According to Fashion United, the Fashion industry was riding an enormous success in the past decade with the market value at a whopping US$406 billion.

However, the tables soon turned with the dawn of COVID-19, and the global retail scene soon became one of the industries reeling the hardest from its impact. Depending on the duration a store closes, McKinsey has revealed that 75 per cent of apparel and fashion companies could face challenges managing debt levels in the near future.

On the other hand, the global video game industry is thriving with the practice of social distancing becoming the “new norm”. Gaming now offers an engaging distraction for people at home craving for social interaction. Asian gaming giants Nintendo and Tencent both saw sales increases during the first quarter.

The former sold almost half of its games digitally, a record that helped increase profits by 41 per cent, while Tencent’s year-on-year online games revenue increased by 31 per cent. Analysis from GamesIndustry.biz also shows that sales across 50 key markets rose by 63 per cent.

When comparing fashion and gaming, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Let’s take a deep dive into the commonalities of both sides and what the former can learn from the latter to tide through the pandemic and restore its former glory.

Also Read: What are the key trends in mobile gaming ads in Southeast Asia?

Embracing technology in products

We are in an era of digitalisation where consumers and businesses are brought to an online world at an accelerated pace due to COVID-19. With physical shops closing around the world, businesses are seeking to strengthen their online presence as a key to their survival through digital enablement.

Lesson 1: Companies should view state-of-the-art technology as an enabler for sales, revenue, and competitive advantage rather than a possible risk. Progress in digital transformation allows them to explore new business models or new revenue streams

At Europe’s largest games trade fair in Cologne, Gamescom, one can witness the ever-faster pace of innovation. The latest technological trends, hypes, and games are presented to appeal to consumers’ senses. Technological interfaces such as APIs or interconnected software systems are also a prerequisite for operational speed in product development, marketing and personalisation in real-time.

A personalised experience, highly interactive engagement and convenience in all shapes and forms have ingrained themselves as a critical part of consumers’ expectations in the gaming industry. In fact, these expectations have slowly spilt over to other industries, including the line of fashion.

Many large retail companies have made good progress in the digital transformation of their business models. However, it is not enough. Many businesses report that e-commerce sales are still flat compared to the same period last year. Even retailers with higher online penetration, such as direct-to-consumer speciality-apparel players, face challenges as consumers pull back on discretionary spending.

Companies that recognise the shift to retail digital transformation and take the initiative to further their digital strategies will be the ones that emerge stronger.

Also Read: Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it

Several notable cases are Lazada, Benefit Cosmetics, and Bazar adopting Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D technology to engage consumers with a personalised experience when shopping online.

Revisiting marketing strategies

The reality is that it is no longer enough to market the point of differentiation in one’s brand. While the quality of the product, as well as the ability to market the service, delivery, and overall convenience, is still crucial, marketing strategies have to be agile to adapt to changing circumstances. The Pandemic is a prominent illustration.

Same day delivery, curbside pick-up, and buy online or pick-up in-store have become table stakes and the competitive advantage derived from presenting these components becomes more important.

Lesson 2: Marketing strategies must create value for consumers and stakeholders. Organisations need to understand consumer’s changing behaviours to tweak their gameplay and ensure that these strategies capture value for themselves too.

The Gaming industry understands that ultra-high-end gaming is likely to remain popular but the emergence of services such as Arcade (Apple) and Game Pass (Microsoft) serve to disrupt the trend by providing gamers with a large library of video games without the need for advanced and expensive software.

Also Read: How this entrepreneur is stepping up the game for gaming tech e-commerce

In response, free-to-play models were developed, allowing developers to monetise without needed to convince consumers to make up-front purchases. Instead, they offer in-game upsell opportunities such as upgrades and expansion packs.

With evidence showing that cheaper entertainment tends to prosper during recessions, these low-cost, high-value offerings are a serious way for the gaming industry to expand.

The fashion industry consequently has to accelerate investments to enhance its marketing efforts. With the consumer shift online, businesses should consider enhancing their digital marketing strategies to build a stronger e-commerce presence but entice customers to visit physical stores when they reopen.

Exploring partnerships with online marketplace providers or wholesale partners is another alternative. One recent example is Walmart’s partnership with ThredUp. The former is offering some 750,000 pre-owned clothing through the resale site. The partnership is a win for both, as bringing in used apparel drives foot traffic to stores, and the established retailers provide ThredUp with new customers.

