How we grew R2W and MTM suit sales during Prom and Wedding season. Guide to the most cost-effective advertising tactic. (~15X return on ad spend)

Hey there, Suit Business Owner!

Let’s cut to the chase. You want more suit sales, right? But let’s face it, traditional digital marketing is like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. You’ve got ad budgets draining faster than you can say "bespoke," and what do you have to show for it? A handful of likes and a few clicks, if you're lucky.

But fear not, because we've cracked the code. Introducing... drumroll, please... The “Tailored Engagement“ Method.

This strategy helped our own suit brand and multiple RTW and MTM clients of our marketing agency generate ~9-15X return on investment.

If this sounds like something you would love, let's roll up our sleeves and get down to business, but before that, let's see why it works.

The Downfall of Traditional Marketing

Let’s get real for a moment. The old way of doing things is as outdated as last year’s fashion trends. Sure, you could spend a small fortune on ads, pray to the algorithm gods, and cross your fingers that someone, anyone, will randomly show up at your store or seconds after seeing an ad schedule an appointment.

But where does that leave you? Bleeding cash and wondering if it’s all worth it.

In theory, the traditional marketing setup sounds great: you target potential clients, build brand awareness, create trust, and generate sales. However, this approach requires extensive know-how, various tracking tools (like Meta Pixel and GA4), creative assets, a PPC specialist, an SMM person, their salaries and let's not forget about the big bucks you need to throw into advertising.

This leaves most of the MTM and R2W suit businesses with tied hands, and reliant on referrals alone. At the same time, big players cash out the clients from paid advertising efforts they can easily afford.

And here's the real gut punch: even if we do manage to scrape together enough cash for a decent ad campaign, what do we have to show for it?

Sure, we might see a temporary spike in sales, but the moment we turn off those ads, it's back to square one leading to an unsustainable “paid ads addiction” that eats into profit margins. Talk about a slap in the face.

Being in a similar position as a CMO for an R2W suit company I was on a mission to develop a marketing strategy that would help our business and my clients in the suit industry by covering all of those positions:

-Target potential clients in the most cost-effective way.

-Build goodwill and brand awareness in the local market

-Create trust with potential customers

-Stand out from all competitors

-Generate long-term value in the form of extra sales and referrals

-Bring in an instant boost in sales

-Build social proof

-Grow an engaged follower base

Without:

-complicated technical setup

-expensive content creation

-big advertising budgets

Now, I could sit here and bore you with the nitty-gritty details of our journey. I could be poetic about our creative genius and the countless hours we spent tinkering with different strategies worthy of a Nobel prize. But let's be real – you don't have time for that.

So here's the bottom line: we've developed a strategy that works. A strategy that doesn't require a PhD in marketing or a bottomless bank account. A strategy that delivers real, tangible results.

Tailored Engagement Method

Picture this: you’re not just selling suits, you’re creating an experience. You’re not just another faceless business, you’re a trusted advisor. You’re not just hoping for sales, you’re engineering them. That’s the power of the Tailored Engagement Method.

Long story short...

It's a giveaway!

The usual giveaway strategy is built on hope. You run a contest, get some likes, and some followers, deliver the prize, and hope that the gathered attention will turn into sales.

Spoiler alert: that is never the case and almost always leaves you with less than you had before.

The “TE” strategy fixes all of the downsides and capitalizes on multiple psychological triggers, to give you the results you are after.

Step 1: Create a Compelling Video Announcement

Film a video announcing the giveaway. Use this opportunity to position yourself as an expert in the suit space and a local philanthrope helping the community. Video format is mandatory, as it in all tests delivered higher conversion rates, engagement and overall brand recognition later on.

1. Short overview of what should be said:

"Hi, I'm X from Y and if you or your kid is going to have a prom soon, this video is for you.

We understand that it's a struggle to find a good suit that fits… Mention a few pain points.

So we want to give you an opportunity to get your son dressed up on us and look like the fine gentleman that he sure is."

2. Describe the rules to participate:

1. Like and share this video

2. Must be having a prom this year

3. Tag somebody who will have a prom this year (young man or parents)

4. Give a deadline (usually 2-4 weeks perform best)

5. Explain that the winner will be the person tagged in the comment

6. Explain that we will film the process of the winner getting a perfect prom suit and publish it on the internet

7. Recommend participants to follow your page so that you can DM them if they win

After an explanation of the rules optional things to mention

1. Incentivize the goodwill of the viewers to share this video even if they are not eligible so some of their friends who do could participate

2. Add a quick promo of your store/products if you have creative assets available in the end

Step 2: Publish and Promote the Video

Publish this post on IG/FB and tiktok.

Promote this publication as an ad in your local area, picking engagement as a main goal.

