ultimate guide to pinterest & instagram marketing for luxury brands
TRANSCRIPT
1
The Ultimate Guide To
Marketing for Luxury Brands
amp
2
The Landscape and Why Visual Networks are Great for Luxury Brands
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on the Visual Web
23
1Whatrsquos in This Guide
3
The Landscape and Why Visual Networks are Great for Luxury Brands
1
4
Instagram and Pinterest are tailor-made for luxury brands Both networks are inspirational and aspirational by nature and this makes them a perfect fit for luxury brands whose products are inherently beautiful and desirable
Aston Martinrsquos Pinterest strategy includes boards for all of their current line of cars as well as legacy models such as their legendary DB5 shown here As a result their content has high levels of engagement and more than 180000 followers
5
It should come as no surprise that many premier luxury brands are taking advantage of these platforms to further their success in fact a recent study revealed that 93 of them are active on Instagram This makes sense as our research indicates that for luxury brands Instagram is dominant By way of example letrsquos compare the Instagram and Pinterest audiences Gucci Louis Vuitton and Burberry
These are three of the top luxury labels on Instagram but they are illustrative of the broader trend Another example is luxury automobiles as we mentioned before Aston Martin is killing it on Pinterest They have nearly 200000 followers which is far more than they have on Instagram However they are the exception that proves the rule BMW and Audi each have more than a million followers on Instagram but Pinterest is a much different story BMW doesnrsquot even have a profile while Audirsquos two official accounts (one international one for the USA) combined donrsquot break 2000 followers So why there such a discrepancy between Pinterest and Instagram for luxury brands It comes down to three things brand behavior products and platform specific user behavior
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Burberry
2754347 53951
2304259 32 216
1911229 94090
Instagram Audience
Pinterest Audience
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
2
The Landscape and Why Visual Networks are Great for Luxury Brands
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on the Visual Web
23
1Whatrsquos in This Guide
3
The Landscape and Why Visual Networks are Great for Luxury Brands
1
4
Instagram and Pinterest are tailor-made for luxury brands Both networks are inspirational and aspirational by nature and this makes them a perfect fit for luxury brands whose products are inherently beautiful and desirable
Aston Martinrsquos Pinterest strategy includes boards for all of their current line of cars as well as legacy models such as their legendary DB5 shown here As a result their content has high levels of engagement and more than 180000 followers
5
It should come as no surprise that many premier luxury brands are taking advantage of these platforms to further their success in fact a recent study revealed that 93 of them are active on Instagram This makes sense as our research indicates that for luxury brands Instagram is dominant By way of example letrsquos compare the Instagram and Pinterest audiences Gucci Louis Vuitton and Burberry
These are three of the top luxury labels on Instagram but they are illustrative of the broader trend Another example is luxury automobiles as we mentioned before Aston Martin is killing it on Pinterest They have nearly 200000 followers which is far more than they have on Instagram However they are the exception that proves the rule BMW and Audi each have more than a million followers on Instagram but Pinterest is a much different story BMW doesnrsquot even have a profile while Audirsquos two official accounts (one international one for the USA) combined donrsquot break 2000 followers So why there such a discrepancy between Pinterest and Instagram for luxury brands It comes down to three things brand behavior products and platform specific user behavior
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Burberry
2754347 53951
2304259 32 216
1911229 94090
Instagram Audience
Pinterest Audience
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
3
The Landscape and Why Visual Networks are Great for Luxury Brands
1
4
Instagram and Pinterest are tailor-made for luxury brands Both networks are inspirational and aspirational by nature and this makes them a perfect fit for luxury brands whose products are inherently beautiful and desirable
Aston Martinrsquos Pinterest strategy includes boards for all of their current line of cars as well as legacy models such as their legendary DB5 shown here As a result their content has high levels of engagement and more than 180000 followers
5
It should come as no surprise that many premier luxury brands are taking advantage of these platforms to further their success in fact a recent study revealed that 93 of them are active on Instagram This makes sense as our research indicates that for luxury brands Instagram is dominant By way of example letrsquos compare the Instagram and Pinterest audiences Gucci Louis Vuitton and Burberry
