’ll probably want to start in the nano influencer or micro zone. Remember, a partnership has to be beneficial to both parties. So, mega influencers might not see the benefit from working for free or working for a brand that won’t gain them following.

Nano influencers will also be cheaper. As a small business it’s likely you don’t have the biggest budget in the world. You’ll only have to google “how much does Kylie Jenner charge per post” to see the HUGE fees that some of the really popular influencers are demanding.

BUT, just because a nano or micro-influencer doesn’t have as much of a following, this definitely doesn’t mean they’re not as beneficial. Smaller influencers tend to be really in-tune with their audience. This means their content is often far more relevant and targeted. Which naturally results in a higher engagement rate. If you have a small following but massive interaction, your engagement rate will be higher, and with nano influencers (the good ones, anyway), this is normally the case.

(Top tip: you can look up influencers’ engagement rates on websites like HypeAuditor.)

Ready for the big time?

If you do have a budget and are after as much brand exposure as you can get in a short period of time, you’ll want to be looking at mega-influencers. Just remember, exposure is only beneficial if it’s to the right people…

We hope our blog post has helped you consider some of the options available for influencer marketing. We hope you understand the way the world of influencing works slightly better now. For more tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram. Alternatively, subscribe to our newsletter.

Speak soon,

Your ASV family xx

The post Nano Influencer? Micro, Macro, Mega? Which is Which? first appeared on ASV.

5 ways to make the most out of Instagram Reels

Alice Martin — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Implementing Instagram reels into your social media strategy is one of the most important things you can do as a brand to increase your reach on social media. Here are a few of our favourite stats to prove why:

2.35 billion people interact with reels every month
The highest Instagram Reels engagement rates are obtained by Instagram accounts with fewer than 5,000 followers, reaching up to 3.79% on average. To put this into perspective, the average engagement rate per post for fashion brands is 0.25%
91% of Instagram users watch videos on the platform. Every. Single. Week.

The growing popularity of video formats such as Instagram reels and TikTok doesn’t show any signs of slowing, so you’re probably going to want to start implementing this before it’s too late!

Hopefully, you’ve already started to include a few reels in your content strategy, but if not, not to worry, as we’re here to provide you with a few tips on how you can make the most out of this video format.

1. Creative Content

Creative, unique, interesting and, most importantly, authentic content is key for standing out on the Instagram algorithm. With so many users and so many brands using the platform, you’re going to have to stand out.

2. Edit In The App

The algorithm favours those brands that edit their reels in the Instagram app. This includes adding text and sounds from the Instagram Library and clipping your videos. It’s also great to add closed captions to your videos.

3. Trends, Trends, Trends

If you’re a fan of watching reels, you’ll notice that there are new trends emerging all the time. Whether that be a sound, a template, or a content idea, jumping on these quickly and adding them into your strategy is one of the easiest ways to stay relevant. But remember, copying an idea won’t work, it’s important to add your unique take on the trend to make it personal to you and your brand

4. Consistency is key

There are so many users on the app, there WILL be someone that absolutely loves and relates to your content. Keep posting, keep thinking of new ideas, and know that through trial and error, you’ll eventually nail your formula.

5. Add Hashtags To Your Instagram Reels

Lastly, It’s recommended to include 3-5 really relevant, targeted hashtags, as this helps the Instagram algorithm “understand” your content and serve it to relevant audiences.

Remember, results won’t happen overnight, but with consistency and a bit of strategy and planning, you can use reels to your advantage.

We hope our blog post helps you on your journey to viral video stardom! Get our full Instagram Guide to conquer the platform today.

For more tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter.

Speak soon,

Your ASV family xx

The post 5 ways to make the most out of Instagram Reels first appeared on ASV.

5 Reasons to add Influencer Marketing into your Marketing Mix

Alice Martin — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 08:00:06 +0000

Working in Social Media, we spend a lot of our days liaising with influencers to try and secure some features for our clients. And when it works, and we do manage to create an amazing activation or get some incredible coverage, you may see us celebrating our influencer marketing strategy like this:

This is because, at ASV, we know and have seen first-hand the power that influencers have over consumers, the power to, well… influence! But what are the main benefits that your brand could reap, should you sow the seeds of influencer marketing?

1. Building Brand Trust

Firstly, Influencers have already built trust with their followers. They have a ready-made list of people, a community, that respect their opinions and are waiting to hear their recommendations. By working with the influencer, you get to benefit from this, too.

2. Increasing Brand Awareness

Secondly, Influencer marketing can greatly expand your reach and positioning online, introducing your brand to a whole new audience.

3. Put Your Product/Service in Front of Your Target Audience

If you’re choosing the correct influencer to work with, they’ll be in touch with the right people you want to put your brand in front of. This is why it’s KEY to carefully select who you’re working with, rather than just opting for anyone.

4. Content Creation & Influencer Marketing

It can be so hard to think of content ideas, not just for social media but across all channels. Working with influencers is a great way to fill any gaps and introduce interesting, authentic and engaging content for your customers.

5. Value for Money

Yes, working with influencers can be expensive, but compared to costly, traditional advertising, it can actually be cheaper and generate a better ROI and have FAR more benefits (especially if you’re looking to work with micro-influencers).

We hope you found our blog post helpful but if you want more information about how you can build influencer marketing into your marketing mix, including a step-by-step guide on how to create an influencer campaign – click here to download our influencer marketing guide.

For more tips and resources, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also learn more about our social services here.

Speak soon,

Your ASV family xx

The post 5 Reasons to add Influencer Marketing into your Marketing Mix first appeared on ASV.

Meet Layla Sargent, Founder of The Seam

Alice Martin — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:39:01 +0000

At ASV, we’re making it our mission to share as much information with our incredible ASV Collective as we possibly can. BUT we can’t do this alone, so we’ve roped in some amazing female entrepreneurs to help us out, offer advice, and provide some inspiration to all of us. So we reached out to Layla Sargent, founder of fashion alteration and repair giant, The Seam.

Layla conceptualised The Seam in 2019. The brand is designed as a way to connect consumers and tailors with the aim of reducing waste from fast fashion by repairing or altering clothes. With an online network of over 700 makers across Greater London, serving thousands of people who are booking their services, The Seam platform empowers wearers to have a personalised connection with their clothes.

We asked her a few questions about her business journey so far, and to offer some words of advice to our collective of female fashion founders…

What inspired you to create The Seam?

I spent my childhood with my Nan, a professional dressmaker, who lovingly tailored my clothes to fit and mended them when they became well worn. In my early teens, as the tallest and curviest in my peer group, my Nan’s skills enabled me to understand that the problem with awkward fit wasn’t my body, but the garment, itself. While my friends were swept up by disposable clothes and the rise of fast-fashion, I saw the hours my Nan put into my clothes and became more emotionally attached. I learned that alterations not only make people more comfortable and confident in their clothes, they form a bond between wearer and garment.

When I moved to London, and didn’t have my Nan’s skills on hand to make clothes fit, I experienced the options available to me – high street dry cleaners that felt impersonal, and savile row tailors that felt male-dominated and exclusive – and I wanted to create something more accessible.

What’s the most mind-blowing fact you’ve learnt about sustainability and the fashion industry?

It’s stunning how much a simple act of repairing an item in our wardrobe can have an impact on our environmental footprint. According to WRAP, extending the life of a garment by just nine months decreases its carbon, waste and water footprints by 20-30% each. This fact is a good reminder that repair can go beyond extending the life of the clothes we keep in heavy rotation. We also need to find ways to care and repair for garments before we part ways with them, so that clothing and footwear in a poor state of repair doesn’t enter the waste stream.

Do you think people’s relationships with clothes are changing?

Yes! Since founding The Seam, there’s been a surge in interest towards caring and repairing clothes. We’ve continued to see an increase in the number of people using The Seam’s services as well as the frequency at which customers return for other items in their wardrobes. What we see happening in The Seam’s business is just a reflection in a much wider shift towards a whole bunch of circular fashion behaviours, including rental and resale. We see all of these circular fashion behaviours are interconnected. Our Makers help repair garments in between rentals, as well as tailor preloved garments to fit their second and third owners and beyond.

What advice would you give to fashion brand founders who are looking to make sustainable choices for their businesses?

How long a garment is owned for, and remains in active use, is core to how sustainable it can be considered over its lifecycle. With this in mind, designing and making products to last a long time, both from a quality and emotional durability perspective should be a top consideration.

At The Seam, we partner with many brands to offer customers care and repair services, to aid them in making their pieces last. What we find is that we aren’t just able to extend the life of garments, we can also learn about what design elements could’ve been improved to make a longer-lasting product. When the brands we work with are interested in learning about how their pieces can be made more durable, our repair services are suddenly a critical feedback loop for business decision-making.

My advice would be to design for longevity, market your products around longevity in favour of quick trends, and then back up your business model with the services to make products last.

What have you learnt from starting a business (particularly as you founded the brand just before the pandemic and into these weird times we’re living in…)

Having founded The Seam just before the Covid pandemic, we shut down operations almost entirely for around 9 months in 2020 – of course it didn’t make sense to be sending people to Makers’ studios during lockdown. It was an uncertain time for a business which for many services required people to meet one another in person, but looking back, it gave me the opportunity to shut out the day-to-day operations and focus on strategy and big-picture thinking.

