Luxury Product Marketing Guide: Understand Your Consumer And Boost Your Marketing Results

Luxury is a word that we may have used to describe lots of things in the past, but when it comes to marketing, it has its own meaning entirely. Luxury products are those that stand out, that differs from anything else on the market, showing your status and style. In fact, the luxury fashion market alone is estimated to be worth $108,396m in 2021.

It is because of this that standard marketing goes out of the window, not only because the products have a much higher price tag but also because those who buy luxury items expect more. You may have found yourself asking how to make your fashion brand stand out; read on to find out.

The number of people ordering luxury goods online is set to increase, and it is estimated that by 2025 30% of global luxury sales will take place online. There are two questions to be answered here. How do you market to high-end consumers, and what is a luxury consumer?

When marketing to high-end consumers, you’ve got to consider what they expect. They certainly want to be treated better than someone buying standard products, and they want to have an experience when they are shopping and be sure their money is being spent in the right place.

Often, a luxury consumer is one that has money to spend on pleasure, travel and similar pursuits – and, nowadays, both Gen Z and Millennials want to see that brands are ethical.

Winning over Gen Z and Millennials

To successfully market to Gen Z and Millennial customers, you need to understand their wants, needs and expectations. Of course, this market isn’t small; in a recent study, Bain and Company estimated that millennials and Gen Z will contribute a staggering 130% of market growth between now and 2025.

One of the key elements for these consumers is sustainability, with Forbes reporting that 62% of those surveyed say they will choose to do business with a brand that supports sustainability over a brand that does not – a 12% increase from 2013.

In addition to this, many brands are getting creative with social media, influencers and collaborations to promote their products.

Keeping this in mind when considering not only your marketing strategy but also your products themselves will help you to reach more potential customers and therefore increase revenue.

The brands that got it right

Gucci

Gucci has been named the most popular luxury brand online in 2021 – despite the fact that online searches for them dropped by 13% year on year. The reason? Gucci has embraced both online innovation, such as their AR-powered try-on feature, and sustainability ad they launched their first sustainable collection. Both of these show that they’re keeping up with what customers expect while also showing their brand values without diminishing the glamour of the brand.

 Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is no doubt one of the top luxury car brands out there, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t afraid to try something new. For their Enjoy Electric campaign, they partnered with musician The Weeknd to promote their first fully electric SUV under Mercedes’ EQ electric car brand.

The campaign used a single by The Weeknd, partnerships with streaming services and a video showing electric cars through the ages – in line with the increase in interest from younger, predominately male shoppers and their online habits.

 Burberry

Burberry understood that luxury is now digital and that to engage with their target audience, they needed to expand where they were advertising – to do so, they used streaming platform Twitch to present their Spring/Summer 2021 collection.

Rod Manley, chief marketing officer at Burberry, noted that “In the past, there was a sense in the industry that digital was not luxury, but it is now an ingrained customer behaviour, and it is a way for brands to connect with audiences and express creativity.”

Five tips for marketing your luxury product

We’ve collated our 5 top tips to help you market your luxury product, based on research, don’t forget to include them in your plans!

1. Know your audience – understand who is going to want to buy your product, what are their likes and dislikes? What is their ideal price point?
2. Invest in product photography – the difference between making a sale and not making a sale can be as simple as having good imagery to show your product; invest in this, and you’ll see all the difference.
3. Consider what your unique selling point is (USP). What makes your luxury product different from others out there? Why should someone buy your product?
4. Use visual social networks such as Instagram and Pinterest to share your product – after all, a picture speaks a thousand words!
5. Ensure that your brand exudes luxury. Every element of your brand, from your logo to your website, your social media, to your packaging, should reflect that you are a luxury brand that goes the extra mile.

So, overall, what should you be doing to market your luxury brand? We’ve covered a few examples of brands that are being innovative and who aren’t afraid to do something out of the norm to share their brand and show that they are indeed trendsetters. Being fearless can be a big step for luxury brands to get their name out there and in front of the right people.

By making the most of the tools that marketers now have at their disposal, luxury brands can use the data that they can collect about their target customers to create unique campaigns that will get you the very best results.