How Tory Burch Redefines Social With Community-Led Strategy

Tory Burch’s Opportunity

Since 2004, Tory Burch has been redefining what fashion and luxury mean. As one of the earliest adopters of Instagram, the brand has seen the ebbs and flows of social media. Now, in the current era of social entertainment and algorithmic communities, the brand has undergone its greatest transformation on social media yet.

Tory Burch recognizes that community is the key to success on social, and because of this, the brand does social media in its own way. The social team puts authentic community engagement at the forefront of its strategy. The brand fosters a two-way conversation with its community and uses the perspectives of its audience to create some of the timeliest content in the social marketing world.

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Crafting a Legacy Through Community

The Tory Burch Instagram account was created in October 2011 by Tory herself, making it one of the first brands to dive headfirst into social media. The brand’s strategy and focus have not changed since then, with its passionate fanbase and community being the basis of everything. To this day, the Tory Burch Instagram account acts as both the official brand account and Tory’s personal account — a key differentiator in the fashion industry.

The brand’s longevity and experience on social media have given it years of data to inform what its audience is really looking for. On TikTok, the brand knows users are responsive to more entertaining content, whereas it uses Instagram to share more product-focused static posts and Reels. Knowing which content types thrive in what format helps the team develop a unique voice for each platform, while still communicating the same overall brand story.

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By deeply understanding the nuances between platforms and demographics, the brand is also dialed into when things begin to shift. In fact, the Tory Burch accounts showed a 50% increase in its Gen Z audience on Instagram. This finding opened the door for more experimentation on the platform as the team recognizes how much this generation values thumb-stopping content.

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Turning Viral Hits Into Strategic Opportunities

As a household name in the industry for decades, Tory Burch has experienced going viral before it was even known to be a possibility. After Tory appeared on Oprah in 2004, the brands website received over 8 million clicks. Fast forward to today, Tory Burch continues to captivate audiences by mastering modern virality, seamlessly blending social-first talent with standout products that keep people talking.

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“When a product goes viral we ask ourselves ‘How can we make as much content as possible?’. It starts with UGC, influencer and celebrity content, pulling together everything we have around the product. We then consider how can we create more original content around this product such as filming content in-store or having the team shoot something at our in-house creative studio. We see this as an ‘all hands on deck’ opportunity for our team.”‍

‍Charlie Isen,
Manager, Digital Innovation, Platform Lead - Social Media at Tory Burch

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Take the Pierced Mule or Hoop Dress, for example. These innovative products made waves across social media for their interesting design, unique features and celebrity popularity. Where some brands may let users do all the talking, the Tory Burch team joined in and used these viral moments to create a plethora of content, including showing users all the specs of the Pierced Mule to answer the most commonly asked questions. By keeping such a close eye on its community, the brand is able to create content on the fly to answer questions and show off popular products, instead of sticking to a rigid schedule showcasing content that users might not be interested in at the moment.

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Inspiring Trends, Not Chasing Them

With fashion being one of the most saturated industries on social media, the team at Tory Burch understands the necessity of being innovative in a crowded space and how brands' focus has shifted from selling products to becoming entertainment sources. While many brands chase trends in the hopes of going viral, Tory Burch creates them. The team puts their own, thoughtful spin on content across TikTok and Instagram.

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The brand has seen massive success when sharing high-quality 3D-type imagery and videos of products that just aren’t being done by anyone else. These CGI-type posts have garnered over 3 million impressions on Instagram alone and continue to grow every day. Another content format that highly resonates with the brand audience is the interview-style video content featuring high-wattage talent at brand events. This content type aims to give users a personalized behind-the-scenes look into the exciting and unique talent the Tory Burch team is partnering with and has inspired many other brands to do the same.

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How Dash Hudson Powers Tory Burch’s Social Media Success

With the brand going through a “Tory-ssance,” the team at Tory Burch knows now more than ever the importance of reporting and data management. Having historical and immediate performance data at its fingertips is crucial for understanding what’s resonating so the brand can make data-driven decisions, fast. 

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"In the time we live in, everything is urgent. Dash Hudson gives us the space to learn, implement quick decisions and grow our brand."

Alice Brasili,
Vice President, Brand Engagement & Social Media at Tory Burch

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Tory Burch utilizes Dash Hudson in many ways, especially in relation to campaign creation and reporting. The team uses Campaigns to get a holistic view of metrics, benchmark performance against prior campaigns and easily report on results for multiple different content types, saving the team what would take days if the reporting was to be done manually.

Competitive Insights is another important feature for the Tory Burch team. It helps them benchmark performance and regularly contextualizes industry shifts, making it simple to communicate these market changes to leadership. The Competitive feature also gives the Tory Burch team access to competitor averages and industry benchmarks.

With the features to support their ambitious goals, Dash Hudson streamlines Tory Burch’s social media strategy, saving the team valuable time and allowing them to do what matters most: focus on their community.

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