9 Business Growth Strategies for Fashion Designers Marketplaces in 2022

If you operate a business that is a marketplace for emerging fashion designers from around the world, these growth ideas may enlighten your path to grow.

• Use trends charts
• Add follow function
• Branded T-shirts
• Free product for curators
• Partnership with charities
• Use Twitch
• Affiliate marketing
• Showcase your sellers
• Use the power of the discount

1. Use trends charts

Let anyone see which designers are trending up or trending down. So your marketplace can be a place where upcoming designers congregate to share ideas and receive feedback. This may encourage the community to curate the marketplace themselves.

2. Add follow function

Give consumers a taste of the diversity of talent on market, showing them a spread of items from various designers. Consumers can then follow the designer that they're most interested in, and receive a weekly snapshot of that designer's products - ensuring that they don't miss out on the latest and most exciting products from their favourite designers.

3. Branded T-shirts

Work with famous celebrities to create a "must-have" T-shirt for a popular movie or T.V show, such as HBO's Silicon Valley. Customers love to wear branded t-shirts of their favourite T.V shows and movies. Additionally, by partnering with other brands that are incredibly popular online, you can give away t-shirts so people can share their experience on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc. The high-quality photoshoots for your marketplace t-shirts will be used on the main site and amazing word of mouth will spread virally.

4. Free product for curators

Invite your community to be curators for the products featured on your marketplace. When someone is chosen as a curator, they are given a free product from the featured designer as a reward. This will get them to post about the product they received on their social media.

5. Partnership with charities

Partner with organisations and charities that can be used by your business as a fundraising platform. Think of Dinesh's "Good News on a Bad Day" story. Imagine if he was able to sell his t-shirts that raise money for children with autism and give back 50% to the charity hosting the sale. You can have opportunities like this all over the globe. Every charity, social cause, school class trip, church group, wedding, etc. would love to have custom t-shirts made for them to raise money while spreading awareness about their cause. You could even offer them a portal in their name where they can design their own t-shirt and they email it to your market for printing. Easy for everyone!

6. Use Twitch

Think of the many personalities streaming their live gameplay. Allow your marketplace users to stream their fashion design process. It would be a lot of fun for viewers to watch the creative process for fashion design unfold live as each piece is created.

7. Affiliate marketing

Partner with bloggers and influencers who can create content that links to your marketplace's product page. Another way to attract users is through content marketing, such as starting a blog with style tips, fashion trends or DIY projects related to the clothes designers are selling on your marketplace. It's possible you could partner with universities for student discount codes, or enterprise companies for discounts for their employees; providing these discounts will be a great way to see if there's a demand for your product.

8. Showcase your sellers

Use your customers in marketing campaigns. Offer customers the opportunity to use their designs as a model in your marketplace's fashion shoots. This will allow them to have their work seen and display their talent for designers from all over the world – ultimately earning them more money than they initially paid you. Having this as an option on your website would incentivize users to buy a plan with custom content, allowing them to gain exposure to future clients. This is also a unique way to showcase your most talented sellers as designers to the world, increasing engagement and conversion funnel potential.

9. Use the power of the discount

To attract users, bloggers can create blog posts that link to your marketplace's product page. The company can also cooperate with universities for student discount codes and enterprise companies for discounts for their employees; these discounts will be a great way to see if there is a demand for its products.