Similarly, the retailer has collaborated with Shopify. Walmart in recent years has evolved its strategy to stock more emerging and speciality brands on its shelves to match changing consumer tastes. The partnership with Shopify will broaden the visibility of smaller niche businesses to more than 120 million monthly visitors at Walmart.com, creating a better experience for merchants and consumers alike.

Overcoming challenges with compromises

COVID-19 has exposed the weaknesses of supply chains in businesses, with every industry experiencing negative supply shocks. How a business effectively moves away from supply chain bottleneck countries or companies will determine the speed and sustainability of their recovery.

Also Read: ZeusX to bring mobile gaming to the next level in 2020

Lesson 3: Companies should not depend on one external party when it comes to a crucial business process. Do not hesitate to make short-term compromises or be innovative to diversify the supply chain

For the wider gaming industry, the Pandemic has resulted in delays in the production of gaming hardware as factories around the world face supply chain interruptions. Pandemic-related delays have already been announced by game developers at Amazon, a Sony-owned studio and Square Enix. A loss of efficiency will also occur with more employees working remotely.

Nintendo has issued a warning that a situation of prolonged remote working will impact its processes, and the New York Times reports that developers as large as Sony, Amazon and Square Enix are facing difficulties. Some developers have found ways to adapt — albeit not without compromise. Gearbox Software, which makes the Borderlands series, has avoided delays on the deadline they had already committed to by deprioritising certain projects, some of which are unannounced.

Traditional retailers should thus rethink their smart supply network to match the new standards set by e-commerce and digital native players. Previous methods of reassessing inventory and segmenting stock in each category to assess the supply chain will not work any longer. New thinking and courage to step out of the old are required.

There is a shift in focus towards flexible supply chains over low-cost ones with fashion companies looking to onshore or nearshore. Deloitte has broken down four key digital retail trends that retailers can consider when tackling supply chain challenges: urban fulfilment, inventory strategy, flexible network and data, and technology adoption.

Preparing for a post-COVID era

The pandemic has brought to light the importance of forward-thinking. Leaders should look beyond epidemiology and sales data when reshaping their ecosystems to prepare for the future.

Instead, they should focus on becoming more customer-centric to avoid being crushed by unforeseen circumstances and competitors.

Also Read: Who’s driving e-sports and gaming in Southeast Asia: Gamers or fans?

Lesson 4: Never rest on your laurels. Constantly reflect on your consumers’ experience and build your roadmap from there.

While the boom time has been celebrated, gaming industry leaders are sober when assessing the future. They recognise the accelerated shift towards the delivery of games via mobile and cloud-based platforms, seeing the potential in this distribution model.

Google recently removed a US$130 sign-up fee for its cloud gaming service, Stadia, hoping that the value offered will convince consumers to stay for the long-term.  The rising tide of video games over the past couple months has also buoyed e-sports with licensed video games of Major League Baseball, NBA, NFL, FIFA, Formula 1 and NASCAR being aired variously on Fox, Fox Sports, NBC, ESPN and ESPN2 during prime slots. E-sports are subsequently seeking deeper investments from their sponsors so that their gains are sustainable.

We see BMW announcing a deal to sponsor four e-sports organisations in the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, and China. Zenni, an eyewear company has also expanded its footprint by adding two new e-sports organisations in their current deal.

With permanent shifts in consumer shopping behaviour pushing more traffic and categories online, recent McKinsey research highlights that retailers could see broader adoption of e-commerce in previously under-penetrated categories (e.g. lingerie) and consumer segments (e.g. baby boomers).

The Fashion industry could leverage this opportunity to revise channel-mix targets and investment allocation to give a greater share to online channels, gaining growth momentum through these channels while protecting brand equity.

Also Read: Who’s driving e-sports and gaming in Southeast Asia: Gamers or fans?

As more consumers are emphasising quality over organic or all-natural ingredients, retailers can keep a close eye on this consumer base and determine what it means for their brand and strategies.

In conclusion, the biggest lesson out of the crisis is to focus on customers. Customers are the foundation of every business’s success. Understanding customers ensures that one’s products and services attain greater satisfaction for them, increasing the long-term goal of repeat business.

If companies do not constantly develop or innovate further to meet clients’ needs, they must be prepared to face high customer churn. For instance, PUBG has lost 50 per cent of its players within half a year. The reasons for this are a lack of focus on the players (customers), unfixed bugs in the game and poor public communication with the players.

