Social media gives marketers a wide range of tools for building personalized, interactive connections with target customers. Different social media platforms allow for various inventive social media presence strategies for organizations. In this context, Instagram has flourished as a top social media channel for high-end fashion companies. This article examines the topic of high-end fashion brands on social media by emphasizing important strategies that should be used in a social media marketing plan.
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Social media and luxury brand development Over the past ten years, digital has become increasingly important for luxury brands, especially during the pandemic, which really helped any brand focus on digital transformation. Other brands, however, took it a step further. Gucci, for instance, was the first pure luxury brand to conduct “livestream shopping” from a set replica of a Gucci store.
By 2025, it is predicted that up to one-third of all purchases for personal luxury items will be made online, with sales totaling an estimated $136 billion. Social media naturally provides essential touchpoints for any integrated marketing campaign because any brand wants to be where potential customers are and where they are spending their time. Social media can literally run the length of the marketing funnel, from “reach” to “engage,” according to the RACE model of digital marketing, which allows marketers to plan their communications. As a result, it’s crucial for marketers to understand what role social media is expected to play in their communication strategy.
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Since every brand wants to be where potential customers are and where they are spending their time, social media has been at the center of what we can call the “mediatization” of luxury brands over the past ten years. The importance of the following has increased because of cultural shifts, technological advancements, and the need for an ongoing stream of content on social media:
- The founder’s narrative
- Audience participation
- Community involvement
- Corporate social responsibility
Due to the need for stronger emotional leveraging to engage us as customers, social media is the ideal platform for this kind of brand building to take place. Building a brand can be difficult in this environment, not just for luxury businesses but for all businesses, due to the quick-paced nature of social media and the distracted nature of us as consumers. Therefore, it’s crucial to make sure that all social media communications focus on the three main goals of recognition, aesthetics, and narrative. A luxury brand’s social media marketing strategy must therefore focus on promoting an exclusive lifestyle. When using social media marketing for luxury brands, you have to pay close attention to making content that is interesting and fun.
1. Place an emphasis on visual social storytelling excellence in design.
- Design excellence
- Superior craftsmanship
- High-quality raw materials
The world of luxury brands is all about aesthetics, from designer clothing and jewellery to opulent homes, yachts, cars, and food (Beluga caviar, anyone?). You must embrace the practise of “visual storytelling” if you want to draw attention to your brand. You can use the following suggestions for various social media platforms:
- Write blog posts focusing on SEO and write about the latest fashion trends with pictures and videos that show how they can be worn in different ways.
- Make a YouTube channel with videos about your target audience’s way of life and educational content for the luxury market.
- Use consistent Instagram themes for your layouts, typography, lighting, camera angles, and colour schemes. Use Instagram Stories and Reels to share occasions, new product introductions, or behind-the-scenes content.
- Use TikTok’s short, snappy video format to jump on popular music, share quick, bite-sized styling or lifestyle advice, and connect with influencers.
- Create “mood” boards on Pinterest that are centred on subjects related to your product, such as different exquisite recipes for appetisers, entrees, soups, and desserts for a fine-dining restaurant.
- Encourage fans to post images or videos of “paradise” on Facebook and give them access to behind-the-scenes content.
Chanel’s Instagram is an example of visual storytelling.
Chanel’s Instagram account, one of the pioneers of visual storytelling, is expertly curated to feature posts and layouts with a specific theme. Here is a post that features coloured illustrations of Chanel’s fragrances and cosmetics created by children. Creativity and surprise make brand ethos of Chanel
2. Curate trendsetting thoughts and tips
Luxury brands depend on their reputations for survival. You must be able to deftly combine innovation and experimentation with artistry and authenticity. Your social content feeds must be creative and motivating if you want to set trends. Consider following thought leaders and influential people from around the world in your field rather than creating everything yourself and learning from what they have to say. Share some of their business or fashion advice. Create a brief video that summarizes the ephemeral world of luxury tastes. Or write weekly articles highlighting the activities and hangouts of influential people. Seasonal fashion shows, for instance, are on the catwalk. The traditional pillar of luxury brands never becomes stale. Luxury brands now have a place to parlay their fashion trends and shows for the various seasons. Since YouTube is the TV channel for millennials and Gen-Zers.
