This is a Quora question I was asked and here is my answer.

Based on your question, it appears you have a brand with products geared toward the fashion categories of cosmetics and jewelry. You want to know what you need to do to ensure a successful launch.

In comparison to consumer products in general, the fashion category is particularly tough:

  • Trends can come and go quickly, which means brands have to adapt quickly;
  • Fashion is a leading and progressive category for technology adoption, so brands have to keep up with what consumers want.

Based on those factors, here is what I would focus on.

Brand look and Capabilities

Through as much secondary research (articles, trade journals, etc) and primary research (interviewing and talking with potential customers), understand your target market as best as possible, which include demographics, psychographics (their interests, hobbies, behaviors) and geographics (where are they located).

You want to use this information to create the right brand look and feel with the right marketing copy and other creative elements to appeal to your target market. Fashion is so much about a brand’s intangibles – even more so than the utility of the product, which is where creative elements like look, feel, and marketing copy become so important.

You are also looking at other factors that you need to put in place that might be important to your target market, like same-day delivery, payments via croptocurrency, great customer service, cause marketing, etc.

While research ahead of launch is very helpful, you need to be able to change and adapt quickly, so have the right internal processes and systems setup so you can do that. You don’t want to get locked in such that it is very difficult and time consuming for you to change, because otherwise the market will change and you will not be able to adapt.

Messaging Platforms

You want to use the latest ways in which your target market will want to hear from you and communicate from you. That is a highly functional website with personalization components built in, with marketing deployed across the current channels in which your target market spends their time, and sales through 3rd party marketplaces where your target market likes to shop.

As already mentioned, fashion is a progressive category in technology adoption, so you may need to have the best and latest.

Metrics

Build in robust systems to capture metrics on your marketing and sales. You need a feedback mechanism that tells you how well your messaging is performing, which means systems to capture and analyze the data. But you have to be able to analyze and react to the data quickly. As already mentioned, fashion is a fast moving industry, so you have to be setup to react fast.

General metrics in particular that I look to gauge success include:

  • Marketing spend;
  • Message engagement rates (email, social views, social shares, hashtags, etc);
  • Click throughs;
  • Conversions;
  • Average Order Value;
  • Cost per click;
  • Cost per visitor;
  • Cost per order;
  • Cart abandon rate;
  • Cancels/Declines/Returns rates;
  • Return on advertising spend (ROAS) or marketing efficiency ratio (MER);
  • Lifetime value, calculated at least over 12-months, but can be also much sooner depending upon the product repurchase cycle.
  • ROI

Influencers

Fashion categories are heavily influenced and driven by influencers and personalities, not by ads.

Your success may be greatly impacted by the use of influencers to help promote your brand, so look for those that command the attention by those in your target market and work with them to help promote you.

For more information, I would read from the following industry resources to help you stay on top of what fashion brands are doing to succeed: