As online communication becomes more visual, the style and format of content become particularly important. Humans are, after all, visual creatures: research from biologist John Medina (Brain Rules, 2014) indicates that information shown visually has 65% greater recall compared to simply hearing it.
So how can menswear brands ensure their content is memorable? High-quality content aligned to target audiences is a given, but men’s fashion brands need to speak the same language as their consumers when it comes to the specifics of how they present their products.
Our Instagram fashion trends research discovered that as much as 56% of consumer generated posts were focused on whole outfits. This illustrates how stylish men are keen to show off their curation skills, selecting products by different brands or items by a single label to create a holistic look.
By contrast, 32% of brand content showcased full outfits, with this segment opting to spotlight individual items rather than demonstrating how they work together. Consumers were also the biggest selfie fans: 82% of those posting in this format were regular Instagram users. Just 1% of influencer content was in the form of selfies and only a handful of brand posts, reflecting the need to showcase their products in a professional way.
Top line content formats should also be a consideration. Looking across the entire spectrum of menswear conversation on Instagram, just over a third of content was made up of videos.
While some forward-thinking brands such as @nikelab and @converse are prioritizing video, static photography does seem to be the method most menswear fans are expressing themselves in. This could be down to the growing popularity of Instagram Stories, with users sharing unscripted moments rather than more stylised content.
