Ann Taylor’s Foray into Social Media

There was a point in my life when I never thought I’d shop at Ann Taylor, yet ever since Ann Taylor’s head designer came on board, my praise of the brand has grown. While the designs are finally completely in line with my aesthetic (thank you, Lisa Axelson), the brand’s social media strategy has been pretty great lately as well.

First, I noticed a contest on Polyvore (a social shopping and digital scrapbooking site). After 2,008 entries, five winners were chosen to receive $200 gift cards and have their sets featured on Facebook. Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but I was pleased to get a response on Twitter after I promoted my set.

After I heard directly from the brand, I checked out their Facebook page and was impressed to see a very well put together landing page called “AT Insider”. The page includes a link to work chic styles, with a mention of their wear-to-work wardrobe contest, also sponsored by InStyle. Also on the page is a lookbook, the brand’s Twitter feed, and the five winning looks from the Polyvore contest you can choose your summer style from- in case you were wondering, I like the “Refined Chic” outfit the best. You can additionally see how other fans are wearing the brand, or show off your unique twist on Ann Taylor looks. My favorite part of the page is definitely seeing how other Ann Taylor fans are wearing their purchases.

Two things to improve upon:
*No evident organization/schedule to the Facebook or Twitter posts
*No link to the official Twitter account from the website

And now, two of the looks on my list of must-haves for this season: