The Expert Methods For Reaching the Luxury Customer
When you think of a luxury consumer, what comes to mind? Is it a young tech millionaire? A wealthy housewife? Someone living off of a family trust fund? At our Orlando marketing agency, we believe that if you’re dealing in luxury goods or services, it’s important to have a deep understanding of your customers – and, perhaps more importantly, how they behave in both the world and in the digital space. This is particularly true with higher-end consumers, as their discriminating taste means they have higher expectations than a typical consumer. For this reason, it’s critically important to employ expert methods to reach your ideal luxury customer. Earlier this year, Reuters reported that the number of luxury goods purchasers increased to 330 million in 2013, and could be as high as 500 million by 2030. The article attributes this growth to rising wealth in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. And, more than half of these purchasers are age 49 or older. Just 13% are between ages 13 and 33. Contrary to what one might think, an article in Forbes points out that luxury consumers love to shop at Costco, which is a far from glamorous experience. However, alongside the rows upon rows of bulk toilet paper and paper towels, Costco also sells things like vacation packages, high-quality electronics and expensive watches. It’s not exactly what you might picture the luxury shopper doing, but it’s important to understand this mindset and behavior. The reality is that even when these consumers are spending a lot of money, they’re still also always looking for a deal. Many luxury consumers don’t even leave their homes to shop. According to Luxury Daily, in Q4 of 2014, 92% of affluent shoppers made a purchase online. Think With Google reports that in mature markets such as the United States, 69% of all luxury customers searched online before making a purchase, and in newer markets like China, Brazil and Russia, 92% of luxury consumers went online to search before making a purchase. Knowing that the market is rising and that people are using the Internet to guide their purchases and, in many cases, to actually make purchases, it’s increasingly important for luxury marketers to realize that their digital presence is a reflection of who they are as brands. Every time a person has a bad experience with your website or can’t read your email because your business’s emails aren’t optimized for mobile, you’re putting up a figurative wall between your brand and your customer. [quote]Particularly when dealing in luxury goods, the experience is part of the decision-making process.[/quote] It’s hard to convince someone you’re a luxury retailer if your website looks like something you could have designed with clipart on Geocities in 2004. It’s also becoming more and more important for luxury marketers to engage their communities online. If they’re not actively sharing content and jumping into the conversation, they may be costing themselves thousands of dollars in sales each year. The Internet is full of rich data as to how people are using their luxury products and services, and conducting a social media listening audit is typically much less expensive than a focus group. If you’re a luxury retailer and you’ve decided it’s time to finally take your digital presence to the next level, let the passionate folks at our Orlando ad agency help you! From business planning to branding to execution, we’re here to help you revamp your marketing plan, or can even build it from the ground up! Contact us today!
Hyper Targeted Advertising in a Spike Jonze World
Recently, I had a chance to see Her, the Spike Jonze-directed film about a man who falls in love with a human-like operating system. It is a wonderful film, and certainly is deserving of its place as an Academy Award-nominated film this awards season. However, plot details aside, watching the film led me to think about about marketing and advertising in a new way, and to consider whether the current landscape push towards trends such as personalization and geolocation is actually a good thing. How do we address hyper targeted advertising in a Spike Jonze world – of sorts. These days, companies are striving to give us each personalized experiences on our cell phones, tablets and laptop computers. Every day, more and more services spring up, trying to give you insights into the world around you. Many of these businesses purport to clear the noise by offering personalized recommendations as to where to eat breakfast, or which gym to join. But, often times all they do is cause more clutter. The question that one might ask is, “Is hyper targeted advertising actually bad for us?” In the movie, it’s not clear – there are both plusses and minuses to such a hyper specific system that clearly understands the users thoughts, feelings and emotions. But, alas, that’s just a movie, written, shot and performed in a such a way as to help explore our deepest sense of what it means to be human. In the real world, it seems that the answers are much clearer. For example, society hasn’t yet reached a place where artificial intelligence is a reality — just ask anyone from our Florida advertising agency who’s ever tried to get an answer from Siri and has been repeatedly given incorrect results, sometimes to the point of absurdity. We’re a long way from living in a world where machines can fulfill our deepest emotional needs. Rather, it is the content therein that often fulfills us. For example, reading your favorite blog encourages you to be more proactive about your health or your career. When you’re bored, services like Meetup and Eventbrite can inspire a person to take action, to partake in the events going on in the world around them.[quote]Even looking at pictures of food on a friend’s Instagram account can inspire a feeling of positivity and comfort.[/quote] In a lot of ways, the hyper-targeting based on our personal wants and needs seems to be helping us fulfill those internal desires to connect with others. And, with the added convenience of being able to do these things on the fly, one can make a strong argument that our constant connectivity brings us closer together. Of course, that’s sometimes harder to believe when an acquaintance spends a full five minutes browsing the internet while you’re out to dinner together. Still, it seems to me and the team at our Orlando ad agency that being able to receive personalized recommendations based on your location, age, gender, preferences and a host of other factors seems to be the best way to receive and digest information. Until we reach the day where artificial intelligence can seriously impede our need to communicate socially as human beings, then I believe we can live in a world where our connectedness can continue to bring us closer together. For more on hyper targeted advertising strategies, contact our team of experts today to make a new connection!
