Great brands go beyond just selling products—they rally the communities they serve around shared interests and passions. They create experiences that extend beyond the four walls of physical stores by bringing their unique personalities to life online. With every click, they bring new products, exclusive merchandise, and memorable experiences to eager and engaged fans.
From digital marketers at big brands to mom-and-pop pizza shops and rising TikTok influencers, creators and businesses alike are using Bitly Short Links to (re)imagine the possibilities and connect to their audiences and customers in new ways.
We sat down with Katherine Miller, Director of Social Media at Hot Topic, to learn about how this iconic brand is using Bitly Short Links to promote new merch on social media and engage with fandoms of all kinds.
Hot Topic has merchandise that speaks to the super fan in all of us. Check out their music and pop culture inspired clothes and accessories and follow Hot Topic on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Bringing fandoms together on social media with must-have merch
With more than 30 years of business under its black studded belt, Hot Topic continues to offer unique apparel and accessories, and one-of-a-kind merchandise to its loyal customer base. Whether you’re shopping in person at one of Hot Topic’s 600 stores or browsing through new collections online, the brand’s commitment to bringing pop culture and music fandoms together never wavers.
“We have everything you need to fuel your fandom or passion, whether you’re a fan of the Marvel Universe or My Chemical Romance. We’re always evolving to make sure we’re delivering on that promise.”
From California to Connecticut, fashion and pop culture-lovers across the country know exactly what to expect when they strut into any Hot Topic store. With colorful t-shirts displayed on the walls, music playing through the speakers, and backpacks, keychains, and bobbleheads around every corner, in-store shoppers get the full Hot Topic experience. So how do they translate that same energy from the physical world to the digital?
“We’re always trying to balance where and how we’re talking to our audiences, on what properties, and with which content. That’s why social media is such an important part of Hot Topic’s marketing strategy.”
Hot Topic’s approach to promoting new collections and merchandise across social media serves as a valuable brand-building touchpoint, where fans unite to engage with one another, start conversations, and explore new products.
With a much-beloved brand to champion and protect online, Hot Topic knew it needed a way to easily create and share branded links across all of their social media channels all while creating the best possible experience for their millions of fans.
Maintaining a strong brand identity and instilling trust
With so much information available online and so many channels for communication at our fingertips, successful brands know that social media is still one of the best ways to directly spark conversations, promote products, and capture the attention of audiences. And back when Hot Topic was evaluating different social media publishing tools, the conversation about how they would actually shorten and share links within their posts naturally arose.
“There’s a lot of spam out there and we wanted to make sure that people felt comfortable actually clicking through to explore all of the content we’re publishing.”
From pop culture lovers and anime fans, to horror movie aficionados and comic book buffs, every super-fan you can think of flocks to Hot Topic on social media to connect and explore exclusive merch drops. By using Bitly to create a branded custom domain, “hottopic.me,” Hot Topic is able to reinforce their brand identity with every link they share while also bringing an added layer of trust and security to the experience.
What makes Hot Topic’s social media strategy so effective is that it also goes beyond what the brand posts themselves to reach new audiences. The team partners with influencers to promote their products, creating campaigns within Bitly to organize links and get a snapshot of how many clicks each of their links is receiving.
“Bitly has been in the game for a really long time, so when people talk about shortening or sharing links, it’s an easy decision to go with Bitly.”
Using Bitly Short Links to promote merch and revive fandoms
Launching Invader Zim merch into the universe
Despite only airing for two seasons on Nickelodeon back in 2001, Invader Zim has managed to achieve cult-favorite status thanks to its perfect blend of dark humor, quirky characters, and otherworldly visuals. From inspiring spin-off comic books to the release of Netflix’s 2019 film, “Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus,” fans of this animated television series continue to show support of their beloved extraterrestrial, Zim, to this day.
So when it came time to promote Hot Topic’s new collection of Invader Zim merchandise on social media, they turned to Bitly Short Links to point people in the right direction. From hoodies and lounge sets to earrings and bucket hats—yes, those are making a comeback, too!—this new collection from Hot Topic has something for every Zim-fan.
“A lot of Invader Zim fans are millennials who spend a lot of time on Facebook, so we used a Bitly Short Link within our post to showcase the collection and inspire that feeling of nostalgia.”
Bringing back to the age-old Team Edward vs. Team Jacob debate
The Twilight series of novels and films took off in the early 2000s and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Fans around the world declared their allegiance to one—and only one—of protagonist Bella Swan’s love interests, sparking a debate that has lasted decades. Are you Team Jacob or Team Edward?
Hot Topic noticed that this debate was trending once again on social media and decided to capitalize on it. Fans of Twilight even reached out directly to Hot Topic, asking them to bring the merchandise back. After working with the film’s studio and author of the series, Hot Topic was able to give the people what they wanted: more Twilight merchandise. As a result, Hot Topic’s Facebook post promoting the shirts with a branded Bitly Short Link racked up 2.3k comments and 1.7k shares—sink your fangs into that!
Hyping up the new season of Stranger Things with a best-selling t-shirt
While there’s always a place for early 2000s nostalgia in our hearts, what about current pop culture phenomena? Stranger Things is a sci-fi horror television series that is praised for its storytelling, visual effects, and nostalgic 1980s setting, making it a show we’ll talk about decades from now.
Hot Topic teamed up with the franchise and collaborated on a gnarly collection of merchandise for fans of the Upside Down. And when it came time to promote the merch on social media, they used a branded Bitly Short Link to encourage fans to place orders online. One shirt in particular, the “Hellfire Club” raglan tee, really took off and caught Hot Topic by surprise. Fans of the series and their love for the character Eddie drove such demand that it became one of the best selling t-shirts ever.
“We’ve been reordering the Hellfire Club t-shirt since the second season of the show launched. People love Stranger Things and they wanted to feel like they were a part of that world.”
Keeping millions of followers in the loop with Bitly Short Links
The possibitlyties are endless when it comes to using branded Bitly Short Links to put your best foot forward with fans on social media. Thanks to Bitly Short Links, Hot Topic is able to promote their one-of-a-kind merchandise to millions of followers in a way that’s trusted, trackable, and on brand.
As any growing business knows, creating more memorable and engaging experiences for your audiences is one of the best ways to maintain the brand you’ve worked hard to build while also igniting action. Here at Bitly, our mission is to be a catalyst for connections. With the Bitly Connections Platform, customers can shorten and customize links, create QR Codes, curate their Bitly Link-in-bio, and track performance all from one place.
Feeling inspired? Get started today or find out how other industries are using the Bitly Connections Platform to imagine the possi(bitly)ties.