Business

TOPSHOP SOCIAL STRATEGY

JOSSELYN THORNTON

Introduction

Topshop was founded in 1964 in Sheffield, London and was created as a

brand extension of the department store Peter Robinson. Topshop was

established to be a high fashion store for the young and different generations,

focusing on individuality and diversity. They create clothes ranging from petite to

plus and focus on accessories and denim. Topshop creates progressive and

trending campaigns in-store and online that combine creativity and commerce.

Topshop recently filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. and is liquidating all of its

U.S. stores. With this issue being top of mind, the main goal of the company is to

find a way to make the U.S. market work for them. While this goal is massive,

focusing it onto one specific platform and a specific campaign, we help make this

goal more achievable. Focusing on Topshop’s Instagram, the goal is to increase

overall sales and brand awareness in the U.S.

Situation Analysis

With Topshop recently filing for bankruptcy in the U.S., the current

landscape is rocky. Economically, the U.S. is not their most successful market,

but the type of audience they target is similar across borders. Focusing their

audience into three groups will allow a more targeted approach.

“The Loyalists” are avid Topshop shoppers. This audience is very upset by

Topshop closing its U.S. based stores and will continue to shop the products

wherever they can. They support the brand and what it stands for and will be key

in revamping its success in the U.S. market. “The Creatives” are the audience

group that loves being different. They look for clothes that may push the

boundaries and loves that they can find truly unique pieces at Topshop. They

shop here, but there are a lot of them who are unaware of Topshop. Lastly, “The

Trenders” are those who dress for the times. They are constantly on-trend and

their clothes are an extension of that. They appreciate Topshop’s trend-forward

clothing and also that it is of higher quality than some of the other fast fashion

brands. All three of these audience groups fall into the twenty to late thirty age

range.

Understanding these publics helps to determine what social platform to

focus on, how to communicate and what type of content to create. Knowing that

64% of 18-29-year-olds and 40% of 30-49-year-olds use Instagram, we can

focus on targeting this social campaign and strategy to that platform (West,

2019).

Social Media Monitoring

Currently, Topshop’s Instagram focuses on the products they sell by

implementing shoppable posts. They use trending content types like memes to

help increase engagement and use IGTV to launch campaigns. Topshop users

only high-quality imagery and video as they are aware that those types of assets

perform the best. They focus on using products in context, instead of flat lays.

This allows users to see themselves wearing clothes and accessories which can

dramatically increase sales. The Instagram profile also has the most followers of

any other social channel, reaching over 9.9 million users.

When looking at Twitter, it focuses on sharing blog content, using trending

hashtags to spread their content organically and to help drive sales. Their Twitter

account doesn’t get as heavy as an engagement when compared to Instagram

but does a great job of using the platform for what it is best known for: trending

content. Topshop is good about inserting themselves into other conversations to

spread awareness, like talking about new Netflix shows or what is going on in

London.

When it comes to Facebook, Pinterest, and Snapchat, Topshop isn’t

focusing as heavily on these platforms for good reason. They aren’t as effective

when it comes to selling products or starting a conversation. Facebook mainly

focuses on driving users to the website and does a good job of boosting e-

commerce.

To maintain a social edge, implementing Crimson Hexagon for social

listening can determine the U.S. perspective on Topshop. This can help deepen

the overall social and digital strategy and measure what type of sentiment

surrounds the brand.

Objectives

Objective 1: Increase the number of U.S. based user engagements on

Instagram by 10% by December 2020

To help Topshop bring its U.S. market back to life, focusing on increasing

engagement on Instagram can offer many benefits. First, it will allow social

strategists to see the type of people interacting with the content including

geographic location, age, and gender. After understanding exactly who is

engaging with the content, strategists can analyze these engagements

(comments, likes, shares) and determine if they are proactively engaging or

subconsciously engaging. Once this information is determined, strategists can

create retargeting campaigns to serve those users with ads based on the type of

content they engaged with. The more users who engage with Topshop’s content

can demonstrate that the U.S. is still a market that is worth pursuing. We will

measure the success of this objective by using the native features on Instagram

and Facebook. This will allow us to measure overall engagements and

engagements per post.

Objective 2: Increase website traffic from Instagram by U.S. based users by

10% by December 2020

By focusing specifically on website traffic from Instagram, we are

narrowing the scope to make sure it is more tactical and strategic. By creating

interesting and engaging content on Instagram and adding shoppable tags that

link back to the Topshop website can increase U.S. based website traffic. This

traffic can offer statistics and information on the type of shopper, their interests

and location. This can help add information on the warm audiences (the ones

who aren’t just scrolling but are actively looking on the website) to allow

strategists to gain more knowledge on why the U.S. market did not perform well

and how to fix it. On top of this, we can see how well Instagram does on getting

users to leave the platform and go shopping on the website. By tracking the

number of website views coming straight from Instagram, we can also determine

the platform's influence on the target audience. We will measure the success of

this objective by using a UTM link, where we can track website views from

Instagram as well as using the native Instagram reporting features.

Objective 3: Increase online sales in the U.S. by 10% by December of 2020

With Topshop filing for bankruptcy in the U.S., the most important objective

is to make the company money. Focusing specifically on U.S. sales will allow us

to see if paid social and other social tactics increase sales for U.S. based

residents. This can give Topshop an aerial view on whether or not the U.S.

market is one to continue to go after, or if liquidating their U.S. stores was a good

move. We can measure this by using Google Analytics to track conversions from

cart to close.

