How This Underwear Model Received with an Anti-Black-Friday Social Marketing campaign

Ah, Black Friday.

It’s no shock that the official kick-off day for the vacation purchasing season is answerable for an enormous annual surge in shopper spending, reaching $8.9 billion in the US alone in 2021. However whereas it is a yearly slam-dunk for large field retailers, Black Friday can convey extra challenges than advantages for small companies.

Slashing costs to make gross sales cuts straight into their backside line — and with restricted advertising budgets and sources, competing with huge manufacturers takes braveness, perception, and creativity. That’s why the small companies that stand out in the course of the vacation season are those that join with the distinctive needs and desires of their prospects, get daring with their advertising methods, and create thumb-stopping content material that’s certain to get individuals speaking.

Final yr, UK-based sustainable underwear model and Hootsuite buyer Pantee received Black Friday with a marketing campaign that broke conference and raised consciousness of unsustainable impulse shopping for. We interviewed Pantee’s founders, sisters Amanda and Katie McCourt, to find out how they did it, what the outcomes had been, and what they’ve realized for future campaigns.

What’s Pantee?

Pantee is an underwear model making a distinction: their merchandise are made utilizing “deadstock” materials, or unsold stock that will in any other case find yourself in landfills. Designed by girls, for girls and the planet, Pantee’s merchandise are created with consolation and magnificence in thoughts, whereas serving to stop unused clothes from going to waste.

@pantee_uk We launched a enterprise in lockdown! Right here’s how we did it ✨🩲 #smallbusinesslaunch #howtostartabusiness #smallbusinesscheck #whatididduringlockdown ♬ Bubble – Official Sound Studio

For Pantee, sustainability isn’t a buzzword or pattern to leap on; the model was based with this function at its core. The thought got here to life in a thrift retailer in 2019, when Amanda was searching second-hand clothes shops in London and was blown away by the variety of brand-new t-shirts lining the cabinets, tags nonetheless on them.

“It was loopy to me how many individuals had given away garments earlier than even carrying them as soon as,” says Amanda. “It received me considering: If that is what number of discarded garments we are able to see, how a lot is there that we are able to’t see? As soon as I began researching, I knew that we may make a distinction. It’s very tough to get shopping for proper within the trend trade with developments and purchasing cycles altering so ceaselessly, and because of this, many firms overproduce. I grew to become fixated on the thought of what we may do with deadstock clothes.”

The brief reply to Amanda’s query on how a lot waste we are able to’t see: a lot. The style trade produces an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually, and roughly 30% of garments made are by no means even bought.

With a daring ardour to make a distinction for our planet—and after realizing that the gentle cotton t-shirt material everybody loves would lend itself effectively to underwear and wi-fi bras—Amanda and Katie named the enterprise Pantee (an abridged model of “pants created from deadstock tees”) and started working bringing the idea to life.

@pantee_uk Upcycling by no means felt so good ♻️ hyperlink in bio to be taught extra about how we make sustainable underwear! #sustainablefashion #smallbusinesslove #fyp #consolation #recycledfashion ♬ luxurious – milo

Since initially launching their Kickstarter in November 2020 (the place they raised £11,000) and Shopify web site in February 2021, Pantee has grown right into a profitable sustainable startup—upcycling greater than 1,500 kgs of deadstock material in its first 1.5 years alone. Pantee additionally crops one tree for each order positioned (leading to over 1,500 timber planted!) and is a proud member of 1% For the Planet.

Flipping the script with a ‘Blackout Friday’ marketing campaign

Main as much as the Black Friday pandemonium in 2021, Amanda and Katie had one factor on their minds: overconsumption. Already a difficulty within the trend trade in the course of the common season, Black Friday was certain to encourage shoppers to make pointless purchases—a lot of which might go unused and find yourself again on cabinets or, worse, in landfills.

So, whereas many small companies grappled with whether or not or to not run gross sales and promotions, Pantee requested a distinct query: how may they create a profitable marketing campaign whereas staying true to their mission?

• The answer: Reclaim Black Friday by rebranding it “Blackout Friday,” an initiative encouraging shoppers to rethink their purchases and keep away from impulse shopping for.
• The message: Cease and suppose before you purchase. Is it one thing you like? Is it one thing you want? In that case, go forward— purchase and revel in your new buy. However for those who weren’t already going to make that buy, think about going with out.

