The Power of Affiliate Marketing

14th Nov 2021

With over 3.96 billion users in social media worldwide, and 40% of consumers saying they had purchased something online after seeing it used by an influencer, it’s inevitable that brands need to unlock the power of affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when brands work with individuals or companies to promote their products.

HOW? Its rather simple actually. Brands identify celebrities or influencers that are relevant to their image and products, engage their service to try, post and review the items and pay a commission per sale made. This can be easily trackable via unique promotion codes or link shared by the influencer. Micro influencers are a segment worth exploring for this as they are more likely to be receptive to collaboration, and their followers are a niche audience, specifically targeted to the brand.

It’s also important to pick the right platforms. Influencers tend to concentrate on social media; however you will want your affiliate to give a more in-depth review on the product. Having a website, blog or YouTube channel is certainly a plus point.

The Blonde Salad

One blogger turned lifestyle guru that has had tremendous success in this is Chiara Ferragni, The Blonde Salad. Once a personal blog, this “super-influencer” has converted her digital channels to now a stipulated net-worth of $92million in 2021, through digital activities, including affiliate marketing.

Here’s a thought, are audiences these days more likely to gravitate to micro influencers? Are their reviews seen as more authentic?Or as brands will we need a mix of both spectrums?

Simple SEO Rules for Luxury Brands

9th Nov 2021

Once an industry known for its exceptional in-person service level and shopping experience, McKinsey estimates by 2025, that one in five personal luxury sales will happen online. As this shift takes hold, brands need to step up their content game or loose out on key positioning across search engines.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE, it’s absolutely essential that we know who we are talking to. Create a Persona of the ideal shopper, the more detail the better. Think about their age, job, salary, ethnicity, location, anything that is relevant. Understand your customer journey.

This will grant you insight on how to communicate with your customer and to select the right keywords. Example Diamanté and Rhinestones are the same thing, even Polo Neck and Turtleneck, the former is a UK term and the latter US. See how a simple word could change your search ranking?

CONSTRUCT A TEAM, the website is not just the developers task, you need a team. Marketing needs to be involved for the look and feel, the overall UX. Perhaps a designer for the imagery. Content authors and copywriters are also key. It needs to be treated like as an ever-evolving business model and not an isolated project. The best websites need to grow and constantly keep up with Google’s algorithm changes.

LINKS, keep the user on your page. Don’t forget to use backlinks wherever possible. Google loves Hyperlinks. Link to your social media pages, authoritative external links and even internal links. This will improve your visibility on search engines and the users time on your site.

Sounds pretty simple and easy to keep updated, but we are already playing catch-up everyday!

At Your Fingertips, Luxury Shopping Made Seamless

2nd Nov 2021

Imagine sitting at your favourite bar, sipping champagne and still being able to shop seamlessly for that new IT bag! Now that’s my kind of shopping.

With M-commerce accounting for over 50% of all retail and travel e-commerce, luxury brands are focusing on the development of multi-channel journeys to ensure their customers’ mobile experience is as effective as on their desktop.

Dior in 2020 brought us Paris to our mobiles with a virtual experience of their Champs-Élysées boutique. Step in and users can virtually browse the brand’s Maison Christian Dior collection, and then zoom in on items and buy through the brand’s online shop. What a great way to merge boutique browsing and e-commerce, all in just a few clicks!

Dior Virtual Store

Luxury jeweller Bulgari took the digital experience a step further, personifying exclusivity, with the launch of their “invitation-only” app. Users here could browse and ‘try on’ the new collection with prices as high as €700,000 in augmented reality.

Mobile marketing can also help grow loyalty and app usage through email marketing. An interesting way is to encourage the user to download the brand’s app and keep them constantly engaged with “app-only” purchase rewards and discounts, special customer loyalty tiering and gamification to maintain VIP status.

With the advancement in M-commerce, one would wonder how far the luxury customer would be willing to give-up that personalised experience with a sales advisor, or perhaps we will evolve to more online advisor meetings.

The “New” Marketing Media Mix

24th Oct 2021

Expanding further from my last post, where I said social media is the kingdom for content, is it then too “MASS” for luxury brands? Is the luxury consumer really about to pay attention to the brand’s latest post on Instagram? One would think they were too busy living life to care. They would expect brands to pay attention to their needs and have personalised interactions, always keeping it fresh.

One luxury label that stepped away from social media is Bottega Veneta, in January, deleting ALL their social media accounts. Since then several fans pages have mushroomed up, paying a true homage to the brand. There is nothing stronger than earned media from a fan’s word-of-mouth.

Bottega has since then launched their own digital magazine “Issued By Bottega” taking a new direction in digital communication.

Brands have also started to spend mega bucks on out-of-home advertising. Tiffany & Co recently unveiled their “About Love” campaign with multiple site takeovers, including Times Square NY, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico.

Tiffany at Times Square NY

We also see the use of non-conventional platforms such as Balenciaga’s Afterworld video game and Gucci’s FM520 radio in China, where the brand celebrated “Chinese Valentine’s Day” with a group of celebrities recording as Gucci DJs.

The take here is that, while social media is certainly a key communication platform, luxury brands are increasingly exploring other ATL media channels and even revisiting some archaic ones like radio. Perhaps we will soon see the revival of print media and the glossy fashion magazines.

Luxury Brands Ever Evolving Social Media Usage

17th Oct 2021

The pandemic reinforced the fact that content is KING, and social media its kingdom, changing the way we consume information and the way we use the internet. Now with 4.48 billion users, almost 57% of the world’s population on social media, luxury brands need to constantly evolve the way they communicate and keep the users engaged. ¹

Image Credits: SmartInsights.com

One way to humanise luxury and connect with the consumer is through User Generated Content (UCG). More than 92% of consumers trust earned media, like advice or images from family & friends, more than brand content. (Nielsens Global Trust Advertising Report) There are several campaigns where brands have successfully leveraged on this driving increased awareness and revenue. These include Burberry’s Art of Trench, Calvin Klien’s #MYCALVINS, BMW’s #BMWrepost and Hilton’s Grand Vacations #MyHGV

Burberry’s Art Of Trench Campaign

Live streaming is another way luxury brands have evolved their communication to consumers. Once ever elusive and exclusive to a select fews eyes only, since the pandemic cancelled fashion week, several luxury houses have taken the show online. Brands including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Hermes have also started using live streaming in China as a platform to push sales, using key online influencers as their “sales persons”. However some locals and fans did react negatively to this finding the approach too “cheesy”

The consideration here is, where do you draw the line on becoming too accessible and too approachable, without losing the sense of exclusivity, superiority and prestige that is normally synonymous with luxury.

ABOUT SHARM

A traveller , a dreamer, a restless soul chasing rainbows

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting

PAULO COELHO

_{LA GRANDE MAISON JAEGER LeCOULTRE}

Born in Kuala Lumpur, lived in Sydney and now London. After nearly a decade in Marketing & PR for some of the worlds biggest brands, I’ve stopped to breathe. Take a moment and equip myself with new knowledge in the ever evolving role of a marketer.

Now back to full time school, I’ve just began my journey to obtain a MSc in Digital Marketing. Its a whole new challenge I look forward to face. Added in the fact that it is in London, with the rest of Europe within arms reach. 

This blog is my take on digital marketing news, issues and topics that surround the world of retail and luxury marketing. As I learn, I share… Join me in the conversation.