Five Social Media Marketing Tips for Luxury Brands
Social media marketing is, for the most part, no longer an option for most brands. Just hop on to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and you’ll see brands of all kinds pushing product and services through their social channels. And there’s a reason their spending money to do so: it works. For run-of-the-mill ecommerce stores and average consumer products, platforms like Facebook have made it so ridiculously easy to reach and target new customers that businesses of all sizes have recognized the potential. It’s a win for all parties.
But not so fast. If you’re a luxury brand, social media advertising isn’t as simple as it seems, and most of the strategies and tactics other brands are using on social might not apply.
“We’ve had to change the way we think about social media marketing, as we’re trying to maintain a high-end, luxury image but with discounted prices,” said Leon Rbibo, President of The Pearl Source and Laguna Pearl, which sells pearl jewelry online.
Here are the top five tips and tricks for advertising luxurybrands on social media.
- Take Advantage of Income Targeting
Image Source:colinjamesbelyea.com
While Pinterest and Instagram audiences are (or should be) the main outlets for advertising luxury products, platforms like Facebook are still significantly used when in need of promoting premium services with higher price tags. In order to do just that, brands should take advantage of income targeting – especially since Facebook users are usually older, as well as more financially stable than Instagram users. The audience demographic data is currentlyobtained from average household income per US ZIP code, with four main options to choose from:household income – top 5% of US ZIP codes,
top 10% of US ZIP codes, top 10%-25% of US ZIP codes and household income – top 25%-50% of US ZIP codes.
- Maximize Brand Heritage by Selling Stories
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When you are in the business of luxury marketing, one of the major aspects to keep in mind is that the client wants to know your story, your values, as well as why and how you create your products. One of the best examples is no other than Apple, who chooses to communicate with their customers by creating a cohesive story, from explaining the reasons why they exist to what they do: “Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently (why Apple exists). The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly (How Apple achieve their why). We just happen to make great computers (What Apple do).”
3.Hop on Social Networks with Visual Impact
Image Source:wsj.com
When selling luxury items online, one of the main things you need to compensate on is the exclusive boutique experience – and in order to do just that, creating a boutique-like atmosphere through your website is imperative. The first thing on the ‘to do list’ when aiming to build up your aspirational image is to focus on extremely high-quality, high-detail photographs, then share them on visual social networks like Pinterest. The power of Pinterest when it comes to luxury items has been long demonstrated by Chanel, who, despite not having an account on the social platform, manages to be pinned thousands of times daily, simply by their supporters and clients. Whether it’s an image of their latest catwalk styles, pearl strands or chic belts, the brand has a very powerful presence on Pinterest.
- Use Comment-Baiting – The Right Way
Image Source:stateofdigital.com
As a luxury brand, hunting for comments might seem a little too frantic – and that might interfere with your exclusive image. But the good news is that there are a few simple tricks you can apply in order to make sure that those comments are rolling in. While not exactly in the luxury arena, take Forever 21 as inspiration: the brand’s creativity paid out when they asked their followers indirectly to formulate their rapper name, which lead to thousands of comments and shares within hours. A little innovation is all you need when trying to achieve your likes and comment goals on social media, be it Instagram or Facebook.
- Post Previews as Teasers and Estimate Demands
Image Source: instagram.com
You are about to launch a new collection – or, you’re just starting to design a few new products. Whatever stage your creative process may be at, it’s never the wrong time to post a little teaser on social media. This tactic will achieve multiple things at the same time: it will create demand and stir interest, it will show you just how liked your new designs are via the likes and comments you receive and it will make your followers tune in again to see your final products – all of which are great for your business.
Images:
https://slideplayer.com/slide/14125714/86/images/10/This+is+how+Apple+REALLY+communicates….jpg
https://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-QG026_1013pi_GR_20161013092719.jpg
https://www.stateofdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Untitled-design-14.png