“Black Friday is the most important impulse shopping for day of the yr, and folks get simply sucked into gross sales,” says Katie. “However the mentality needs to be: Is it actually a discount for those who weren’t going to spend the cash initially? Our marketing campaign stance was to not encourage impulse shopping for, and we noticed numerous engagement due to the shared values and customary floor it established with our viewers.”

“There may be a lot overconsumption on Black Friday,” provides Amanda. “Our stance wasn’t essentially don’t make a purchase order, however for those who’re going to, purchase one thing you’ve wished for a very very long time.”

Pantee didn’t cease there. To convey the marketing campaign to life and put their phrases into motion, the retailer turned off their web site to all however their engaged prospects, who had been solely in a position to entry the web site by a code they despatched to their current mailing checklist.

The outcomes

The marketing campaign was an amazing success, resulting in a major enhance in gross sales, social engagement and attain, model consciousness and new buyer acquisition.

• Engagement on social media doubled all through the marketing campaign (from 4 to eight%), and natural social impressions reached over 4x the full followers on the time.
• The marketing campaign organically elevated internet visitors by 122% month-over-month in November 2021 with none supported paid spend.
• Pantee’s mailing checklist grew by 33% within the week main as much as Black Friday.
• The success of the social marketing campaign prolonged far past Pantee’s Instagram, with the initiative featured in top-tier press together with The Observer, Drapers, Reuters, The Each day Mail, and extra.

“Whereas we didn’t run a sale or any promotions final yr, Black Friday was the most important gross sales day of the yr,” says Katie. “By merely taking a stand and leveraging social to get our message out, we drove a month’s value of internet visitors in a matter of hours and had a great deal of individuals signing up for our e-mail checklist. We noticed a ton of latest, first-time prospects simply because they valued what we had been doing.”

“Manufacturers usually suppose that you would be able to have values, however they received’t convert to gross sales,” provides Amanda. “However we predict that’s altering—and this marketing campaign is a good instance of that.”

Pantee is now launching the marketing campaign for the second yr and looking out ahead to much more spectacular outcomes.

4 classes realized from one unconventional marketing campaign

Whether or not you’re brainstorming future inventive campaigns, constructing out subsequent quarter’s social advertising technique or already getting began on planning for subsequent yr’s vacation season, Pantee’s Blackout Friday marketing campaign holds nice classes that each marketer ought to hold prime of thoughts. We requested Amanda and Katie for his or her prime 4 suggestions—right here’s what they stated.

1. Hone in in your function

“We speak so much about our values as a model,” says Katie. “And time and time once more, we’ve seen that if we discuss a difficulty, our values, or one thing with substance behind it, our engagement is a lot greater. That’s what individuals need to see: one thing that will get them considering.”

Amanda provides: “I believe at one level, we misplaced our manner a bit and have become extra product and gross sales heavy on our social channels, and we seen that we weren’t getting the identical attain. Pushing product works by e-mail advertising and different areas of the enterprise, however with social, we’ve seen an even bigger alternative to teach our viewers and share helpful data that they will stroll away with.”

2. An engaged group is the whole lot

“There’s an enormous distinction between rising a following and rising a following that additionally has engagement,” explains Katie.” Relating to social, what we’ve discovered is that individuals who engaged with us early on have turn into advocates for our model. We see a lot worth in group and fascinating with our prospects past getting the sale. Many manufacturers see social as a platform to get their message out, however for us, it’s a two-way avenue.”

3. Don’t be afraid to be daring

“We realized fairly early on with our social that the best peaks of engagement occurred once we took a stand for one thing,” says Katie. “We’ve at all times been fairly mission pushed, however we wish to have enjoyable with it and never be too preachy. After we’ve launched campaigns with our sustainability mission on the forefront, the engagement has been by the roof.”

4. Keep in mind that there’s extra to social than what you’re posting

“Social media isn’t nearly what you submit, it’s about the way you have interaction with different accounts and make individuals really feel,” explains Amanda. “Spending time in your social platforms connecting with others, constructing relationships and establishing an engaged group is invaluable. We use our social channels for two-way conversations with each prospects and our group – there may be a lot you’ll be able to be taught if you speak with them as a substitute of at them.”

If there’s one takeaway that rises above all of the others, it’s that social is among the strongest instruments that manufacturers can use to ignite their enterprise, turning bystanders into loyal model advocates, consciousness into gross sales, and your mission into optimistic, tangible change. Simply ask Pantee.

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