Everything is available online. You can buy, rent, book almost everything your heart desires. But convenience is not at the heart of luxury brands. Luxury brands represent an aspirational lifestyle. Being perceived as ubiquitous may do more harm than good to a luxury brand’s image.
There is no doubt that their existing brand image and lifestyle appeal will help them make sales even if they have a minor foothold in the digital space. But luxury brands are still businesses and need to find ways to attract the big sales waiting on the other end of careful digital marketing campaigns.
It is also clear that the type of marketing efforts matter as well. People expect luxury brands to always look and feel expensive. Even if engaging with the marketing alone costs money, they see this as part of the experience. This is why digital marketing is more effective for luxury brands than others. There is a lot of data, and it might be better for luxury brands to hire digital marketing experts such as a PPC company or social media marketing professionals.
The digital marketplace is fast-paced and may not wait for a brand to figure it out in their own time. Especially for luxury goods, time frame matters as products can often be designated by season. Designer clothing and accessories brands are especially susceptible to the fast-paced nature of both fashion and the digital marketplace.
So many businesses have grown, sank, re-emerged, and succeeded in multiple ways in the digital marketplace. Luckily, this gives us a great base for identifying the strategies that can work for a luxury brand to increase interest and retain its refined image.
Get the Feel Right
When online, your store is your website. Luxury brands need to find out how to recreate the exclusive and luxurious feel of being in their physical storefront onto their website. How does the physical space make customers feel that they are in an exclusive environment?
Is it the attentive staff? The website can include an animated icon of a poised store assistant who can answer key questions and transfer more detailed queries to a customer service agent.
Is it the ambiance and aroma? While there is no way to recreate an aroma online, luxury brands can bring together different designers and determine how to make the website replicate the physical store’s ambiance. Luxury brands can standardize the font they use in all their signage, both online and physical. This is a subtle way to utilize customers’ subconscious to make them feel that they will get the same luxury service online and in-store.
Get Personal
Customers who shop at luxury brands are comfortable sharing their information with the brands. They are the demographic that is used to being catered to their exacting tastes. Everyone else who seeks a treat by shopping at a luxury brand is also looking to live an experience of exclusivity they have heard of or seen represented by advertisements and media. Thus, the digital marketing efforts of luxury brands need to focus on forming a personal relationship with every client.
They must collect the data that clients easily share with them and inform their personalized marketing efforts. This is also where email marketing can be even more effective for a luxury brand than any other. These emails can be generated automatically using data analysis to compile a list of items that will appeal to individual customers based on their preferences and buying habits at different times of the year.
Be Exclusive
For many people, the appeal of luxury brands is that they can own something that others cannot. This exclusivity allows most luxury brands to charge high prices and put customers on waiting lists for goods. The Internet allows anyone to access any website. But getting past the initial page can be used to maintain that feeling of being an exclusive club.
The website can have pages where the customer needs a password to enter. The password can be made available only to clients who have a membership with the brand. This membership can cost money as well as expecting a certain number of purchases.
The membership should also have different levels, which are broadly hinted at in advertisements. Perhaps an exclusive concierge service for a particular level of membership. A higher level might receive personal delivery and a tailor to take measurements and adjust clothing bought online. It is all about making the customers feel that they receive exclusive perks reserved for only the best.
People who purchase luxury brands tend to be the type of people who are different. They desire to stand out and be stylish and trendy. Luxury brands must adjust their content to deliver this kind of appeal. Potential customers must feel that their status increases due to the goods and privileges from being a customer of the luxury brand.