Detailed Marketing Strategy of Victoria’s Secret – Complete Overview

Previously we discussed the SWOT analysis of Victoria’s Secret. This blog is going to elaborate on the marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret – one of the world’s leading female wear brands.

Marketing is a crucial part of every business and with the world fully digital now, Digital marketing has become a vital skill and need for businesses. If you are interested in learning more about marketing, do well to check out the Free Digital Marketing class by Karan Shah, CEO and Founder of IIDE.

In this blog, we will learn how Victoria’s Secret has evolved to the leading brand and position it holds today. The objective is to cover the marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret fully. Let’s begin with the company’s overview, target audience and digital campaigns.

Marketing Strategy of Victoria’s Secret

Over the years, Victoria’s Secret has carried out different marketing campaigns and strategies, let’s take a look at these strategies and campaigns.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning:

Segmentation:

• Victoria’s Secret offers various types of apparel like western wear and ethnic wear. It also offers various accessories like bags, clothes, and sunglasses for rent.
• It has huge and different collections of wearables and accessories for women, men, and kids.
• This business follows a B2B and B2C model.
• The price range of the products offered by the company varies from mid to high priced to premium, depending on the budget of the consumer.

Targeting:

• Victoria’s Secret targets those populations who are at the early stage of their career and desire to wear fashionable wear and those who attend events and purchase new & expensive clothes for every occasion.
• Normally, the age group ranges from 17-26 years old and 20-40 years old.

Positioning: 

• Victoria’s Secret is well-positioned in the market to cater to the demand of customers as it offers unique services to its customers. 
• Designer clothing.
• It helps to develop a personal style for both men and women.
• It offers branded western wear, which is not readily available to the masses.
• A large collection of different sizes and styles.
• It meets the emotional needs of targeted customers.

Marketing Campaigns

Email Marketing and coupons are attractive marketing strategies for Victoria’s Secret. Asides from getting a sneak peek of new/upcoming collections, their email subscribers also get newsletters and exclusive coupons with juicy offers. 

This email campaign has proven enticing enough to attract more people to register or sign up which automatically converts to more sales for the company.

Victoria’s Secret hosts a semi-annual clearance sale twice a year, during this sale, products ranging from body perfumes, lingerie, cosmetics, etc are at discounted prices, sometimes even as high as 50% discount. The weeks leading up to the sale will also entail vigorous marketing in the form of posting and hype on their social media handles.

This campaign has been successful as customers always anticipate going to the nearest Victoria’s Secret store to get a good deal on certain items they couldn’t ordinarily afford.

Victoria’s Secret launched the “Love Cloud” inclusivity campaign in February 2022, in its bid to showcase the brand shift from one which represented a perfect body type to one which advocates for different body types, gender, etc this campaign features peculiar models which include: Sofia Jirau, a model with Down syndrome, Celilo Miles, a firefighter, amongst others

The reason behind the campaign was to reshape the public image of the company which has come under harsh criticism for portraying a specific body type of women yearly as the beauty standard, without acknowledging the beauty in every “Body” type. This creative marketing campaign spoke to their customers and was successful in bringing a positive turnaround for the company.

Social Media Marketing

Victoria’s Secret active social media handles include Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest. The company has also garnered huge engagement and following on its social media handles, with the highest being on Instagram with a total of 72.9 million followers and 2,751 posts so far and the least on Pinterest with 696.4k followers. With content that is mainly promotional and about their product launches, it’s no wonder they opt for these social media which require more visual content.

SEO Strategies

To drive organic presence online, SEO strategy is vital, and Victoria’s Secret, as seen from the image above has proven to use it to the fullest extent in addition to their marketing campaigns in driving engagement, brand visibility and sales. It drives more than 11 million in organic traffic monthly and most of this traffic 80% is from searches made online.

SEO helps in achieving your long-term goals for your brand. A good ranking and a favourable placement help in raising the profile of your brand. In short, SEO strategies are crucial for the development of the website and to provide more visibility to the relevant audience.

Influencer Marketing

In 1997, Victoria’s Secret launched the “Angels underwear” product and marketed it in a TV commercial by using supermodels. The success of this marketing strategy gave birth to the concept of using supermodels termed “Angels” as brand ambassadors and influencers for the company. 

The Angels popularly called “Victoria’s Angels” are spokesmodels for the brand who take part in talk shows, runway shows, and marketing campaigns for the company. They also appear in the popular annual Victoria’s Secret runway show. Some of these angels have included popular influencers with a large following like Heidi Klum, Kendall Jenner, Rosie Huntington, etc.

Ecommerce Strategies

When it comes to E-commerce, Victoria’s launched its website in 1998 where customers from around the globe can comfortably shop, products can also be recommended based on your location, and gift cards and discounts are not left out. The website is carefully designed to include the three divisions of the brand which include the VS stores, PINK and VS beauty.

Furthermore, the company has gone ahead to collaborate with other talented designers to churn out creative designs, this is found under the VS&COLAB section.

Content Marketing Strategies

Another vital marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret is its content marketing strategy. Victoria’s Secret is very active on social media as most of its sales are a conversion of the engagement on their social media content/posts. Rather than bore its followers, the company posts images and videos of models adorned in the brand label, in rich and colourful scenery, with short and catchy captions and hashtags.

This has proven very effective in boosting engagement as most social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, etc, are all about visual appeal. They have also swapped catalogues for email newsletters, top magazine features, ad placement in popular shows and events, etc.

This ends with an elaborative marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret. Let us conclude our learning below from the marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret.

Conclusion – What makes Victoria’s Secret Unique?

From the above-listed marketing strategies which Victoria’s Secret utilises, and its top position in the apparel and beauty industry till today, there is no doubt the effectiveness of these strategies to the niche which it occupies today in the fashion industry. Employing these creative and digital marketing strategies, and continuously evolving with the times, Victoria’s Secret has been able to cater for both online and offline customers and sustain the brand outlook of class, style and luxury.

Digital marketing is crucial since it links a company with its clients when they are online and is effective across all sectors. It links businesses with ideal consumers through SEO and PPC on Google, social media marketing, and email marketing. If you would like to learn more and develop skills, check out IIDE’s 4-Month Digital Marketing Course to learn more.

Alternatively, you can enrol in one of our free online masterclasses led by IIDE’s CEO, Karan Shah, to gain insight into the field of digital marketing. 

We hope this blog on the marketing strategy of Victoria’s Secret has given you a good insight into the company’s marketing strategies.

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