• by Larissa Faw , September 9, 2015

Millennial-age girls have opinions concerning fashion. This year, Belk and HelloWorld designed its back-to-school promotion to encourage shoppers to vote for a favorite look during a series of themed challenges. Additional sweepstakes entries were earned for taking polls, referring friends, and following the campaign on Twitter and Instagram.  

Upon the campaign's conclusion, Belk saw 598,566 votes cast for specific looks and 705,000 sweepstakes entries were earned during the initiative that ran July 19-August 29. Registered shoppers visited the program an average of 5.32 times. 

The campaign's mobile component was deemed particularly successful. Two in three shoppers (67%) opted in to hear more from Belk and 44% of all consumers have registered via mobile. 

"Last year’s music-focused Modern Southern Music Concert Style Sweeps back-to-school promotion targeted a narrower, younger market, but our fashion-focused efforts this year had a larger emphasis on the ‘young contemporary’ market overall, which specifically looped in college students," says Jen Gray, SVP marketing and creative services, HelloWorld. "The ties we made from last year’s campaign combined with the leads from this year’s campaign made for overall higher engagement." 

This year’s digital effort targeted a specialized demographic -- Millennial-age women -- by tapping into their desire for connectivity. "The ability to share results from the series of themed fashion quizzes via social media kept the momentum going, and the ‘shoppable’ favorite looks, like an outfit for a night out or a dorm room layout, brought fun to the online-shopping experience," says Gray. "This year’s high level of engagement reflects stronger customer bonds and loyalty."  

This back-to-school promotion is influencing decisions for Belk's Santa Baby holiday promotion. "The data we glean from past campaigns helps us understand the social, mobile, and digital preferences of our target audience," says Gray. "We’re careful when analyzing these results, so that we can be confident in how we plan and optimize campaigns for the future."