With the impending apocalypse upon us (next week! yikes!), it seemed only natural to look back at this last year on earth and reflect on these past 12 months.
2012 could be summed up as the year that was full of sensory overload. Social media exploded, designers and online personalities fought for the spotlight and we were left with shortened-attention spans and a slight headache.
It wasn’t all bad though. In fact, there were a few highs amongst the handful of lows and a ton of important lessons we all could learn from.
- The fashion industry welcomes fresh perspectives. Whether it was the rebranding strategy at Saint Laurent (RIP YSL) or Alexander Wang’s new Creative Director at Balenciaga, the fashion industry is embracing change in a big way. Tapping into a more youthful culture, these major shakeups at fashion houses signify the overall changes in consumer behavior and brand strategy. Which should be exciting for all of us.
- If you aren’t on social, you are missing out. More conversations and major developments were shared on social media than years before. From live-pinning to breaking news, social media became the newsroom.
- If you aren’t thinking about mobile, you will fall behind. You know all those articles we wrote about mobile? It’s time to brush up on your mobile savviness because more and more users are turning to mobile for shopping and news. With the amount of mobile users growing each month, we think that every fashion blogger needs to sit down and think about how they can disseminate their blog content to their mobile readers. There’s a huge market out there, waiting for you.
- Attitude is everything. Many bloggers were profiled in major publications this year and some were not looked at too kindly. Regardless of what was said in these articles, it became very clear that the stereotypes about bloggers are still very prevalent in society and that how you are perceived can hurt your business. How you carry yourself and how you treat others has never been more important. After all, your attitude is a reflection of your brand. If all eyes are on you, don’t you want to put your best foot forward?
- If you don’t evolve, you are dead. This was a hard lesson for brands and bloggers as 2012 was a year full of growing pains. As readers’ attention spans started to shorten due to the sheer amount of information being shared online, the need for fresher, more quality became clear. Content became less about “me” and more about “you”. The more successful bloggers saw this and reacted quickly. Because they anticipated the needs of their readers, they were able to update their content accordingly.
What have you learned this year? Anything that we should add to the list?
I started my blog a year ago and the last 6 months are like a whirlwind – I started networking, attending events in San Francisco, did my first collaboration, “borrowed” clothes & jewelry for the first time, started personal style posts, and – most surprisingly for me – I started Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram accounts. I can’t believe how much has changed this year, let alone the last few months.
Can’t wait to see what happens in post-apocalyptic 2013!