Pants: NY & Co.

Tank: Target

Cardigan: Target

Necklace: Icing

Earrings: Charlotte Russe

Like the outfit? See more details here!

I talked last week about why retailers find partnerships with bloggers to be an effective strategy, so now I want to dive into “how” they go about these partnerships. Styling a look is one of the easiest ways for retailers to get their brands to a blogger’s audience. Retailers go about offering styling options to bloggers in different ways, but the goal is to show the readers of the blog how the clothes, make-up, or accessories can look in real life.

Sometimes retailers offer a head-to-toe styling, giving the blogger a shopping spree or giftcard to pick out a look completely composed of items in the store. This includes the shoes, jewelry, handbag, and main ensemble pieces. This is a great option, as it allows the retailer to showcase several different items from various areas of the store. Since there’s several options, it’s more likely that someone will like at least one piece featured in the blog post. Better yet, it gives commenters a chance to talk about different items they like, and offer up other styling suggestions for their favorite pieces.

Retailers have also used challenges to feature hard-to-style or off-beat pieces, allowing the blogger to use one piece from their line, and combine it with pieces they already have in their closet. Again, this works well to show readers that you can incorporate pieces from the featured retailer into your working wardrobe. Most people don’t have the money to regularly splurge on a full head-to-toe look, so it’s helpful to see how one piece can work in a variety of ways, and helps the reader envision that piece in their closet, working with items they already own.

Finally, some retailers partner with bloggers to create look books, fashion shows, or regular features on that blog. They may invite influential bloggers to the store for a “personal shopping” day, which pulls in the reader’s local audience. Or, they may feature the blogger in a campaign with “Blogger’s picks”, creating a win-win for the retailer and the blogger. The retailer receives a captive audience and brand champion, and the blogger receives exposure via a new outlet, which increases their readership. When a blogger regularly features a retailer, they increase awareness and confidence in the quality, versatility, and price-point of the brand, and readers are much more likely to browse through the retailer’s store or website.

I’m not very brand-loyal in my outfits, but styling options are a great way for retailers to build relationships with bloggers and their readers. Like the outfit? See more details here!