These are three of the top luxury labels on Instagram but they are illustrative of the broader trend Another example is luxury automobiles as we mentioned before Aston Martin is killing it on Pinterest They have nearly 200000 followers which is far more than they have on Instagram However they are the exception that proves the rule BMW and Audi each have more than a million followers on Instagram but Pinterest is a much different story BMW doesnrsquot even have a profile while Audirsquos two official accounts (one international one for the USA) combined donrsquot break 2000 followers So why there such a discrepancy between Pinterest and Instagram for luxury brands It comes down to three things brand behavior products and platform specific user behavior
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Burberry
2754347 53951
2304259 32 216
1911229 94090
Instagram Audience
Pinterest Audience
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
4
Instagram and Pinterest are tailor-made for luxury brands Both networks are inspirational and aspirational by nature and this makes them a perfect fit for luxury brands whose products are inherently beautiful and desirable
Aston Martinrsquos Pinterest strategy includes boards for all of their current line of cars as well as legacy models such as their legendary DB5 shown here As a result their content has high levels of engagement and more than 180000 followers
5
It should come as no surprise that many premier luxury brands are taking advantage of these platforms to further their success in fact a recent study revealed that 93 of them are active on Instagram This makes sense as our research indicates that for luxury brands Instagram is dominant By way of example letrsquos compare the Instagram and Pinterest audiences Gucci Louis Vuitton and Burberry
These are three of the top luxury labels on Instagram but they are illustrative of the broader trend Another example is luxury automobiles as we mentioned before Aston Martin is killing it on Pinterest They have nearly 200000 followers which is far more than they have on Instagram However they are the exception that proves the rule BMW and Audi each have more than a million followers on Instagram but Pinterest is a much different story BMW doesnrsquot even have a profile while Audirsquos two official accounts (one international one for the USA) combined donrsquot break 2000 followers So why there such a discrepancy between Pinterest and Instagram for luxury brands It comes down to three things brand behavior products and platform specific user behavior
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Burberry
2754347 53951
2304259 32 216
1911229 94090
Instagram Audience
Pinterest Audience
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
5
It should come as no surprise that many premier luxury brands are taking advantage of these platforms to further their success in fact a recent study revealed that 93 of them are active on Instagram This makes sense as our research indicates that for luxury brands Instagram is dominant By way of example letrsquos compare the Instagram and Pinterest audiences Gucci Louis Vuitton and Burberry
These are three of the top luxury labels on Instagram but they are illustrative of the broader trend Another example is luxury automobiles as we mentioned before Aston Martin is killing it on Pinterest They have nearly 200000 followers which is far more than they have on Instagram However they are the exception that proves the rule BMW and Audi each have more than a million followers on Instagram but Pinterest is a much different story BMW doesnrsquot even have a profile while Audirsquos two official accounts (one international one for the USA) combined donrsquot break 2000 followers So why there such a discrepancy between Pinterest and Instagram for luxury brands It comes down to three things brand behavior products and platform specific user behavior
Louis Vuitton
Gucci
Burberry
2754347 53951
2304259 32 216
1911229 94090
Instagram Audience
Pinterest Audience
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
6
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoPeople love to have a visual connection with a brand and Instagram is the best platform for that It performs better for us because people can relate to all of the images we post since they always tell a mini story Plus Instagram is the most mobile friendly social platform so we are always in the palm of their hands just look at fashion girls and bloggers hanging out they are always on their phones At times because of the way Pins are delivered in a news feed itrsquos hard to express a message through Pinterestrdquo
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
7
Pinterest is a network based on discovery and our data shows that people who Pin new products they discover have a high level of purchase intent People generally browse Pinterest to do something whether thatrsquos finding a new recipe or shopping for their next pair of shoes This makes Pinterest an extraordinarily powerful ecommerce engine and luxury brands who do sell products online such as Burberry typically perform better on the platform than those who donrsquot The bottom line is that Pinterest and Instagram both offer rich potential for luxury brands These visual networks are the
perfect place for 21st century window shopping and the perfect place to create aspirational inspirational and emotional desire in a new generation of consumers