The magic of this step is in the fact that instead of getting spammy participants, the only ones you will get are people within a reasonable area of your business and only those who are your perfect potential customers. This will also make your ads more cost-effective as FB algorithm will show your ad to people who are most likely to engage, aka, people who will have prom or wedding, aka, your perfect client.

Step 3: Select and Announce Winners

Pick a winner or winners (if offering multiple winners)

Contact them directly through DM'S or comment response.

Step 3: Engage with Participants

 (This is where most of the magic happens)

To maximize your returns you have to boost your sales and the amount of followers from this contest, so let's do a few things:

1. FB gives you the option to invite every person who liked the post or made a comment to become your follower. On average 10% of invitees become your followers. During the contest, it ends up being around 20-25%. Use this opportunity to turn more viewers into followers who in the future will see your publications for free.

2. Manually respond to every comment that didn't win by saying something along those lines:

“Hi @! Sadly you didn't win the contest and after seeing the engagement we got, we feel a bit sad for not being able to help more families so as a thank you for participation we would love to offer you 10% off for a suit if you decide to get it until DEADLINE. To claim the discount, just show the screenshot of your comment at the cash register.

Best COMPANY NAME”

(On average 5-20% of comment receivers claim the offer based on how strong it is.

Instead of just giving something away to the winner, you will be getting real paying clients into the door!

+The engagement in the comments will make your video seen even more as some friends of the comment maker will see it in their timeline)

Step 4: Select and Announce Winners

Announce the winners via post

Step 5: Create and Share Winner Content

Meet the winners and film the whole process: greeting them, picking the best options, leaving out of the door with a suit, and a quick testimonial to your service.

If you manage to organize everything quickly, make sure to include the “10% off“ message in the beginning of the video.

The whole process will be better received if you use the wireless mic instead of the built-in phone mic. The low audio quality or jumps in volume will decrease your average video watch time multiple times. As our main goal is to spend as much time as possible with the viewer to be remembered, every tool should be used.

As you are only getting one shot with the winner video do a quick checkup before filming:

ARE BATTERIES LOADED

DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MEMORY ON YOUR PHONE

CLEAN THE PHONE LENS CHECK IF THE MIC IS RECORDING

After screwing up a few times and leaving a lot of money on the table I can't stress enough how important it is to double-check everything as this will most likely be the most valuable video to your sales, branding, and positioning!

Step 6: Publish and Boost the Winner Video

Publish the video. It will get higher than usual engagement as a lot of your new followers will be from the initial contest.

Boost this post for previous contest participants and video viewers +people who match your target audience and use it as an ad. (Campaign goal-video views)

This way even those who did not claim the "10% off" offer will have spent some time with your brand, remembered it, and seen your products and service.

Most of them will still need a suit and you will be the most preferred option as they already, know, like, and trust you, compared to generic competitors.

Along the way of the process, there will be loads of people seeing your business (relatives/friends, etc) which will deliver you the unbeatable cost per Reach!

Step 7. Rinse and repeat

Next year, use those assets of dressing up winners in your next contest announcement to make it even more effective.

Final thoughts

As you can see, instead of this being a generic contest you achieve multiple things:

-Maximized follower growth

-Get your brand in front of perfect potential customers multiple times cheaper than it would take with conventional direct ads.

-Bring in sales right after the giveaway

-Build goodwill and trust with your local market

-Position yourself as an expert and a good person

-Bring tons of new referrals throughout the year as every person who participated or saw the winner video now remembers you as a place selling suits and being good at it.

In the beginning, we spent around 100-300$ for advertising the initial announcement but after seeing the results it delivered, we are currently spending over 4000$ to promote this contest every time we get the chance.

The same approach also works for weddings with even better ROI as usually the winner also brings in his groomsmen!

Sadly this strategy wouldn't work for the Bespoke suit business as their clientele rarely participates in giveaways and most of the giveaway participants would be aspirational rather than potential future buyers. The same applies to the High end of MTM. Still, in some cases, we used this strategy just to build brand recognition in a cost-effective way.

Interested in Growing Your Suit Business?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a booming suit business. While this strategy delivers great returns, it's more of a quick boost rather than a foundation for sustainable long-term growth.

If you’re interested in increasing the number of your walk-in visitors or appointments to predictably grow your suit sales, we at Sartorial Digital are here to help.

This is only one of the strategies we developed during 7 years of working exclusively with over 40 RTW, MTM, and Bespoke suit businesses across the globe and profitably investing over 7mil in their total ad budgets.

For more info of how we can help or to get a free consultation visit our website here:

https://www.sartorialdigital.eu/

Hope you found this strategy useful and curious to hear your results after trying it out!

Best,

Andris