Campaign Proposal

To achieve the three outlined objectives, we have created the proposed

strategy. We will develop an Instagram-focused social specific campaign that

revamps Topshop presence in the U.S. The campaign will be called 2020 Vision

and start the first of January. 2020 Vision will enlist influencers to create IGTV

segments, still photography and short-form videos that will focus on what their

2020 vision is. Whether their vision includes success, starting fresh, being

original or unique, each asset will highlight how Topshop clothing helps them

achieve that 2020 vision. This campaign focus will allow Topshop to develop

relationships with brand advocates and create a cohesive campaign that will

focus on the new, trending and innovative style that Topshop represents.

Tying this campaign back to the objectives outlined, we will use a paid

element to help meet our goals. To increase engagement, we will create

Instagram engagement ads and promote the IGTV and grid post series. We will

also natively share the posts to Instagram stories to increase visibility. To

increase website traffic, we will run brand awareness ads that will direct

audiences back to the Topshop website. Using the outlined publics, we can first

cast a wider net and then move those that interact down the funnel. Moving these

audiences down the funnel will help meet our third objective, to increase online

sales. By using engaging social content, high-quality assets and a paid element,

hitting all three objectives by the end of 2020 is realistic.

Social Calendar

DATE COPY ASSET 1/1 Hello 2020! To celebrate a new year, we

want to highlight a new vision… a 2020 Vision. Throughout this year we will highlight stories of those making a change in 2020. Stay tuned. !

2020 Vision teaser video (on the grid + IGTV)

1/3 The new Tory jacket is to die for. Have you snagged this bad boy?

Shoppable post

1/6 Meet [insert name]. She’s making waves this year by [insert 2020 vision story copy].

First influencer story (on the grid + IGTV)

1/8 Still recovering from New Year’s Eve? Grab this Teddy top to get you through the rest of winter.

Shoppable post

1/10 Shoes are a girl’s best friend. And purses. And jewelry.. Okay, we just love to shop! Check out these fabulous finds on our website.

Shoppable post

1/13 Our 2020 Vision supporter [insert name] is rockin’ this fringe look.

Influencer assets

1/15 Hello [insert name]! This girl is a force to be reckoned with. [insert 2020 vision story copy].

Second influencer story (on the grid + IGTV)

1/17 If Brittney Spears could get through 2007, we can get through today.
 
 And if we can’t, retail therapy typically helps.

Shoppable post

1/20 [insert name] says that the " to success is through mindset. Do you agree?

Influencer assets

1/22 This jumpsuit has sold out TWICE. Grab it before it’s gone!

Shoppable post

1/24 [insert name] has already seen success in 2020. Check out her 2020 Vision.

Third influencer story (on the grid + IGTV)

1/27 Croc and cow - an interesting combination elsewhere but here it works. Tap to shop or shop with the # in bio.

Shoppable post

1/30 2020 Vision means waking up and taking the day by storm. At least, [insert name] thinks so.

Influencer assets

2/3 These suits mean business. Make a statement in your next interview.

Shoppable post

2/5 Good morning to everyone and especially [insert name] who is doing the most in 2020.

Influencer assets

2/7 Get your sparkle on with these looks. ✨ Shoppable post

2/10 Hello [insert name]! This girl is a force to be reckoned with. [insert 2020 vision story copy].

Fourth influencer story (on the grid + IGTV)

2/12 Clothes that make you want to dance. Only from Topshop.

Shoppable post

2/14 Wear something nice and bright to hide how sleepy you really feel.

Shoppable post

2/17 Give your colored clothes the day off and wear all black like [insert name]. Her 2020 vision is focused.

Influencer assets

2/19 Stay warm with these fuzzy coats. Tap to shop or visit the # in bio.

Shoppable post

2/21 Does this bag count as my plus one? Shop the look.

Shoppable post

2/24 Hello [insert name]! This girl is a force to be reckoned with. [insert 2020 vision story copy].

Fifth influencer story (on the grid + IGTV)

2/26 Red dresses are reserved for Valentine’s Day. Grab this before it’s gone.

Shoppable post

Metrics

To measure the success of this campaign, we will look at many variables

but will use one specific platform to keep them together. Sweetspot will allow us

to keep track of our growth throughout 2020 and make sure we are aligned to

meet our outlined objectives by the end of the year. By adding out KPI’s to

Sweetspot, we can offer hard, factual data to show Topshop how the U.S.

audience is interacting with the content and use it to show that the U.S. is still an

important market to be in. Metrics will include engagements (comments, likes,

shares, bookmarks, profile visits), impressions, reach, video views, website

clicks, shoppable tag views, and shoppable tag clicks. These metrics combined

will give a visual into the success of the 2020 Vision campaign and its impact on

the three main objectives. This data will be reported on each month to allow the

most accurate reporting over 12 months. We will also include insights each

month to see how our strategy is performing and if there are areas we need to

change to allow for the most successful social-first strategic campaign.

2/28 Fierce. Fun. Fabulous. That’s how [insert name] is feeling all 2020. Shop her look with the the # in bio.

Influencer assets

Reference:

West, C. (2019, July 8). 17 Instagram stats marketers need to know for 2019.

_______Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/.