Whether your brand is focused on Instagram or Pinterest itrsquos critical that your content is both audience and platform appropriate If not it can easily be overlooked or fade into background noise So letrsquos examine whatrsquos working for luxury brands on these networks from a content perspective
Burberry has been in business for more than 150 years and their glossy stylish imagery is perfect for Pinterest
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
8
Between gorgeous product shots travel pictures and on the street photos Joersquos Jeans ensures their Instagram feed is always luxurious and never boring
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
9
Your Visual Content Strategy Whatrsquos Working For Luxury Brands and What Isnrsquot
2
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
10
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
ldquoThe challenge is showcasing the quality and comfort of our products while telling the full story behind them You canrsquot feel or try them on so we have to relay through images why theyrsquore worth every penny and worth a repin or lsquodouble taprsquo Our strategy is to create an aspirational lifestyle in 75 of our Pins and posts to give our product an environment to be seen in by our followers We want our followers to relate to our brand and want to be an advocate for the Joersquos lifestyle which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
11
Visual networks and especially Instagram are vehicles for forming emotional bonds between you and your audience Luxury brands especially have a huge leg up in this regard as their products are designed to connect with peoplersquos passions But how you show your products is as critical to success as what you show
ldquoPart of any highend brand is managing the customerrsquos experience Luxury products arenrsquot sold or valued simply on their technical quality theyrsquore sold on exclusivity and their lsquospecialnessrsquo so brands go to huge lengths to ensure that
every part of your interaction with their products in their stores is incredible But that creates the big question of how to replicate that experience onlinerdquo said Jason Edelman who has led merchandising and commerce efforts for brands including Restoration Hardware Frontgate and WilliamsSonoma The answer is that it doesnrsquot have to be the same Online audiences donrsquot expect the same experience as walking into a store but if you can capture even some of your brandrsquos distinct exclusive lsquofeelrsquo and culture on Pinterest or Instagram you can spread that experience around to a much broader audience
ldquoIn the end luxury brands fulfill wants not needs A Omega watch that costs thousands of dollars doesnrsquot really keep any better time than a $15 Casio but thatrsquos not the point Thatrsquos not why you buy these kinds of things You buy them because you want them because LOTS of people want them because theyrsquore beautiful cool and desirable So when yoursquore marketing these products you have to create that desire that WANTrdquo mdashJason Edelman
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
12
Liselotte KirkelundDigital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
ldquoFor us Instagram is a bit more spontaneous and fun but we still put a lot of thought into every picture We like to show a bit more of the ldquoVero Modardquo world such as photos from around the world pictures of our staff traveling shots from fashion shows and a lot of behind the scene content At the same time we want to showcase our products but in a different unique and appealing way Which is why we feature so many fashion influencers wearing our brandrdquo
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
13
ldquoOn Instagram we try to build a story around our products and how they fit into the bigger picture of our brand Even though itrsquos great for inspiration and fashion products we try to keep a mix of 60 product focus and 40 ldquoatmosphere picturesrsquo that contain behind the scenes shots like food hairstyles stylists models getting ready and our employees having fun I think customers love to get a glimpse of the life behind our brand It gives us a personal touch and puts on eye-level with the customerrdquo mdashLiselotte Kirkelund Digital Marketing Manager Vero Moda
As a luxury brand your products are the gold standard that people strive for and desire and your visual content should reflect this This means going beyond simply presenting your catalog online you should invest in visual storytelling that communicates the vision of your brand and showcases an idealized world of elegance quality class and style
Vero Modarsquos Instagram profile is a great example of luxury visual content done right The brandrsquos highly engaging posts regularly generate thousands of likes and each post is created with a story in mind to capture the imagination and passion of the brandrsquos followers
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
14
