Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing in Luxury Industry - Essay Example

?Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing in Luxury Industry Introduction The emergence of digital and social media marketing have opened up new and exciting ways of branding. Specifically, luxury brands are the ones which have capitalized these relatively newer tools in a most decent and “luxurious” fashion to design their brand images. The affluent customers of these luxury brands have also joined in the social media sites and their dominating presence is effectively being utilized by the companies to attract the new customer and retain the loyal customers (Kerin, 2010). Reason of choosing the topic The reason of choosing this topic is basically divided into two broader areas such that one area pertains to a specific marketing strategy and the other area relates to the industry on which that marketing strategy is actually applied at. Digital and social media marketing is undoubtedly the most emerging and recent development in the overall marketing strategies whereas luxury industry is the one which faces the most crucial dilemma of getting along with this new area of marketing. Methodology This article is composed with a view to emphasize more on the development of digital and social media marketing specifically in the luxury industry. At the beginning, key definitions along with necessary explanations of the digital marketing, social media marketing and luxury industry are discussed. Second part of this paper highlights some brief statistics regarding the development of these marketing strategies in luxury industry. Next part encompasses the key strategies to be followed when applying these digital and social media marketing tactics in the luxury industry. Last part of this article emphasizes on the relative advantages and disadvantages of the digital and social media marketing in the luxury industry. Future development and conclusion in the end summarizes this article. 1. Digital Marketing Digital marketing is that form of marketing in which the potential customers are attracted by deploying online database based distribution channels which mostly include the use of emails, instant messaging, RSS, live video streams and broadcast. In past, digital marketing was only limited to the extent of putting banner ads and pay per click kind of marketing activities which nowadays are found to be the most ineffective online marketing tools. Users hardly click on banner ads to browse the site of that brand or product, as he/she gets frustrated in getting along to all together to a new web page or new window (Bird, 2007). However, with the emergence of the concept of digital marketing, the orthodox online marketing tools are effectively put to wall as the new digital marketing strategies have replaced them in practical terms. With the invent of digital marketing, marketers especially are highly benefited such that they can track their marketing campaign rather on a wider scope such that they have the availability of real time tracking of marketing campaign (Ryan, 2012). They know that what is being viewed right now, how many times on average, a product is viewed in a day, the response rate of the customers etc. However, each marketing campaign is different from others and thus the feedback which the marketers obtain may remain quite different as compared to other marketing campaigns. 2. Social Media Marketing Social media marketing refers to those strategies in which the marketing campaigns of the companies are launched particularly on the social networking sites mainly including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. The existing marketing companies on the social networking sites are gaining much momentum and success because these are the sites on which millions of users are present and it is more convenient for the marketers to catch their attention. Unlike the traditional marketing tools like TV, radio and other channels which are becoming less effective due to increase in number of channel, social media sites however are providing the largest avenue for the marketing companies to attract the customers from all over the world (Anderson, 2010). The largest pool in millions of users connected with other users provides the opportunity to effectively promote the brands. Not only this, social media marketing has been quite effective due to the fact that it allows every company to market its brands through that same website and thus the user does not need to minimize or to switch to any other window to go after that brand. One single window can do this for those users as they can view their interested brands by sticking to their social web site window. Social media marketing is also quite famous due to some other facts as well. These sites allow the users to use different sorts of apps which hold varieties of features which are extremely helpful to the marketing companies (Anderson, 2010). In the lights of video sharing, the brands are being promoted with accelerated speed such that once a user likes that video, that video is shared to many others and in this way the automatic circulation of the advertisement of the brands speeds the overall marketing campaigns of the companies. The upcoming new features of those social media websites are also providing marketers the opportunities to promote their brands in a different but with a more effective manner (Evans, 2012). For instance, those brands which are believed to have found much of the legacy factor, they aim at informing their customers regarding the past achievements that they got over a time period especially in the form of “timeline” app on Facebook. Burberry is one of the most popular luxury brand has also been famous for early adopting new marketing campaigns. As soon as the brand got familiar with the introduction of timeline app on Facebook, it just harvested that opportunity and put all of its major achievements on its timeline. So, if a customer of Burberry is more interested in knowing the beginning of Burberry stores, he/she can check it out through the timeline of Facebook as its first store was opened in 1986 (as shown by timeline) along with a picture of that store. Rue La La is also a luxury brand such that it believes on the utility of social media sites more than having own website. This can be noticed by surfing the official web site of Rue La La where most of the information is available only to the specific members and the guests can only view the luxury background image on the web page of Rue La La. However, it the Facebook page of Rue La La is viewed, plenty of information is available to the random viewers with around 240K fans of that page. So, in a nutshell, social media sites are being vastly used by the marketing companies as an effective marketing tool to attract what probably be the biggest pool of available audience. 