With accelerated digitisation in our interdependent world today, businesses should thereby undertake the consumer-centric approach when charting their success to ensure business continuity.

Those who do not prioritise their customers’ journeys and experience will have serious reputational ramifications that threaten their survival, even more than the virus itself.

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Financial projections are an essential part of a startup’s pitch to investors. They are a feature from the initial pitch to the due diligence process as well as valuation discussions. When we look at an early stage startup’s financial projections, we are fully aware that they may not be highly accurate.

After all, there’s usually no historical track record to act as a guide. Furthermore, the business may still be undergoing further changes and pivots.

However, achieving accuracy is not the only aim of preparing financial projections. It is the thought process involved in coming up with projections that gives a better understanding of the startup.

This process benefits both the founder as well as the potential investor. Projections help answer the question of whether capital raising is required and the amount that needs to be raised. They also guide investors on whether the investment returns justify the entry valuation.

Revenue

A good starting point in looking at a startup’s projections would be the revenue forecasts. We typically begin by analysing user growth projections. To set the stage, we try to understand the size of the addressable market and find out the segment of the market to be served by the startup.

We then assess the user growth forecasts in light of this market size. We ask if the market penetration rates are in line with the market sizing and competitive landscape.

Also Read: Mulling over the future of investing with Paul Meyers and Jussi Salovaara

To understand more about user growth, we find out how the startup plans to secure customers. We look at what is known as the sales funnel which tracks the conversion of potential leads into customers. What is the proportion of visitors to the website that turns into potential leads? How many of these leads convert into eventual paying customers?

We also consider how long the sales gestation period is and the time it takes for a customer to make a buying decision. For instance, B2B businesses generally have a much longer sales gestation period than B2C businesses.

With this knowledge, we are able to assess if the user growth is achievable given the resources available to the startup. This can be external resources like sales channels relied on to reach customers eg alliance and JV partners, distributors, or online advertising.

In addition, we gauge if internal sales resources are sufficient to attract and convert the number of leads required to achieve the growth targets. Operationally, the company needs to show that it can handle increased users too. We examine how easy or difficult it is to scale up operations by making new hires, increasing back-office capacity, or having an overseas presence.

Timing plays a part in revenue projections. Unit sales volumes should reflect sales cycles and seasonality. In cases where the startup’s business depends on specific milestones eg first prototype, regulatory approval, or pilot production, the timing of revenue should be aligned to these milestones.

A startup’s growth depends as much on user engagement as it does on new user acquisition. It is not all about securing new customers but how existing ones behave. Delving into the revenue projections will reveal the user engagement levels that the startup is expecting. We look at the rate of users coming back repeatedly to the service, the average order value, and how long a user engages with the service before dropping off.

Also Read: Singapore’s personal finance app Fincy secures US$11M from parent GBCI Ventures

This is where metrics such as customer lifetime value and churn rates play a part in revenue projections. User engagement gives us an idea of stickiness, providing further evidence that the pain point exists and how close the startup is to achieve a product-market fit.

Another metric to look at is whether revenue per user is expected to increase or decrease over time. Different cohorts of users coming on board at different timing may have their own purchasing patterns. The product mix will affect revenue per user as well.

Apart from user growth, the selling price assumptions make up another side of revenue projections. We need to ask whether the prices are consistent with current as well as future competition.

Tied into pricing assumptions would be the revenue model adopted by the startup eg. SAAS, freemium, profit share, etc. This is a good opportunity to examine on paper, the viability and profitability of the current revenue model.

Costs

Aggressive growth comes with its requisite expenditure. That’s why it is important to see if the increase in Selling, General & Admin costs and R&D costs correspond to revenue growth. It will not be realistic if such costs are increasing at a drastically lower rate than that of revenue. We should also benchmark these costs against competitors’ margins.

Another relevant metric to look at is Customer Acquisition Costs or CAC, which tracks the expenditure required to secure new customers. We compare the CAC to the customer lifetime value to measure how cost-effective it is to acquire new customers. This provides an indication of how easy or difficult it is to scale the business.

Cash flow projections

After looking at things from the perspective of revenue and costs, we examine them from a cash flow point of view.

Also Read: How to impress with your startup pitch

In order to forecast operating cash flows, the company makes certain assumptions on its working capital levels. This offers a glimpse of the impact of receivables and payables on its cash flows.