3. Talk About Your Brand’s History
Luxury social media brands must tell compelling tales. How well you communicate the brand story of a luxury product—from stretch limos to fine champagne—often determines how successful you are in marketing it. Narrate the history of your brand, also known as the “why” behind it. Think about the following:
- Who is the brand’s creator?
- What motivated him or her to develop the brand?
- What are the guiding principles or values of the brand?
- Why is the brand distinct from others?
- How does it set itself apart from rivals?
- What is the brand’s major turning points?
- What are the brand’s goals for the future?
In “The Tale of Thomas Burberry,” for example,
Thomas Burberry, the creator of the Burberry brand, is brilliantly dramatised in one of my all-time favourite brand founder tales.
4. Produce inspiring content
Successful people can tell the world about their status by using luxury brands. An attractive woman wearing a stylish Chanel suit. Wants to make it known to others that she is strong, successful, and influential. You must create aspirational content if you want to match the ambition of your potential customers. Instead of focusing on satisfying basic needs, this should be aimed at the highest levels of Maslow’s hierarchy, such as self-actualization and transcendence.
For example, Louis Vuitton I adore this Louis Vuitton YouTube video, in which actress Emma Stone explores her life. Take note of how it conveys the aura of success in a subtle yet exquisite way.
5. Use a house style that is consistent
Luxury brands should adopt a unified visual and textual voice. Your social media brand building efforts could be completely destroyed if you don’t follow through. The following are ideal topics for your style guide, which are frequently covered in your brand identity guidelines:
- Videos and photo types that best reflect your brand’s personality
- Designs, colours, motifs, patterns, and typographic styles
- Language you should use, it includes appropriate language for your brand to use as well as language you should avoid using.
- Co-branding standards, whether they apply to relationships with distributors, partners, or other brands.
Most of the top luxury automobile, travel, and beauty brands are renowned for their reliability. This makes them stand out in a crowded, cutthroat market.
For instance, the high-end champagne label Dom Perignon. Instagram account painstakingly designed to reflect a unified brand aesthetic. Here are a few photos featuring different artists as part of a campaign.
6. Add a few creative splashes
For luxury brands, consistency is essential, but you also need to use a little creativity to liven things up. This blending of the known and unknown requires finesse and skill. Your aim is to surprise your audience with something in your content. While maintaining the high standards of quality, craftsmanship, and performance that they have come to expect from you.
Example: a creative painting by Fendi displayed on a Rome rooftop
By staging this, visual artist Pokras Lampas brought calligraphy to the rooftop of the Fendi store in Rome. He created the largest calligrafitti in Italy.
7. Mass-Affluent targeted advertisements
To promote your luxury brand to the right wealthy consumers one needs to be active online. By doing this, you’re indicating that you’d prefer quality over quantity. Keep in mind that the person who likes, comments, shares, and clicks is more important than the number of likes, comments, shares, and clicks. Here are some practical strategies for focusing on the appropriate target markets:
- Location: Focus on the more expensive areas and home styles
- Demographic: Choose the appropriate age groups, genders, and professions for your brand.
- Psychographics: Affiliated brands that would appeal to your customers?
- Buying behaviour: How frequently would your target market’s consumers make purchases from your product categories?
8. Work with inspirational influencers
Influencers, who range from models and Instagram users to actors and singers, are crucial to the ecosystem of luxury branding. Do think about working with notable figures in the business, political, or non-profit worlds in addition to A-list celebrities and fashionistas. By doing this, you can help your social media brand become more than a flimsy representation of materialism.
Example: Rolex Prizes
The Rolex Awards for Enterprise, presented annually since 1976, have aided those with innovative ideas who are devoted to improving the world. More than 100 men and women have been recognized for their entrepreneurial spirit. The awards are a fantastic way for the traditional watch company to connect with the business captains and leaders who are motivated by these acts of bravery.
Conclusion
Given how challenging social media is, it can be difficult for luxury brands to use it effectively. Although it’s simple to enter the market, any luxury social media strategy requires special consideration to ensure you can get the results you want. This entails knowing precisely what function you anticipate it to serve for your company and tailoring and assessing any communications accordingly.
