Data Analysis: Understanding the World of Fashion on Twitter

The fashion industry is flooded with content. From the live-tweeting of runway shows, to the sharing of new products, articles, and photos… there is no shortage of content. But, for the brands competing in this oversaturated environment, having a solid understanding of the audiences consuming and responding to content is critical. When done right, content marketing allows a fashion brand to truly connect with their ideal audience.

But how does a fashion brand build a genuine connection with their ideal audience amidst all of the noise and content? By focusing on the interests, passions, and beliefs of an audience. As shared in the bookGrow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies,the author Jim Stengel explains that the world’s most successful brands have succeeded because of their ability “to connect with fundamental human emotions, hopes, values, and greater purposes.”

With tools like Affinio it is now possible to inject yourself into the very culture of an audience and discover these psychographic traits. To show this, we decided to analyze a sample of individuals (over 143,000 of them) who self-describe using the word “fashion” on Twitter. While this isn’t a conclusive look at fashion, we can begin to understand what different communities exist and who each community follows, who or what they are influenced by, and ultimately what matters most to them.