Discover the key strategies behind Aimee Smale's journey in scaling Odd Muse from its inception to 8 figures within four years
How to scale a fashion brand to success like Aimee Smale from Odd Muse during interview with Fashion Business Coach Elizabeth Stiles.
Growing a fashion brand takes a lot of work, it requires consistency and its harrrrd! I am always interested in how Founders have grown their brands and Aimee Smale is an incredible role model for young brand owners (some might say she is the new Grace Beverley!)
I sat down to interview Aimee on my podcast; The Fashion Brand Clinic where she shared invaluable insights into her journey, unveiling five key strategies that have been instrumental in her success. Let's delve deeper into these strategies and explore how they can shape the trajectory of your fashion brand.
Delirious Self-Belief
Aimee's journey underscores the significance of total confidence in your product. To succeed in the competitive fashion industry, you must believe in your vision and product range. This unwavering self-belief is the bread and butter of your business because if you don’t believe it’s going to work out, then who else will?
Championing Best Sellers
Another key factor in Odd Muse’s success is the practice of nurturing best-selling products. Aimee emphasises the importance of keeping these products at the core of your collection and continually reinventing them to meet the evolving needs and preferences of your customers. By doubling down on what works best, you can establish a loyal customer base and drive sustained growth. Not to mention, reducing waste of stock that people aren’t buying which is one of the fashion industry’s biggest challenges.
Creating Hype for New Launches
Building hype is essential for the success of any new product launch. Aimee uses waitlists and a specific content strategy to generate excitement among customers. By teasing new releases and releasing content just before the launch date (usually the week before), you can get people really excited. New products launch at 9am and if you’re late, you will miss out. Most stock is sold out by 10am and then the customers have to join a pre order or another waitlist. They allocate each customer with a number, so that if you’re number ‘501’ on the waitlist you automatically understand the scale of the demand for the product.
Implementing a Varied Marketing Strategy
In today's digital age, a varied marketing approach is essential for reaching and engaging with your target audience. Aimee stresses the importance of understanding the unique strengths of each platform, from TikTok for brand awareness to Instagram and email marketing for driving conversions. It’s vital to understand that different content is needed for different platforms and that we tend to trust people more on platforms like Instagram so it’s important to not move away from it even if the growth isn’t as quick on that platform. She mentions how important it is to not base your social media and marketing strategy around viral social media posts, they are great but cannot be relied upon from sustained growth and consistent orders. She also talks about the importance of staying up to date on trends but making your own brand trends on social media that people will recognise you for and be interested in seeing multiple times. For example, Odd Muse often do photoshoots in the streets in particular in Paris and so they are now recognised for this.
Considering Different Markets
Aimee's experience highlights the importance of balancing customer demographics and geographical regions to ensure resilience in the face of market challenges like a recession. By tapping into other markets, you can safeguard your brand's stability and long-term growth. Odd Muse’s revenue is made up of 50% sales from the US and they did to start with, they sold more to US than she did to UK at the start. It’s important to think global from day one and take a global approach to marketing your business.
Final Words of Wisdom
Don’t be scared and allow yourself to be stopped by fear. Yes, it costs money to start up a business and you will need to invest money into it to make it successful, you have to spend money to make money. But isn’t that risk worth it?
From Aimee Smale's journey with Odd Muse, aspiring fashion brand owners can take away invaluable insights into the strategies that drive success in the industry. By embracing delirious self-belief, championing best sellers, creating hype for new launches, implementing a varied marketing strategy and considering different markets, you can chart a course toward achieving your own aspirations of fashion brand success.