While the world has returned to normal, I would advise all new founders to really take the time to hone their vision before letting day-today operations come in and dictate priorities. Once you start to get customers, and Makers in the case of our 2-sided marketplace, your work becomes about satisfying expectations and meeting demands. Before you get to this point, it’s so important to carve out a clear vision for who you’re serving, what you stand for, and where you want to be in 1, 2, and 5 years’ time.

What are you most proud of in your business journey?

One of my proudest aspects of The Seam is how it’s changing the idea of freelance work for people with a variety of making skills. In the last 50 years, as clothing production has scaled up and offshored, the value of clothing has dropped dramatically, and so has the value that we as a society place on making skills. This reality is also interconnected with making skills being traditionally deemed as ‘women’s work’.

Being a Maker on The Seam means having access to well-paid, freelance work, where Makers have control over their hours, prices, and jobs. While I initially ideated The Seam based on my own perspective as a potential customer in need of alterations, I’ve also gotten to build a community that’s changing the opportunities available to tailors, cobblers, menders and all other kinds of talented specialists.

What's next for The Seam?

Having launched some exciting brand partnerships already this year, including Net-A-Porter and Mr Porter, we’re working to improve our customer journey, and simplify the logistics surrounding our services, to help people more seamlessly transport their repairs to and from their Maker with little to no effort. We’re working behind the scenes on some further brand partnerships and planning some exciting events for the summer months.

A huge thank you to Layla for taking the time to answer these questions so thoughtfully. We hope you found our interview as inspiring as we did! Learn more about the ASV Collective.

For more inspiration, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter.

Speak soon,

Your ASV family xx

The post Meet Layla Sargent, Founder of The Seam first appeared on ASV.

3 Tips when Shooting Social Media Content

Alice Martin — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 08:00:27 +0000

With the world of social media being so fast-paced, it can feel like you’re constantly chasing your tail, trying to keep up with creating high-quality, engaging content to keep your followers entertained. But, shooting social media content isn’t as intimidating as you may think.

So, with our work with our social media clients, we’ve figured out a few ways we can “life hack” social media content creation, to make it easier, quicker, and prepped in advance so we can have a breather every now and then!

Tip One: Get The Right Equipment

Sounds expensive right? And it can be. The pros have thousands of pounds worth of equipment they’ve invested in over their careers, which is what makes them the pros. But if you’re like us, you don’t have the budget for that. And that’s OK. Thankfully, there are some cheap solutions to this now that can give you the quality effect without the cost!

Firstly, the key things you’ll need for shooting social media content:

A phone with a high-quality camera. Most smartphones these days have such incredible cameras you probably won’t need more than this.
A tripod where you can hold your phone. This stabilises the phone (increases the quality), keeps it in the same spot (which you’ll need if you’re shooting things like TikTok transitions) and leaves you hands-free to run around sorting out everything else!
A ring light or two. This will make your content far better quality and counteract any weird-coloured lighting. Normally, these come with a tripod attached and can be found on Amazon for really cheap. They’re also super fun to use and make you feel like Molly-Mae for the day.

Tip Two: Plan, Plan Plan!

This one comes in stages, as there’s a few things you’ll need to consider:

What are you hoping to achieve? What’s the messaging behind the content you’re creating and how does this fit with your brand?
What are you aiming for? Do you have examples from content creators that inspire you that you can use as reference points? Put this all together and have this on hand when you’re shooting so you know what you’re hoping to achieve.
Where do you want to shoot this content and why? Is there anything you need to order in advance to make the backdrop for your shoot exactly how you want it? If it’s a public space, are you allowed to shoot there?

There are so many things to consider, but the more detail you put into the planning stage the easier it will be. If you’ve planned properly you can get up to a couple of months of content created and ready to use within a few hours.

Tip Three: Keep It High Quality

Finally, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s not very nice looking at grainy, low-resolution imagery or video. So make sure anything you’re shooting is as high-resolution as possible (ideally 4k, but 1080p is good too). You can change the camera setting on your phone, if that’s what you’re using, to make sure you’re using the maximum resolution. Do this on iPhone by:

Open settings
Scroll down to Camera
Under “Record Video” you can change the quality settings. Set this to 4k.

Plus, remember, that different platforms have different aspect ratios. For reels and TikTok, you’ll want portrait. Whereas, If you’re shooting for YouTube or Facebook, landscape is best.

Now get creative! Think outside the box, plan some weird and wonderful content ideas, and set to shooting them using the social media tips above. We can’t wait to see your marvellous creations!

We hope you found our blog post helpful in learning how to shoot social media content! Of course, for even tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our newsletter. Lastly, you can also learn more about social media tips on the blog.

Speak soon,

Your ASV family xx

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