3. Luxury Brands What makes a luxury brand distinguished from an ordinary brand is the superior quality, the personal appeal and that emotional benefit that are actually endorsed by a luxury brand. Buying a luxury brand is supposed to be making a kind of prestigious investment in that brand. As a result, right from the process of design conception to the process of production, luxury brands carry themselves the ultimate pride. Social media sites play a key role in demonstrating the ultimate impacts of luxury brands in the form of production craftsmanship to the buyers of the luxury brands. Not only this, these social sites have facilitated the luxury brands to showcase their own exhibition rather in a more trendy style. Development of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing in last Decade Over the past few years, there has been a considerable increase in the usage of social media sites, not only by the common middle class population but also the wealthy and rich people have consolidated their presence on these social media sites. If the household statistics are taken into consideration, phenomenal growth can be observed in term of rich people earning more than $100,000 are using internet such that their numbers have increased from 43.7 million users to 57.1 million users in 5 years time from 2006 to 2011 (Abrams Research, n.d.). Interestingly, these households spend on average 23 hours on internet among which 9 hours are spent on surfing Facebook. Consumers are also quite concerned about the prices, quality and other features of the products such that around 66% of the affluent internet users are found to have spent considerable time on searching the details of the products and brands before making a final buying decision. The popularity of social media sites in reaching the online households of income over $100,000 has grown tremendously with around 51% of them, use Facebook. Households with even richer background earning some $240,000 or more even have a substantial presence on these social media sites with around 80% of them have their user profiles, mostly on Facebook (Abrams Research, n.d.). Finally, it is forecasted that more than 80% of the business situated in US are going to use the social media networking tools to attract their customers. In the light of above stated statistics, it can be figured out as how large the scope of digital marketing especially social media marketing is, as the growth of not only the common users but also the affluent rich and wealthy users who can actually afford those luxury brands, is on an increasing trend at an exponential rate, opening new doors for the horizons of digital and social media marketing. Strategies to engage the affluent customer in luxury industry with adoption of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing Social media sites and digitalization of marketing strategies are still very much new to broader arena of marketing luxury brands (Chaney, 2009). In the following different myths and strategies are discussed along with their usefulness which companies can adopt to engage the affluent customers in the luxury industry through digital marketing and social media marketing. 1. Developing a Brand Story Not every other person knows the past of the brand but those brands are highly recognized and reached by the customers, which remained successful in developing an effective brand story and disseminating that story through utilizing the social media sites (Darlington, 2012). 2. Brands are bought because of idealism, not because of products For luxury brands, affluent customers tend to associate themselves with a particular brand not because of the product but because of the brand image that it possesses. That brand image is fine tuned and magnified through digital marketing and social media marketing (Darlington, 2012). 3. Videos – an E-commerce booster Videos or live streaming of the brands also boost the e-commerce significantly such that the sales of the luxury brands are found to have increased by some ten times. Videos may not result in the immediate stimulation of the brands rather it develops the brand story on concrete basis which ultimately results in the stronger foundation of a brand image. 4. Smart apps and other Social Media apps Cellular phones play a key role in promoting luxury brands with the help of the latest app that are added by the mobile phone companies as well as social media sites. These apps provide multiple platforms for a brand to represent itself. 5. Conducting Events For a perfect recall of a luxury brand, social media sites are meant to be used to share the activities of an event such that people participate into those events and talk about them over a longer period of time and discuss their experience with the brand to others which is in fact the real socializing. Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing in Luxury Industry Since the concept of digital marketing and social media marketing is still in its early stage as compared to its conventional counterparts, yet it has blessed the luxury industry but has caused awful harms to the luxury brands. In the following summarized advantages of using digital marketing and social media marketing in the luxury items are discussed. Via social media marketing, companies have found the largest target audience to cater with the least cost to reach them (Messieh, 2012). Effective tracking of the performance of marketing campaigns are now possible courtesy digital marketing which has brought real time monitoring of the online activities of the affluent customers. Legacy of the older luxury brands can be highlighted quite effectively through different apps e.g. the vintage photo regarding the brand or old aged clipping of the newspaper can be shared on those social media sites to inform the affluent customers regarding the history, legacy and the charm of that brand. New ways and tactics of promotion have been featured especially in the form video streaming and sharing where companies can even communicate with their affluent customers online. Besides the above stated advantages there are existing as well as potential disadvantages of adopting digital marketing and social media marketing strategies in luxury industries. Some of these disadvantages are outlined as under. What probably be the biggest harm that these digital marketing and social media marketing strategies cause to the luxury brands is that of brand dilution. Since with the emergence of social media sites, every other company has started using this channel as its core medium of marketing and thus there is a kind of bombardment of the brands all over those social media sites. This large influx of brands is likely to divert the attention of the customers from the original luxury brand which may result in the substitution of the luxury brand by some other brand. With the ever increasing reliance on the social media marketing and digital marketing especially in the luxury industry, the companies have almost sidelined the importance of other traditional marketing strategies which is causing a higher inability of the customers to recall the luxury brands as they hardly find those luxury brands around them except their user profile on social media sites. Digital marketing and social media marketing in the luxury industry is mainly exposed to the risk of fast changing and dynamic apps available on these social sites. For example, today a company showcases its luxury brand that is aligned with the newer interface of Facebook timeline, what if Facebook brings in something new which may effectively repeal the older timeline fashion? The end result would be an altogether change in the entire attire of the brand which may deteriorate the brand personality. Future of Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing in Luxury Industry Till now the early adopters of digital marketing and social media marketing in luxury industry have remain quite successful as they adopted the most current strategies that have posed more appealing brand images of the luxury brands to the affluent customers. However, the future is still uncertain because the biggest danger that the companies might have to face is the frequent changes in the digital marketing and social media marketing platforms (Zarrella, 2009). Mainly these digital and social media based marketing strategies rely heavily on different sorts of app which unfortunately have very limited life and these apps are replaced by their descendents after every now and then. In this way, the companies have to be prepared for any unseen contingency that the developers of these social media sites may pose in the form of different apps. Conclusion Luxury brands can only survive as long as their brand images remain alive. For this, digital marketing and social media marketing places a question mark as those brands may likely to be diluted. However, with the ever increasing rate of rich people joining these social media platforms, it is practically more convenient for the marketers to reach those wealthy affluent customers as compared to any other traditional marketing campaign. References Abrams Research, n.d. . Social Media Guide for Luxury Brands. [Online] Available at: http://www.abramsresearch.com/static/guides-whitepapers/ARSM_Guide_Lux.pdf [Accessed 12 July 2012]. Anderson, E., 2010. Social Media Marketing: Game Theory and the Emergence of Collaboration. Oregon: Springer. Bird, D., 2007. Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing. Glasgow: Kogan Page Publishers. Chaney, P., 2009. The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media. New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons. Darlington, M., 2012. 10 Digital Marketing Trends For Fashion, Luxury and Retail. [Online] Available at: http://fashionablymarketing.me/2012/04/digital-marketing-trends-retail/ [Accessed 12 July 2012]. Evans, D., 2012. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. 2nd ed. Indiana: John Wiley & Sons. Kerin, R. A. H. S. W. a. R. W., 2010. Marketing: The Core. Chicago: McGraw-Hill Companies,Incorporated,. Messieh, N., 2012. How Luxury Brands are using Social Media. [Online] Available at: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/03/20/luxury-brands-using-social/ [Accessed 12 July 2012]. Miller, M., 2012. B2B Digital Marketing: Using the Web to Market Directly to Businesses. s.l.:Que Publishing. Reitzin, J., 2007. What is Digital Marketing?. [Online] Available at: http://www.mobilestorm.com/resources/digital-marketing-blog/what-is-digital-marketing/ [Accessed 12 July 2012]. Rowan, W., 2002. Digital Marketing: Using the New Technologies to Get Closer to Your Customers. Indiana: Kogan Page Publishers. Ryan, D. a. J. C., 2012. Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Weber, L., 2009. Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business. 2nd ed. Ney Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Wind, Y. W. J. a. M. V., 2001. Digital Marketing: Global Strategies from the World's Leading Experts. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Zarrella, D., 2009. The Social Media Marketing Book. Montreal: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Read More