According to our research the images that generally create the most engagement for luxury retail brands are pictures of products as opposed to ambience pictures of models exotic travel locations etc and this holds true for both Pinterest and Instagram This might sound like it runs contrary to conventional thinking which would dictate that lifestyle photographs would perform better on Instagram while product shots would perform better on Pinterest
The thing is for luxury brands product images are lifestyle images as their Instagram and Pinterest profiles should paint a picture of a life lived for the finer things As an integral part of that lifestyle luxury product pictures become ldquodestinationsrdquo unto themselves and in many cases the best performing images showcase these brandsrsquo products in beautiful surroundings rather than as standalone ldquohero shotsrdquo
Guccirsquos top performing content on Pinterest is generally product shots but they showcase their products in beautiful and creative ways Piqorarsquos platform can help you track which of your content is performing best on Pinterest and Instagram
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
15
Burberryrsquos Pinterest content is heavily product focused but displays these products in creative distinctive and glamorous environments
Of course Instagram and Pinterest are separate and distinct networks and brands need to specifically adapt their content strategies to maximize success Burberry for example is a leader among luxury brands on both Pinterest and Instagram Their boards are filled with a rich mix of products celebrities and pictures of London but the vast majority of their top performing Pins are more traditional product shots
Typically Burberry showcases their products on Pinterest in glamorous settings such as fashion shows or against rich beautiful backgrounds and nearly every Pin links back to their ecommerce store On Instagram however their strategy is different They still show product shots but they
do so in a more dynamic natural and human centric way which is exactly how Instagram audiences like their content By adopting platform specific creative strategies Burberry has succeeded in creating an exclusive luxurious online experience around their products
Burberry perfectly illustrates the advantage of avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach to visual content Each platform is unique and requires specific strategies but for luxury brands in particular itrsquos important to provide variety in your content Although product images deliver the most engagement diversity of content is key to creating a rich user experience on visual networks
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
16
Burberry follows Instagram best practices and makes their images more human centric and natural on that platform
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
17
ldquoInstagram has to have a more organic feel We use it as a behind the scenes approach or something to aspire too such as a fashion influencer lookrdquo said Lauricella ldquoPinterest on the other hand is more product based so we strategize the best way to showcase product and have it easily accessible to our followers without losing the aspirational images as a lsquobackgroundrsquo to our featured productrdquo
You should experiment with different types of content to find out what works best for you
and iterate from there Our Fashion Marketerrsquos Guide to Instagram has more great information on content specific to fashion brands while our Guide to Visual Content Strategy contains data that brands in any vertical can use to create high performing visual strategies for both Pinterest and Instagram
Regardless which visual network you decide to focus on establishing goals and objectives for these platforms and a concrete plan to measure and achieve them is crucial
Stuart Weitzman does a great job of showcasing their products in natural beautiful environments that Instagrammers love occasionally throwing in a cute dog doesnrsquot hurt either
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
18
Luxury Visual Content
bull Generally showing luxury products ldquoin the wildrdquo ie on the street in a fashion show or in a beautiful outdoor setting is more effective on Instagram and these types of images generate the most engagement
bull For inspiration on photo creative keep an eye on what other popular brands in your category are doing and take that into consideration for your own content Pay attention to lighting angles stages and setting if itrsquos working for them itrsquoll probably work for you
bull If your brand is focused on Pinterest tailor your image descriptions and primary keywords to match Pinterestrsquos own categories the most repinnable descriptions are about 200 characters long
bull Our research indicates the best time for luxury brands to post to Instagram is early in the morning before normal working hours or later at night If you want to enhance the visibility of your content you have to take into consideration your audiencersquos schedules and behaviors and Piqora can help analyze and optimize your engagement with your followers
bull Experiment with different forms of multimedia (video and images) to see what your audiences love Remember there is no one-size-fits-all approach to success
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
19
Establishing Measuring and Achieving Your Goals on theVisual Web
3
