It is unfortunate that some luxury brands treat social media as just another sales tool – or avoid it altogether. This is a Huge Mistake! Rather, luxury brands should view social media as the powerful engagement tools they are, enabling them (and you) to stay in touch with current customers, while boosting their reputation among those who aspire to the lifestyle they promote.For example, the Louis Vuitton Facebook page has over 23 million likes. It is highly unlikely that all of these folks are paying and loyal customers. Instead, a large portion of this community is an aspirational fan base; literally, the future of the company.Understanding this offers massive potential for lead generation, client acquisition, and engagement to those of us in the interior design and luxury furnishings industries.Affluent Consumers Use of Social MediaAccording to Warc.com, an online service that offers advertising best practice, as well as evidence and insights from the world's leading brands, 98% of consumers who planned to buy luxury and had a household income of at least $250,000 used digital platforms to communicate, with 71% of this group specifically using social media.What does this mean to marketers of luxury brands? It means that affluent consumers engage with social media platforms as much, if not more so, than do less prosperous consumers.Consumers of every income level employ a variety of online platforms to shop, get an expert opinion, to get support or to learn in general, to read reviews of products or services – and yes – to complain about those very same products or services. This means that “social influencers” can help you satisfy each of these client needs on different channels. They assist you in spreading your brand’s core values.Social Media Feedback Can Influence Buying DecisionsWhile it may be true that, as a luxury brand, you have exclusivity playing in your favor, reserved only for the exclusive few, scarcity. Social media, on the other hand, is all about opening your brand up and reaching the biggest audience possible. Luxury brands and social media are no longer incompatible!You can still make the most of the social space without compromising exclusivity.Just how important can social media engagement be for a luxury brand? According to MarketingLand.com, if your brand receives positive or negative feedback within the world of social media, it can have a profound effect. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these numbers:
- 90% of consumers who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions
- 86% of consumers said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews
Social Media is like an amplifier for your brand message that allows you to tell the story of your brand while providing a behind-the-curtain look at what makes your brand so great. Why tell stories? Because stories often help to sell products. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and engagement. As humans, our brains are hard-wired to listen and like stories.Some strategies that luxury brands can utilize:
- Engage and Communicate – User-generated content creates a sense of ownership and direct engagement. Let your customers speak for you on how they love your products. Social media has become the 21st Century version of word-of-mouth marketing.
- Boost Brand Identity – Build a dialogue about the effort that goes into providing the best service possible or the quality craftsmanship that goes into your products.
- Target your Audience – Active social media engagement enables you to gain deeper insights into who your target audience is, as well as what your customers like and dislike.
- Manage your Reputation – Maintaining your image and reinforcing your brand is a large part of your marketing efforts.
Looking for more information on how to use social media to marketing your luxury brand? Check out these articles:
Are you promoting top-end services and luxury furnishings on social media? How has it worked for you? Share your experiences with us in the comments section below.Looking for more interior design marketing tips for your business, new home design trends, online marketing tips, and our luxury furnishing product lines? Get in touch with TD Fall today.
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As a marketing tool for your business, Instagram offers massive potential – if you know how to use it to your advantage – and the effective use of the hashtag is a critical element in your Instagram strategy.Beyond this powerful idea for using imagery as the primary tool to engage your audience, a solid Instagram strategy includes the use of hashtags to communicate ideas. Beginning with the basics, and without assuming you already know what they are, here’s what we’re talking about:“A #hashtag (like this) is a type of label or metadata tag used on social network and microblogging services which makes it easier for users to find messages with a specific theme or content.” – 
For anyone who’s been living in a cabin in the woods for the past half-decade or so, a cabin without Wi-Fi that is, a social networking site known as Instagram has made a huge impression. It’s an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables its users to share pictures and videos on a wide variety of social networking platforms; including all the biggies like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.Why you need to know about Instagram StrategiesIt’s been just over seven years since Instagram was launched into the world, yet it currently holds over 800 million active users, and was acquired by Facebook for 1 billion dollars in 2012, when the service was just a couple of years old!Today, Instagram has become an essential marketing tool, allowing designers to diversify their social networking strategy as a way to connect with their audience, enabling them to share their content and connect with customers and prospects. Instagram posts are being engaged with on levels unparalleled to others, yet many designers do not use the platform effectively and focus too much on themselves, rather than providing value to their audiences.Instagram is unique among the growing world of social networks because, while other sites allow you to post images and videos, Instagram requires a picture or video in every post – and the picture or video you share will be the main focus of your post.How Instagram can boost your brandBecause Instagram is so visual, many believe that it only works well for companies that sell attractive physical products, such as jewelry or clothing, for example. But, this is not true. By its very nature, Instagram is a platform that allows you to emotionally connect with your audience to build long-term relationships. It’s also a way to extend your brand values, allowing you to highlight the things that are important to you, such as the vibrant work culture your organization has, charities, and community events that your company takes part in.As a brand, and as a business, you need to connect with your audience in the same way that a close friend would. How can you do this? By telling stories, and the ways that your products or services impact the lives of the people using them. Nothing does this better than compelling imagery, which makes Instagram a great tool for connecting with your target audience in a new and vibrant way.Of course, for an interior designer, such an image-centered platform is vital to your online marketing success.Looking for more interior design marketing tips, trends, and ideas?