Forever21 and H&M are the most successful social media brands in the fast-fashion industry, according to a recent report. Fast-fashion is a critical growth category, outpacing other sectors in the approximately $220 billion US fashion industry. Data for the first three quarters of 2017 for top brands in the fast-fashion category in US were analysed.

Imagery with varied backgrounds is more engaged with than 'static' lookbook-style photos and brands with smart seeding strategies see a greater return on their visual content investment, said the research report by ShareIQ, the visual content performance platforms for brands. The report focused on how these brands share visual content on social media platforms, and how successfully they get consumers to engage with content across Pinterest, Instagram and across the web.

"People engage with and buy from brands that share compelling visual content in authentic ways," said Brian Killen, founder and chief executive officer of ShareIQ. "The brands that are winning and getting real ROI on Instagram, Pinterest and other social platforms put exciting lifestyle-type images in the feeds of real influencers who get high engagement – not just celebrities. And, we’re seeing marketers recognise this opportunity to create and target new audiences from those who engage with their content and convert sharers and likers into buyers."

H&M has about 20 times the content performance of the lowest-performing brands such as Mango, Gap and American Apparel, measured by engagements per image, the report stated.