Social Media Trends for Luxury Brands 2021
With the increase in social media, here are top trends luxury marketers need to be aware of in 2021
The year of 2020 made one thing is certain: If the content was the KING, Social Media was our KINGDOM.
As countries implemented stay-at-home orders due to the global pandemic, Statista reported a 21% uptick in monthly social media usage.
As the world hits 3.6 billion social media users and continues to deal with the pandemic along with digital stride, brands aren’t just wondering how they’ll engage huge social media audiences in this new year. They’re also analyzing “What social media trends should luxury brands expect in this constantly changing landscape?”
To learn more about the trends that would keep luxury brands at their best game I researched and dug through HubSpot and Talkwalker’s Social Media Trends Report.
Below, I’ve compiled seven research-backed trends social media marketers for luxury brands should leverage in 2021
It is important for luxury brands to consider the social media medium, the targeted audience and the type of content, as it will determine the brand associations formed and the potential to go viral.
The social media strategy of a brand must be planned out well before execution. From producing high-quality content to engaging, luxury brands need to be specific at every touchpoint.
User-generated content — using the creativity of the audience
Marketers might fear that digital branding, especially UGC, risks diluting the core values of luxury brands. However, that does not hold true any longer. The exclusive nature of a luxury brand just forces marketers to employ UGC in new ways. As predicted by the Economist, millennials will be the main consumers of luxury by 2026. In just ten years, most luxury will be consumed by digital hungry who use social media to shop(comparing, searching, deciding, buying) online.
Six out of ten millennials rely upon user-generated content when making a buying decision, according to research by the Boston Consulting Group.
A great example of luxury UGC marketing is Burberry’s The Art of the Trench, which invited users to submit photos of themselves wearing the English label’s famous (and highly desirable) trench coat. Not only did it create a consistent stream of content, but it enhanced positive customer engagement and a sense of ownership in the brand. Burberry has said to enjoy a 21% increase in profits during this focus.
Burberry had hosted this campaign on their domain, away from social media to maintain the level of control — and quality of conversation being a luxury brand. A clever move as always!.
User generated content will be the “crown jewel” for great brands in 2021. The best pieces of content will be the ones marketers don’t create but facilitate. At a time where consumers’ lives have changed dramatically, they look to people, not brands, for inspiration about products and services that fit within their new lifestyles post COVID-19.” — Heba Sayed, Strategy Leader, IBM Cloud and AI, Middle East and Africa
Nostalgia Marketing — Summer of 69!
It’s all about igniting the right emotion and nostalgia-centric campaigns resonate best with the millennial audience. Associating brand messaging with positive references from the 90s, 80s — and even the 70s tends to humanize brands, thereby forging meaningful connections between the past and present.
The recent collaboration between Gucci and The North Face, a VF Company — plays with 1970’s theme, which focused on free-spirit of the decade and the literal exploration of places and cultures, or, metaphorical to encourage adventure.
It’s all about those Conversations — a lot can happen over a cup of coffee!
Brands need to be more human on social media, inviting the world to your dinner table for a meaningful and engaging conversation using an empathic tone of voice.
To employ a thoughtful conversational marketing strategy brands need to adopt a mix of AI tools and human interaction.
A healthy combination of AI and human interaction could enable brands to run smoothly on social media while still giving consumers the authenticity they need to trust a brand. For example, a bot could handle quick message queries, while sales, service, or community management reps could respond to more complex questions and concerns. Also using Live Streaming video and Live Messanger.
Conversational Marketing is particularly powerful for complex or high-involvement purchases, such as financial products, telecoms, cars, and even luxury travel.
Burberry — luxury’s leading bet for digitalization launched a new chat, called R Message, that marks the entrance of the company into conversational commerce. The chat functions on invitation only and allows its top-tier customers to talk directly with a sale associate, to make in-store appointments, about orders and to pay in the platform through an alliance with Apple Pay.
Video — Long or short? We say both!
With the rise of Stories and the way in which people consume media have all contributed to making video more important than ever before. In fact, 83% of marketers believe that video is becoming increasingly important.
Early 2020, HubSpot’s Not Another State of Marketing Report states that video was the most commonly used marketing content — and the second most engaging content type on social media.
With major platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, increasingly amp up their video capabilities, luxury brands can expect high video consumption to continue and grow in the coming years.
Since VR, AR is still catching up, video remains the best immersive experience brands can distribute en masse.
Here are a few examples of some of the best video campaigns.
Luxury Brands to GO LIVE
Even though there is a natural conflict between live streaming and luxury goods, this pandemic has witnessed that the western luxury brands were ready to take the challenge.
The New York-based, luxury e-tailer Moda Operandi, amidst the pandemic, introduced MODA LIVE, which is a new series of exclusive live-streamed shopping events aiming to help with both consistent content delivery and marketing. Additionally, Gucci has also gone about to explore the potential of live streaming where the brand focused on providing one-on-one real-time service focus on connecting shoppers with Gucci associates.
After coronavirus brands from Lanvin to Louis Vuitton have also launched live streaming promotions in China.
However, what luxury brands must take care of is the quality of the live stream and choosing the right influencer. From the showroom background to the high-quality sound effect, luxury needs to be extra cautious at every digital touchpoint.
Social Gaming — Cause my avatar needs to be in Gucci too!
Yes, COVID-19 did bring an explosion in video gaming hours thereby forcing luxury brands to embrace digital in a way many haven’t before.
From gaming-inspired fashion designs to brands creating their own games targeted at fashion consumers — this space has witnessed a lot of activity recently.
With Facebook’s company, Oculus, launching new VR products, Twitch continuing to expand online game-streaming capabilities, and platforms like Snapchat launching mini-game apps, it’s clear that gamification and social media will continue to go hand in hand in 2021.
Luxury brands have been seen to capitalize on this opportunity, with notable collaborations like Louis Vuitton’s bespoke outfit for Qiyana from League of Legends (branded the 3rd largest ‘sport’ in China), Burberry’s own developed game B Bounce or even Gucci’s limited edition watches in collaboration with eSports behemoth Fnatic.
As the gaming industry is set to be worth $94 billion by 2024, brands should consider implementing marketing strategies on gaming sites to complement their wider social media strategy.”
Social media platforms as shopping channels
While TikTok and Snapchat expanded business marketing offerings in 2020, Facebook and Instagram actually brought shopping capabilities directly to their apps.
With Facebook Shops, Instagram Shoppable posts, consumers can buy a product seen in a post without leaving the app they’re on.
This serves two major advantages: It makes it convenient for consumers. For brands that couldn’t build their own eCommerce store, online shopping tools provide new yet simple opportunities to effectively sell products online.
Social Media Shops has exploded in China for 5 years with ShopShop, TaoBao Live, Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou… for an estimated income of 130 billion dollars. With the Covid, retailers in Europe and the United States will also embrace live video commerce on social networks. We have already seen examples with Balmain (TikTok), Burberry (Twitch), Etam (YouTube)… Teleshopping will definitely be transposed on social networks with Facebook Shops, Instagram ChekmOut, Pinterest (Shop with your camera) or Snapchat Dynamic Ads .
Every pandemic stricken year is followed by a decade of Renaissance. Let’s see what it holds for luxury marketers!
