Whether you’re thinking of starting a new luxury business this year or have already taken the plunge, knowing how to successfully market your venture to reach and convert your target audiences is key to both long-term growth and success. Creating a show-stopping product and an eye-catching website might seem like the all you need to start generating revenue, but the truth is that it is a lot more complex, and developing a comprehensive multi-channel marketing strategy that enables you to be present at the right times and in the right places and to effectively relate to your customers is essential.
This requires a blend of traditional marketing strategies and modern digital techniques, and in the luxury sphere it comes with an even greater level of nuance, with an affluent and discerning customer base demanding bespoke experiences, personalised service, and a focus on quality over quantity.
If you’re new to the world of marketing or are wondering how you can improve on the plan you already have in place for your luxury online business then here, we take a look at the winning strategies and tactics to have up your sleeve if you’re looking to see rapid growth over the next year and beyond.
The importance of a distinctive brand identity
Successful businesses are built from the ground up, and while in the online space that takes on a digital rather than physical format, it is equally as important to get the foundations right. In order to appeal to the luxury consumer, your brand must exude a sense of prestige and exclusivity, but it also needs to stand out from the sea of competition – so your first step is to ensure that your brand identity is distinctive and unique whilst remaining in alignment with these core values. It’s not just about offering an opulent product or high-end service, and your website design, social media profiles and other online touchpoints must also reflect these qualities in a consistent and cohesive way that ensures your brand is both noticeable and instantly recognisable by the right people, and for all the right reasons.
Something to bear in mind when developing your brand’s identity is that the luxury consumer doesn’t just purchase lavish products and services; they’re also buying the lifestyle that goes with them. So if you can show them how your offering will play a role in helping them to live the kind of lifestyle they envision for themselves and appeal to them on an emotional level, then you’re onto a winner.
Why traffic generation is king
There are many benefits to running a luxury business solely online, but one of the disadvantages is that you can’t rely on footfall to drive customers to your shop. Physical stores and boutiques in prime city centre locations tend to attract a certain level of custom simply by being where they are, but in the digital space you have to do plenty of sign-posting to ensure that your target audience know where to find you.
For high-end brands, the approach to traffic generation differs somewhat to that of mainstream businesses, as it’s not just about driving large volumes of visitors to your website, but attracting the right ones. It’s crucial that you know their personas and preferences inside out, as this will also help you to reach them where they spend time online – and partnerships and collaborations with the kinds of influencers you know they are likely to follow, on the social media platforms you know they favour, are one of the most effective ways of doing so.
As well as maintaining a consistent presence on your own social media pages and using them to disseminate engaging content that is designed to resonate, leveraging targeted social media advertising is a great way to boost the number of relevant people landing on your profiles or clicking straight through to your website and allows you to carefully select who you reach with them based on an array of demographics, behaviours and interests.
But of course, the lynch-pin of any successful digital marketing strategy to get the right visitors onto your shopfront and buying your products is search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO determines how your website is ranked in Google and other search engines’ results pages, and your website should be fully optimised for key words and phrases that relate to your offerings to help your target customers find you as easily as possible. Although these days, it’s possible to buy website traffic so that your metrics appear more credible, it’s far more beneficial to spend time on a strategy that will bring in the right people; one again, it’s very much a case of quality over quantity, and whist vast numbers of visitors might seem like a good thing, they are only valuable to you if they are the people your product or service truly resonates with, as these are the visitors most likely to convert and become loyal long-term customer.