Startups may forecast aggressive revenue growth but the effects of supplier and customer credit payment terms will be felt on its cash flows. This is where the timing of payments to suppliers and payments from customers becomes relevant.

Another important element in the cash flow forecasts is capital expenditure. The higher the revenue growth projected by the startup, the higher the capex and reinvestment needed to power such growth. Whether it is supported by cash flows from operations or external funding, the projections should indicate how such capex is to be funded.

The cash flow projections give us an idea of when the company will likely reach cash flow breakeven. We get to see how far the business is from being sustainable and whether a minimum volume needs to be achieved for that to happen.

Hitting the benchmarks

The projections will shed light on how much runway the company has before it runs out of cash. They provide clarity on the amount that needs to be raised in the current round of funding.

Projections should paint a picture of the startup hitting the next key milestones with or without funding. We can then see how this increases the value of the company. In the fundraising process, this allows investors to estimate the potential valuation at the exit of the investment.

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The buzzword for undergraduates today has been internships and the current situation we find ourselves in has increased its popularity exponentially. Given the poor job market today, even graduates are snatching at internships to tide themselves through these tough times.

This has led to an influx of higher quality interns and resulted in prospective interns today have a wider choice of industries to pick from than a year ago. In such gloomy times globally, it was an appreciated silver lining.

Before embarking on the search for my maiden internship, I was faced with the first key decision I had to make. Which industry to intern in? I was presented with a plethora of choices ranging from large corporate firms such as the Big Four to seed-stage startups that were just born months ago, at the height of the pandemic.

It was as diverse as the tech community’s opinion on which of iOS or Android is the superior smartphone operating system today. However, just like how some in the community above pledge their loyalty to either faction, I was immediately drawn to the tech startup ecosystem, for the below reasons.

Diversity

The startup ecosystem is a harsh and unrelenting environment. It is often said that it is the epitome of the phrase, survival of the fittest. Given the early stage of a business model that startups find themselves in with high cash burn and challenges to fund their growth and expansion plans, they must rely on lean operating structures that banked on those working for them to have high productivity levels.

Often in early stage startups, initial employees wore multiple hats and undertook different roles that were not necessarily related to one another. It was common to see founders hold the CEO, product, and marketing manager roles concurrently. These startups would have loved to make specific hires for those roles but they just did not have the financial ability to do so.

Also Read: Students, here are 3 reasons why you should never intern at a startup

Enter increased learning opportunities for interns. The flexibility in the job scope listed for interns meant they tended to learn more than their peers who chose their internships in the conventional corporate sectors. As Koh Kang Liang shared in his blog post, his three-month-long internship at ShopBack, back when it was still a 10-men team, saw him being tasked to oversee their hiring and networking portfolios, conduct market research and do up financial reports.

His initial job scope? Business development and analytics intern. While it represented a steep learning curve for him with multiple responsibilities, he remarked that he felt energised by them and saw his work translate into a real, concerted impact on the company. Looking back, he shared that while the internship was a challenging experience, it was a fulfilling one as he learned many skills along the way. Given ShopBack’s immense success today, I am sure Kang Liang would be doubly proud of his efforts early on to build it.

Culture

Entrepreneurs, though they look just like you and me from a physical viewpoint, are a different breed from the rest when it comes to their mindsets. They have high levels of determination, self-drive, and are not afraid of failure. They are doers. Consequently, they create teams that possess similar traits to them, and therefore, it is often said that startups consist of high energy, motivated teams that function at a fast pace in a productive and efficient manner.

The constant problem solving that was required to deal with the multitude of uncertainty, given its norm in the startup ecosystem, resulted in teams consisting of agile individuals that would not be afraid to shy away from problems but rather tackle them head-on to solve it. As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the importance of soft skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving cannot be understated. Thus, being exposed to them constantly in the startup ecosystem would go a long way to developing future-proof careers.

The hierarchical lines are significantly more blurred in a startup compared to conventional corporate firms and interns can utilise this to their advantage. Those who you need to report directly to are often instead referred to as mentors instead of bosses and you could easily meet your founders at the water cooler and bounce off ideas and wisdom from them.

Also Read: Rethinking the way we do student internships

Given the small teams that startups operate in, interns might have the opportunity to take part in meetings involving C-suite executives and observe on a deeper level how businesses and decision-making are executed at the top. These experiences, I reasoned, would not have been possible at a big corporate firm due to the sheer size and complexity of their corporate management structure.

