If you’ve spent any time on Instagram or TikTok in the past couple of years you can’t have missed the impact influencer marketing has had on affordable fashion and beauty brands. Grinning Love Island winners selling us everything from teeth-whitening toothpaste to skirts that cost less than a sandwich have become the norm. Lower-cost brands were quick to pivot, spending much of their content marketing budget on creators and influencer strategy, but the premium powerhouses have historically held back.
Heritage and high-end brands have always had questions around quality, exclusivity, and creative control. Although the tide is turning as brands of all levels see the impact of working with influencers, premium clients do still have valid concerns over protecting their identities. However, with traditional advertising struggling to make an impact on Generation Z and Alpha, and consumers of all ages upping their social media consumption, it’s a fear that brands will need to overcome to remain relevant to existing customers and attract new ones.
For luxury brands that are brave enough, gambling on influencers can pay huge dividends. In 2022 Gucci created a buzz far beyond any regular ad campaign when they teamed up with cult TikTok trainspotter Francis Bourgeois to promote their Gucci x North Face collaboration. Subverting entirely the expectations of a luxury brand, by quickly jumping onto a figure that spoke to Gen Z they positioned themselves in a different but complimentary way, and were noticed by a whole new audience.
At Ingage we help our premium clients harness the power of influencers for their social strategies. Key to this is our reporting; our clients need to see for themselves the power of the people they are investing in. Simon Hobbs, Managing Partner at Ingage, breaks down the numbers behind one of our success stories: ‘One international luxury brand achieved a 650% increase in reach when they used a mainstream celebrity to promote a number of their products, with engagement jumping dramatically from 1.4% to more than 9%, and the partnership prompting more than 1,000 conversations on the brand’s channels.’
So far, so swayed? Here’s our checklist of how to make sure your influencer partnerships work.
Pick the right projects
Influencer marketing can and does work for luxury brands when it’s done in the right way, but it might not be right for every campaign or collection. Before considering an influencer collaboration, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this a project that needs agility? For example, a trend or zeitgeist topic that needs to be quickly acted upon and where traditional marketing channels could slow it down.
- Do we want to appeal to a different audience? Utilising the reach of an influencer is a way to connect with a fresh and new consumer group, potentially outside where the brand currently sits.
- Will it add authenticity? The right influencer can add expertise and credibility as well as bringing an authentic tone of voice.
Choose the right influencer
From bigger not always being better, to navigating the pitfalls of inflated engagement rates and paid-for followers, careful research and vetting is key. Utilising multiple tools that allow us to see behind the numbers and working with specialist team members who have knowledge of local markets allows us to provide our luxury eyewear client Silhouette with tailor-made recommendations that we know will fit both their aesthetics and aims.
Maintain your brand’s visual ID
A lack of creative control and concerns over brand visual identity are the most common fears when it comes to influencer content and luxury brands. A sweet spot needs to be found where the content feels true to both brand and creator: without this it will fail.
A comprehensive brief is key. Alongside the usual housekeeping of dates, usage, and deliverables, a strong sense of the desired look and feel is a must. From creating mood boards to selecting examples of the influencer’s work to be inspired by, the greater the visual sense both client and creator have of the desired outcome, the better.
Keen to improve your influencer marketing strategy? From A-list movie and music stars to localised micro-influencers, Ingage know what works.