Marketing strategies to close luxury deals – ET BrandEquity

For obvious reasons, we all know those brands that are considered as luxury brands when we see them. Think about Ferrari and BMW, Gucci and Chanel, and even Cartier, and you’ll see they all have one thing in common; they are designed to serve high-end consumers. You’re not likely to find a social ad for these brands, and this tells us that they don’t follow the same marketing rules as mass products. The definition of a luxury product given by Investopedia is instructive; an item that is not necessary, but desirable.Luxury brands across the world have a tough task to struggle for a significant share of High Net-worth Individuals (HNWIs) who possess more than $1 million in wealth and occupy the top 1% spot of the world’s population. This means that luxury brand marketers have to be intentional in getting the attention of this elitist group who do not necessarily need their products, but have to buy them for their desirability within a society or culture. So, what strategies can brands adopt to market their luxury products?

Know your luxury customer

This has to do with understanding the individual who buys luxury products. Who are they? How much do they earn? How old are they? You need to enter the buyer persona and have a good idea of their demographic, hobbies, job, lifestyle, salary, and so on. If you’re able to vividly describe the persona of your target consumer, it’ll be easy to prepare your marketing communications and ads to appeal to them. Where there are different buyer personas, you’ll be able to communicate more effectively and focus your marketing resources.

Create an atmosphere of rarity and exclusivity

This is what many marketing experts call the clubhouse effect. High-end consumers love the feeling of being in an exclusive space. You can’t call an item luxury if it is available to everyone and everyone can afford it. This explains why most brands release limited edition products. So, anyone who doesn’t have a $250,000 Ferrari certainly does not belong to the clubhouse.

The idea is that an individual would be attracted to a product if it is available to, perhaps, only about 1,000 people across the world. This offers them an opportunity to belong to an exclusive class if they buy the product you’re offering. The use of scarcity to attract buyers is a great strategy that marketers can use to sell to HNWIs.

Emphasise the intangible elements

The best tool of marketing is the product itself. For luxury, it must look and feel that way. That’s why you can always tell luxury from regular by simply placing a Ferrari beside a Toyota Corolla. The design, engineering, interior and exterior build, and other features of the Ferrari scream luxury. It’s the same for brands like Aston Martin, Lamborghini, BMW, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and several others. They don’t just look the part, but also feel the part. Driving, wearing, and using items produced by such brands bestow a feeling of prestige and affluence.

Product should reflect the price

A luxury brand is considered luxury because it has been able to attain that position of value. Hence, you must intentionally show that your brand offers tremendous value and price power, along with other elements of singularity, including heritage, craftsmanship, time, country of origin, limited series, man-made, and prestige. All of these elements are part of what makes a luxury item attractive. So, while regular brands would make affordability a part of marketing strategy, luxury brands understand that pricing power is part of their own strategy.

Use influencers and celebrities

How do you sell a luxury item to a high-end consumer without showing them what it feels like? Not only is influential marketing cost-effective, it is also pretty effective in getting the message across. However, you must be intentional about it. You’d need to find influencers who also operate within the circle and share similar values with your target audiences. You should have an idea of the influencers’ sphere of influence, who follows them, and the type of content they put out. Hashtags are a great way to find such influencers.

Keeping your luxury customers

Marketing is not just about attracting new customers, but also involves keeping existing ones. There are two key factors to emphasise here; promoting loyalty and customer service. By loyalty, we do not mean you should establish a loyalty programme, because that can affect your brand’s value. But you should endeavour to turn first-time customers into returning customers by ensuring that they enjoy the product, and the after-sale services you offer.

Your customers want to know that you care about their comfort and convenience, and also that you’re concerned about their status in society. If you can show these, you can build brand loyalty more effectively.