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
20
ldquoLuxury brands play by different rules than their mainstream cousins The traffic and engagement metrics that work for most brands wonrsquot necessarily move the needle in the luxury market so high end brands should find the key metrics that matter to them and develop a content strategy that works for those goalsrdquo
Nick MuellerSr Marketing Manager Piqora
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
21
For any brand itrsquos essential to approach Pinterest and Instagram with a plan This is especially true for luxury brands high profile companies spend more time in the spotlight than most and people will naturally be discussing and posting about your products This can be a great thing but itrsquos essential to engage with and participate in these conversations in the right way
Posting or Pinning just for the sake of having a presence is a surefire way to be disappointed by the results In addition to a solid content strategy yoursquoll need a clearly defined and established set of goals and metrics to compare these to in order to track performance and make adjustments as needed
So letrsquos break down the Key Performance Indicators that luxury brands look at
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
22
On Instagram A successful Instagram strategy is driven by on-platform engagement Brands can systematize and amplify engagement by monitoring the following KPIs
1) New Follower Growth An expanding follower base indicates growth in your brand presence and influence It also indicates that your content strategy is effective appealing and engaging Pay attention to large spikes in follower growth as they can indicate that certain images are particularly effective so you can learn from those images and iterate off of best practices
Look for systematic growth over time in addition to daily spikes which can be the result of specific campaigns or highly engaging posts
ldquoOur success metrics for Instagram are followers gained and number of likes and comments They really go hand in hand since you want to build your follower base but have to provide the engaging content to grow that fan base We focus on these because you really have to have the right balance in order to thrive on the networkrdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
23
Comments donrsquot just reflect engagement they also provide the perfect opportunity to talk directly with your fans and foster positive relationships just like Joersquos Jeans did here with modernensemble
2) Comments and Likes
Comment counts reflect your brandrsquos ability to inspire your audience while likes provide insight into your audiencersquos engagement level While simply looking at these numbers is important you should also take a close look at what your audiences are saying in the comments
Comments shouldnrsquot be one sided this is a fantastic opportunity to engage with your fans and build valuable relationships with brand advocates and Piqorarsquos Instagram Conversation Manager can help you manage these conversations on a broad scale
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
24
Gucci did a good job here by adding a brand hashtag and a ldquomanufacturedrdquo hashtag (Gucci Cruise2015) but they missed an opportunity to expand their contentrsquos reach by adding 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags
3) Hashtag Strategy and Brand Mentions
Word of mouth is a marketing force of nature especially for luxury goods (if you need proof of that fact simply look at how much buzz goes around the release of a new iPhone) And with more than 200M registered users Instagram is a major conversation hub where people are actively having conversations about your products These conversations are built around hashtags but a lot of high end brands struggle with maximizing the potential of a good hashtag strategy Chanel for example generates the most hashtags of any luxury brand despite not having an official Instagram profile And they arenrsquot alone our research shows that 73 of
brands donrsquot follow best hashtag practices By opting out these brands are missing a massive opportunity to engage in and more importantly lead these conversations
So how can you best harness hashtags For starters add seven hashtags to each of your posts doing so can lead to 23 more likes A good mix would be one brand hashtag one that your brand creates and 3-5 ldquocommunityrdquo hashtags Just beware that adding more than seven hashtags leads to a dramatic downturn in the number of likes as people can view that as spam
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
25
Piqorarsquos dashboard allows you to track hashtag metrics such as Unique Users Potential Impressions Photos Posted to Hashtags Likes and Comments
You definitely want to know how your brand is fitting into these conversations and engage in them whenever possible There are two ways to monitor brand mentions
A) You can track how Instagram users are tagging your brand in ongoing natural conversations Pay attention to the tone of these
conversations and apply these analyses into your own Instagram strategy
B) Analyze the conversations around hashtags related to your brand whether these are official hashtags or those that are tangentially related Download our Instagram Hashtag Report for more information
