Valentine’s Day Edition
There’s a rhythm to luxury brand marketing. Gift-giving holidays–like Valentine’s Day and Christmas; Fall and Spring Collections; and the Resort season are essential bookmarks in the marketing calendar for luxury products. Depending on your product line, you may have other business cycles too.
It’s critically important to pay close attention to when your customers are the most likely to buy–and to create campaigns that reach them, remind them, and make it easy for them.
After 15 years of experience working with high-end clients, I’ve learned a thing or two (or more)–like these, my top tips for seasonal luxury marketing.
OUR TOP 6 TIPS FOR HOLIDAY LUXURY BRAND MARKETING
1. Start planning well in advance. And by that, I mean months in advance. If you’re going to be launching a new product line, make sure your photography and product copy is website-ready and fully-approved at least 3 months in advance. You can never go wrong by expecting the unexpected.
2. Think of your website as the hub for product and shopping information, even if you have a bricks & mortar store. Update your website to promote to your seasonal shopper, front and center. For our jewelry site Diamonds in Glass, we created a curated collection for Valentine’s Day that made decision-making easier. Consider offering a discount code to entice your customers. Offer free shipping, and make sure your customers know about any shipping deadlines.
3. Don’t rely on your website alone to get the word out. Create an integrated, cross-channel campaign to remind your customers of the upcoming sales event. This includes email, print, social media, and advertising.
For La Perla, Hagopian Ink worked hand-in-hand with La Perla’s in-house marketing team to create multichannel integration of print and digital assets, including designing personalized email templates, ads for Style.com and the Wall Street Journal website, and Valentine’s Day print mailers. The cross-channel campaign increased La Perla’s online and in-store Valentine’s Day traffic and sales goals.
CROSS CHANNEL SOLUTIONS
La Perla email designs sent to the same mailing list for cross-channel promotions and higher conversions
La Perla ad banners ran on Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Style.com websites to attract the right demographic for luxury gift givers and shoppers, just in time for Valentine’s Day purchasing
4. Get cozy with social media. Have robust Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest profiles, and make sure that you’re communicating all of your seasonal promotions there. Invite your followers to share their love of your product, and use hashtags that they can easily add to their own profiles. Follow brands that you admire and the chances are that they’ll follow you right back. You’ll build brand awareness (and convert new shoppers) via virtual word of mouth.
5. Personalize. You know your customers, and you should especially know your repeat customers. The more you know, the more you can apply a personalization strategy. For example, if you know your customers’ spending patterns–say if someone comes to you for a birthday gift or anniversary at the same time every year, you have an opportunity to create a customized reminder (perhaps along with a frequent-shopper discount) that will bring your shopper back to your product line again and again. This personalized service is what luxury consumers expect and respond to.
6. Make things easy, very easy, for the last-minute gift shopper. (Generally speaking, and not to disparage the gender, these are men.) Highlight event-appropriate items on your home page, and make sure overnight shipping is an option. If you make shipping free, you’ll make your customers (and their gift recipients) extremely happy.
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To see how Hagopian Ink creates integrated, multi-channel campaigns, take a deeper dive into La Perla.
Have a special campaign coming up? We’re happy to review your email strategy with you, as a complimentary audit to help maximize your results. So let’s get started!
