Footwear Marketing Trends

Whether footwear brands are trying to market a rain boot or a stiletto, the trends and consumers dictate the story they're trying to tell. The growing footwear market includes demand for interesting companies and on-trend styles.

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Sometimes your shoes can tell more of a story about you than your clothing or other parts of your appearance. Shoes can be a subtle nod to a lifestyle, or a vibrant shout of personality. Footwear, in addition to appearance, needs to serve a function (which can change based on where you’re headed).

Popular footwear brands tell a story of what type of person you are. If you’re sporting a pair of Vans, you’re telling the world that you’re a little bit of a free spirit. Step out in a red-soled pair of Christian Louboutin heels, and you’re putting off the vibe that you enjoy the finer things in life. If you’re attending brunch in eco-friendly Allbirds, you could also be interested in saving polar bears.

With the footwear market valued at over $290 billion in 2018, there’s a lot of demand for on-trend footwear and the companies behind them. Whether you’re trying to market a rain boot or a stiletto, industry trends and consumers dictate the story you’re trying to tell. Market the lifestyle that best accompanies your shoe, and you’ll have a winning campaign every time.

Footwear industry trends
Footwear email reporting data
Footwear messaging strategies

Footwear Industry Trends

Eco-conscious

Performance > Plastic waste

Sent by adidas

Footwear has not been a sustainable or ecologically friendly industry to date, and the tides are only slowly changing for major footwear brands, especially higher end. Only 1% of all US footwear brands are manufactured within the country, and even less than that are sustainably sourced or produced. With the millennial purchasing power upon us, the eye towards sustainability has started to be seen across footwear brands. 40% of millennials say that they would pay more from sustainable companies, including shoes, and 27% said they made purchases based on a brand’s social mission. Footwear companies have several areas to tackle to become more eco-friendly, including materials used to fabricate the shoes, the manufacturing process itself, and packaging the product comes in. Brands, like adidas, are looking to use alternative materials like recycled plastic and polyester without compromising durability.

Function-forward

Weekday staples with that Casual Friday feeling

Sent by Cole Haan

For the millennial consumer, items must serve more than one purpose. Shoes must suit the occasion that their owner is attending. However, with more and more of daily life becoming more casual, shoes should be able to be worn to multiple types of functions. Comfort is king, and more companies like Cole Hann show that a shoe can be both comfortable and stylish. The multi-purpose sneaker is the giant in the footwear right now, with sneakers being seeing worn with dresses and jeans alike. In-stock levels of sneakers in stores rose 46% in the United Kingdom and 42% in the United States between 2016 and 2018 – it’s no surprise that you’re seeing sneakers dominating on the shelf.

Your Shoe, Your Way

Customize in ComfyCush

Sent by Vans

Footwear is the giant of partnerships and customization – your shoe can be tailored to exactly who and what you like. Brands like Vans let’s you customize popular styles. Vans and Converse also collaborate with giants like Disney and Marvel to give customers a shoe that highlights their favorite characters and stories. Other brands use celebrities to sponsor their footwear, like Keds’ partnership with Taylor Swift. Traditional sponsorships have been with athletes, such as Nike’s Air Jordan shoe, popular since its original release in 1985.

Footwear Promotion & Email Activity

Mailcharts Footwear Data From 2019

Most promotional week

Nov. 24-30, 2019

The week of Thanksgiving in 2019 was the most promotional for Footwear brands. During that week, they sent the most emails that included a promotion.

Most active week

Nov. 24-30, 2019

Footwear brands sent the most emails during the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday in 2019 as shoppers started checking gifts off their list.

Strategies For Footwear Messaging In Email

Automate It

NEW week, NEW arrivals

Sent by Steve Madden

You know your customer loves a particular shoe – there’s no reason to do a perfectly curated email for its release in a new color or fabric. Start a new arrivals email flow, like this Steve Madden example, for your most dedicated shoppers of customer favorites.

Where To Wear

Outfit Pick-Me-Up: The 574

Sent by New Balance

Show your customer how to outfit your shoe for different scenarios, giving the customer all-day wearing power. This is also an opportunity to cross sell with other colors, like this email example from New Balance – show the customer that this is the best shoe for any occasion and you’ll want all five shades.

Go Green

Earth Day Every Day.

Sent by Teva

There are a lot of things that companies can do in addition to cleaning up their shoe materials and manufacturing processes. Highlight employee volunteer days, highlight activities for Earth Day (like this example from Teva) or put your favorite sustainable features in the footer of your emails.