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
26
On PinterestLuxury brands that sell online can obviously use Pinterest to drive ecommerce metrics and should harness the platformrsquos massive potential to promote their products turbocharge referral traffic increase average order value and drive sales However as we mentioned before many luxury brands donrsquot sell their products online making direct ROI measurement on the platform difficult
Even if your brand doesnrsquot engage in ecommerce Pinterest can still be a powerful tool for inspiration around and discovery of your products and services and building relationships with your audience Marketers who understand this will focus on creating and sharing content that makes it easier for their fans to take action on Pinterest and a great way to measure engagement is to look at repins and repins-per-pin
Piqorarsquos platform delivers reports that show your precise revenue amp ROI from Pinterest See the Pins that led to transactions on your site the value of those orders the average revenue per Pin and the average revenue per purchase
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
27
Piqorarsquos platform helps you measure engagementand make specific actionable decisions on your Pinterest content
ldquoWith Pinterest we focus more on the site traffic to our ecommerce site and our followers because these allow us to see what our fans want and what works for them We ultimately want to give our followers exactly what they are looking for so itrsquos a one stop shoprdquo
Aimee LauricellaMarketing and PR Manager Joersquos Jeans
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
28
A Word on Promotions
Often luxury brands shy away from running social media promotions but they can be massively beneficial They can be powerful audience building tools and are an excellent way to migrate your existing followers over from other platforms like Twitter and Facebook Pinterest promotions are a great way to drive engagement on your Pins traffic to your Pinterest profile or website and identify brand advocates and influencers while photo contests provide a fast track to increasing brand visibility on Instagram Instagram is teeming with original highly creative usergenerated content so photo contests are also a phenomenal way for brands to source UGC from their fans For more information check out our indepth guides to Pinterest Promotions and Instagram Photo Contests
Joersquos Jeans JustaPerfectDay contest generated massive engagement and thousands of new followers
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
29
Measuring Success on the Visual Web
bull Evaluate Instagram comments from a qualitative as well as a quantitative perspective they can be great feedback on how your content is resonating with your audience
bull On Instagram look for variance in lsquolikesrsquo between your posts to see what your followers are and arenrsquot responding to
bull Engagement is an indicator of intent on Pinterest so tracking the content that people are interacting with most and iterating off of those learnings is a fast track to success
bull Piqorarsquos analytics platform can help you identify industry wide trends and interpret how well your content is performing both individually and compared to the other brands in your vertical
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
30
Wrapping Up Why Luxury Brands Are Flocking to the Visual Web and Why You Should Too
If this guide hasnrsquot already convinced you of the opportunities on Pinterest and Instagram herersquos a few stats that might The audiences on these platforms are a luxury marketerrsquos dream demographic Pinterest users for example are predominantly young wealthy females who spend a lot of money on the platform and nearly 30 percent of them make more than $100000 a year And according to a report from L2 Instagram generates 15x more engagement for luxury brands than Facebook
Even if they arenrsquot officially active on these networks luxury brandrsquos content is already all over them (if you wonder why just consider that more than 90 of Pins originate from a website not a Pinterest profile) Omega for example donrsquot currently have a Pinterest profile and yet a quick search reveals thousands of Pins dedicated to their watches
ldquoA lot of luxury labels donrsquot invest in Pinterest and Instagram for the same reasons they donrsquot sell their products online they canrsquot control
peoplersquos experiencerdquo said Edelman ldquoBut herersquos the bottom line it is going to happen Eventually if these brands want to stay relevant and viable theyrsquoll have to adopt these platforms so my advice is to get in now get in early and do it rightrdquo
Every day millions of people interact with luxury content on visual networks and for brands can tap into these conversations and provide their customers with real valuable content Instagram and Pinterest to can be game changers The information discussed here is just a small portion of the resources available from Piqora so to learn more go to wwwpiqoracom and request a demo wersquod love to help you
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more
31
Visit piqoracom to get a demo and learn more