3. “More and more consumers are
questioning the real value of
luxury goods brands”
Claudia D'Arpizio, a partner at Bain
4.
5. “Engaging with the new luxury consumer is
an opportunity for companies to move the
conversation on from price and status, to a
deeper connection focused on experience
and the feelings that luxury products can
evoke in their purchasers”
Deloitte Luxury Multicountry Survey for Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2017
Hello everyone and thanks to Screenpages for letting me come and talk to you today.
I am…...and I am here to talk to you about social media for mid to high end retail businesses as well as the behaviours and expectations of your customers to help you plan online activities that will convert to action.
I think it is safe to say that until 2013/14, the high-end retail market didn’t have to work too hard to make a name for themselves on social media.
Then the middle market came alive. Engaging with people online and building a following that before the high-end market did not have to ‘work’ as hard for because Tiffany, Harrods, Bentley and all that are within that market all rested upon their brand name.
Fast forward to today and these high-end businesses are still playing catch up, as people's expectations of brands online changed very quickly and so their digital marketing behaviours had to as well. And for big businesses like that, it takes time to implement change and that is where you have the advantage!
So what are the behaviours and expectations of customers who buy middle to high-end goods or services online.
So consider content - your imagery, your tone of voice, your PR outlets and chosen influencers.
How you will present yourself on the various platforms now at your disposal?
It is easy to become overwhelmed and feeling you need to get involved with the next new thing OR on the other extreme bury your head in the sand and hope this social media nonsense will go away.
Try not to do either.
Why? Because with so much choice out there these days, people are quick to switch to another brand if they feel let down by their ‘usual’ outlet - even if it is online. Your customers want a parallel experience with you online as well as off! They want it to feel and sound familiar.
BRAND GUIDELINES INCLUDING TONE OF VOICE - clear, consistent, on brand, what your audience expects of you.
This is a scary prospect. But it is true.
Consumers these days want to be ‘sold’ an aspirational lifestyle through a brand fits in with their values - Are you eco friendly? Have a strong CSR? Source your suppliers locally/ethically? Whatever you story is tell it. This will enable you to connect with your audience on an emotional, ethical and moral level. Which is fair more valuable that them just liking your offering.
Think of selfish mother with her ethical T’s.
Molly Gunn started as a mummy blogger and owner of an online parenting magazine, telling her story and allowing others to do as well, about the joys, woes and heartache of becoming and being a parent. Then had an idea for these jumpers and T’s that could help raise money for a charity.
Molly started selling these via her online magazine, then opened the fmly store online when she has a number of products to sell. In 2016 she opened a retail outlet in Somerset, still telling her own story of motherhood which was one of the reasons people connected with her and from that has a mass demand for her #goodtees because of the stories they tell and the ‘tribe’ it allows the comsumers to be a part of.
So the audiences she attracts:
Mothers fathers, grandparents,Parents, Siblings, those that want to support refugee, cancer and childrens charities, those that are into fashion and want to be part of a celebrity tribe, she really has nailed it and sells lots of tshirts, and jumpers, raising shed loads of cash for charities, off the back of it!
Know your story.
it may grow and incorporate more than one element that appeals to different segments of your target market, but make sure you know it, and then communicate it with your audience.
A report by Deloitte reinforces all of this which I recommend reading.
SO SOCIAL MEDIA CONSIDERATIONS:
When embarking on creating an impact through social media you need to consider a few things first.
Where - where are going to start to start in terms of platforms? Where are your audience is a good question, they are possibly where your competitors are - so go there as you know there is an audience for them.
Time - how much time can you spend on planning, creating content, responding and engaging with your audience, building a community, and analysing?
Resource - Tools to manage your social media, people to produce high-quality blogs images and creating video, all take time. And time is money. So make sure you have the tools, expertise and resources to carry out your content planning and social media - you will know by having a marketing and content plan what you will ideally need.
The plan - a plan is crucial. Even if you don’t stick to it all of the time. It is the only way your content creators know what to create and your social media manager will know what is going on within the business. So make sure this plan includes, PR activities, blogging schedule, external events, launches, important dates for your business and more so that the communication is seamless and everyone has all the information they need to do their job well.
Goals - like any activity, social media has to have a goal. Albeit driving traffic to the website, getting people to buy something or signing up to your newsletter, set realistic goals for your social media based on the time you are going to spend to hit those goals. You can’t expect to sell anything if you don’t have plan and resource to do it! And then measure, analyse and tweak the goals, plan and activities regularly.
So that is a really snapshot insight into the expectations of online audiences that spend money on mid-high end items.