The power of tech

While much has been said on the negative impacts of technology on our lives, we cannot escape from the fact that we have greatly benefitted from it and humans would have been far worse off without it. From the invention of the steam engine in the First Industrial Revolution to the birth of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Fourth, technology has made us more productive and is a key reason why we are able to achieve constant progress as a global population.

However, technology does not only make us smarter workers, it saves lives too. Take eko.ai for example. Utilising AI tools to detect often silent symptoms of heart diseases, the Singapore-based startup aims to reduce the cost and time for such detection tests and in the process, save lives.

Given that startups exist due to the presence of problems in our community, it is only natural that they enter the market with a viable solution that solves these issues and increase the convenience and quality of life for everyone. ible’s Airvida air purifier band certainly achieves that. In an effort to combat the seasonal haze in Southeast Asia and bring better living quality and protection to the community, their wearable air purifier utilises negative ions to draw harmful air particles away from the user and reduce the inhalation of smoke, pollen and allergens by up to 99 per cent.

Therefore, the power of tech and the positive impact it could have on other’s lives drew me to the industry and as Kang Liang shared earlier on in the article, the fulfilment of your work would be much higher if you could see the impact it had on others.

Also Read: Why you should never intern at a startup (especially e27)

Take your pick

Ultimately, the tech startup ecosystem is not for everyone. It is important to note when choosing which industry to pursue your internship in, you need to consider whether your personal traits are aligned to that of the ecosystem. Given that I desired being given multiple responsibilities and working in a fast-paced environment to challenge myself, I knew that the tech startup ecosystem would entice me and I hope that after digesting the above points I shared that played a part in my decision, you would gain better clarity and truly choose an internship you would benefit from.

As mentioned at the start, internships are the buzzwords for undergraduates for a reason. A strong foundation is necessary for a long and rewarding career and internships assist in laying the bricks for your desired career.

Therefore, pick wisely.

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Undeniably, COVID-19 send the world travel industry back to 10 years ago when travel startups are standing on the verge of collapse. Additionally, the frozen demand for travel and tourism has caused investors to scrupulously pour capital. Due to financial exhaustion, the majority of travel businesses have reconstructed to survive.

The period from 2013 to 2019 referred as the golden edge of the travel and hospitality sector when investors saw the dramatically potential boom of the industry.

While the risk investment in 2013 accounted for US$1.4 billion, that number rapidly claimed to a peak of US$30.3 billion, which is equivalent to the average growth rate of 48 per cent annually.

Additionally, the portion of travel and tourism in the investor’s portfolio had increased from two to 18 per cent in five years. Unfortunately, the trend had ended due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

An adverse adjustment in investment preferences

In the first half of 2020, the value of investment deals in travel startups significantly drop over 42 per cent that the number of deals also fall by 25 per cent. It was due to the expeditious decline of global demands. The new transaction has rarely occurred, while the current cancellation rate is on the rise.

Accordingly, several startups are running out of money, leading them to implement a prudent financial plan instead of burning money to expand the market share as six months ago.

Also Read: How travel tech startup Travelhorse survives the pandemic by branching into new territory

Undoubtedly, the airline sector and its investors are suffering the greatest loss recently. In June 2020, investors of Delta Airline had lost over 26 per cent of what they invested in this brand due to the sharp drop in the global stock market. Besides, there was a surge of business withdrawing from the market, while the number of new entrances constantly decrease in the Asian market. 

On the other hand, the adverse change in investors’ preferences also induces pressure in a fundraising round of several Asia startups. An online booking startup, Traveloka claimed that it was struggling with a new round of fundraising, which was over 17 per cent lower than the nearest one.

Definitely, Traveloka has never been the only victim. Even Airbnb encountered financial trouble recently. In which, around 90 per cent drop in its online travel booking platform cause this vacation rental business falling into US$2 billion debt, while some big investors refuse to add new money for it.

Prompt response

Many travel companies have decided to temporarily change the core business models, investing in other industries instead of pure travel business. Along with the advantage of broad customers’ groups and strong online distribution, those enterprises have a high incentive to enter the FMCG market. Besides, some startups expect the grow via the online food industry, which refers to be the least influential industry. 

KKday in 2019 was the emerging online tour booking platform with rapid growth in three consecutive years. Unfortunately, its revenues were estimated to drop off a lift by over 90 per cent due to the pandemic, as the cancelled orders continuously erode its financial condition.

