The luxury sector is a competitive and unique niche. Luxury marketing requires an agency that understands how best to serve and celebrate your brand, maximising UHNWI attention and, ultimately, ROI.
A good digital agency will promote your luxury brand, get the attention of your high-net-worth target audience and drive qualified traffic to your online website. But an exceptional one will do all of the above with honesty and transparency, creating long-term successful strategies rather than short-term fixes.
Combining a high level of talent, strategic know-how and a deep understanding of the HNWI mindset, a luxury marketing agency can transform your brand’s presence both on- and offline. If you’re wondering how to choose a digital agency to grow your luxury business, this guide will help you.
Here’s how to choose a luxury digital agency…
Choose an agency that focuses on helping luxury brands
It might sound obvious, but if you have a high-end product or service, you should choose an agency that specialises in serving luxury brands. Luxury marketing involves a completely different audience to mass marketing, and it’s not just about looking and feeling premium; a good luxury agency will know how to tell your story in a way that really touches your target UHNW customers.
A generalist agency might be a great fit for numerous lifestyle brands, but they will struggle with the intricacies involved in luxury marketing. You need an agency that really understands elite individuals, their lifestyle and their needs. Luxury marketing specialists know the best tools and apps that have been successful for previous clients and will incorporate them into tried and tested strategies, while always being on the look-out for innovative new ideas.
Check the agency’s portfolio of current and previous clients
Scrutinise case studies and testimonials of similar brands to your own and check performance statistics. Are there any brands whose marketing campaigns or websites you admire? Looking at an agency’s previous work helps you understand what types of businesses it specialises in and whether it is well placed to help you. Luxury marketing is a relatively broad term; a portfolio spanning various high-end sectors such as real estate, yachts, aviation and fashion demonstrates a versatile agency that can easily adapt to different premium brands.
If you have any concerns you could ask to contact previous clients. Reputable agencies will be happy for you to reach out to some of their clients directly. Marketing and PR are about developing and maintaining relationships, and it is definitely not a good sign if an agency doesn’t have any previous clients that can speak positively of them.
Something else to consider is whether the agency attends important luxury industry events and conferences? This ability to keep up to date with industry news and the forging of new business relationships and networks is crucial. For example, Relevance makes sure to attend important events like Monaco Yacht Show, the Geneva Motor Show and EBACE, as well as a range of SEO and PPC conferences, so we can help our clients in those industries and learn about them “on the ground”. It is unlikely that a generalist agency would dedicate the same time and resources to attending events that are relevant to just one client out of hundreds.
Ask who will be working on your account
In order to get your business, many agencies will arrange for their directors and senior management to take initial meetings with you, then, once the contract is signed, put more junior staff in charge of your account. However, junior staff may have exceptional skills and specific experience in your type of business, so don’t immediately be put off. Just ensure you check your account manager’s background and expertise and make sure you know who your point of contact will be before signing anything. The advantage of smaller and boutique agencies is that you’ll have more personalised and direct contact with senior management and their accumulated years of expertise.
The team at Relevance has decades of experience specialising in luxury marketing. We combine the personalised service of a boutique agency with the resources and full ‘360’ service provided by a large agency. We have an enviable network of contacts in PR and the media. Contact us if you would like to see how we can promote your luxury brand and boost your sales.