As a result, KKday has started using this platform for selling souvenirs and food. The revenue of non-travel products saved KKday from bankruptcy, contributing approximately 50 per cent of total revenue.

Klook in Hong Kong has paused its tour booking services recently to provide on-demand food delivery. In which, Klook has added the new feature, allowing customers to make a reservation at restaurants, select meal kits, and delivery option in its platform. Instead of booking tours, Klook’s customers currently order meals and raw materials to be delivered to their home.   

Redistribute resources

According to an industry expert, the withdrawal of many investors is a non-permanent trend that will see the industry recovering at the end of 2020. Bloomberg predicts the Asia online travel market will increase by 129 per cent until 2025, reaching US$78 billion.

That’s why changing business models is still a temporary response to the current market condition. Startups should be ready for coming back to the travel industry at any time. 

In the midst of the investment drop, travel startups need to implement new strategies to spend their limited money more efficiently. While the demand freezes, it is time for investing in improving the business ecosystem. The common strategy tends to be personnel reductions. 

In particular, Airbnb reportedly cut over 25 per cent of its workers this May as an impact of the decrease in revenue in 2020, predictably accounted for around 50 per cent of 2019’s result. The majority of part-time positions have been laid off, while the whole business forced to reduce expenditure for avoidable activity. 

Instead of focusing on international visitors, the majority of startups in Southeast Asia recently drive its resource into the domestic market.

Also Read: Report: Indonesian startups took 70 per cent of travel tech funding in 2019

In Vietnam, the country with zero deaths from COVID-19, domestic travel has restarted as normal. Luxstay, the Vietnamese answer to Airbnb, has restored its booking services since the middle of May. In which, it is focusing a promotion plan to Vietnamese rather than foreign tourists. 

In Hong Kong, a travel business selling culture tour has successfully launched a brand-new virtual tour of some featured building to over 700 students. This campaign finally got sponsors from the authority and bring huge profits to the company, helping it came over the crisis.

Since the future of extending the movement restrictions is probable happened, the term of virtual travel expectedly become popular, and inspire several startups capturing this model to survive. 

Final words, notwithstanding implementing austerity strategy or changing the direction, travel startups have done a good job to defeat the severe impact of the pandemic. With the investment expected to return next year, the travel tech industry will come in a new chapter with prospects of glory.

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Many companies in the world are severely suffering from the novel coronavirus spread. Corporate income has slumped globally, particularly for brick and mortar businesses that require employees to go physically to the workplace.

But surprisingly, there are other companies that have grown during the new normal. What do you think is the reason for their success?

The most important factor in the financial performance of companies during the current circumstance is its ability to use digital technologies. The more digitised, the better.

That’s why there has been a sharp rise in online sales since the outbreak of the crisis. Social distancing orders, lockdowns, and stay-at-home campaigns have made people use online shopping more than ever.

So if your business has faced a financial loss amid the COVID-19 pandemic, you may have to increase your online presence.

Of course, the sooner a company starts using digital marketing, the chance of saving brand identity is higher. Social media platforms are at the heart of digital marketing, especially because of the shopping features.

Instagram, for instance, is one of the best networks you can use for online shopping. The majority of one billion active users on Instagram follow accounts related to businesses.

Also Read: A step-by-step guide in setting up instagram for your business

Many of them also use these accounts to choose their favourite products. This can solely show that this social network is a great platform for companies to sell their products online.

Even if you don’t have a business, Instagram is a perfect platform for you to make money online. For example, you can’t find a marketplace for influencers better than Instagram as they’re making loads of money per each post.

Influencer marketing on Instagram is the first priority of around 70 per cent of marketers for brand awareness and lead generation. Reduced rates of many influencers during the pandemic is also another factor that can help you increase your online sales.

It should be noted that a marketing strategy can significantly help you increase your sales on Instagram or any other platform. It’s good to consider the items below in defining a plan on Instagram:

• Search: how many niche brands are there?
• Goals: what do you want to gain?
• Customers: who do you want to reach out to?
• Content: what should you feed your audience with?
• Promotion: what can you do to promote your content?
• Engagement: how should you talk to your followers?
• Analysis: How well are you acting?

Obviously, you need more details to be able to outperform your rivals on Instagram. That’s why our team put several useful tips into an infographic to help you increase your sales on Instagram.

Also Read: 5 ways to monetise social media technology for startup success

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