the Surprising Landscape of Luxury on Instagram

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Bertha Suzan Rodgers
6 years ago
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1 the Surprising Landscape of Luxury on Instagram

The Data We mined Instagram data to build a picture of luxury from various angles, including: Luxury, the world of glitz, glamour and great expense, was once hidden from the masses and safeguarded

Although luxury will always remain in the hands of a few, social media specifically, Instagram s unique format has created a world in which luxury not only has participants but also curators and

2 The Data We mined Instagram data to build a picture of luxury from various angles, including: Luxury, the world of glitz, glamour and great expense, was once hidden from the masses and safeguarded for, and by, the elite. Although luxury will always remain in the hands of a few, social media specifically, Instagram s unique format has created a world in which luxury not only has participants but also curators and spectators. More and more people have been using luxury-related hashtags, reaching 2.2 million posts in February 2017, a rise of 47% over just eight months. In this report, we ll take a closer look at the social luxury space to see what this growth means for brands and participants. How can brands curate their Instagram presence to target the right audience? Are certain verticals or brands leading this surge of interest in luxurious lifestyles? And what can the rest of us learn from their successes? 16 million Instagram posts with the hashtags #luxury, #luxuryliving, #luxurylife and #luxurious since June million posts tagging 130 different luxury brands across 6 verticals 126,000 photos posted by shoppers in luxury department stores Using Spredfast s Intelligence tool, we were able to not only analyze the posts themselves, but also look at the people and brands behind the posts. 2

Luxury shopping conversation is on the rise With luxury, there s always a question of who is actually buying, and who is just window shopping.

consideration that indicates a better chance of purchase. From June 2016, the number of photos with luxury hashtags posted by social shoppers has increased by 139 percent.

The most tagged accounts in this conversation include Femi9Fashion (a fashion house based in the Middle East), Gucci, Chanel, Zara and Raho Avantgarde Woman (a luxury shopping

3 Luxury shopping conversation is on the rise With luxury, there s always a question of who is actually buying, and who is just window shopping. By filtering the social conversation by profile terms used by frequent shoppers (those with shopaholic, shopping, love to shop in their profile), we re able to see a rise in consideration that indicates a better chance of purchase. From June 2016, the number of photos with luxury hashtags posted by social shoppers has increased by 139 percent. A closer look at this conversation shows that certain brands are at the center of this growth. The most tagged accounts in this conversation include Femi9Fashion (a fashion house based in the Middle East), Gucci, Chanel, Zara and Raho Avantgarde Woman (a luxury shopping Instagram account). Not surprisingly, large fashion houses that have long been associated with luxury lifestyles are topping the charts. Number of posts with #luxury by social shoppers 6,900K June June 2016 Feb ,700K July 9,700K Aug. 8,700K Sept. 10,40K Oct. 12,300K Nov. 14,300K Dec. 14,600K Jan. 16,500K Feb. 3

4 Social shoppers speak differently than luxury bloggers Instagram bios can also give us another valuable view of the social luxury conversation: shoppers vs. bloggers. By isolating the conversation for each group, we can find patterns that can help guide the hashtag strategy for a brand, depending on who they are looking to influence. We found that while the top two or three terms used by both shoppers and bloggers were similar in each category (#beauty and #makeup lead both lists for the Beauty category), after that, the list of terms showed very different patterns. Use of different hashtags by bloggers and consumers Blogger hashtags #fashionblogger #blogger #beauty #luxury #photography, #travel #beautyblogger #fashion #makeupartist Vertical Jewelry Fashion Cars Home/Tech Beauty Consumer hashtags #instafashion #shopping #instagood #shopping #carsofinstagram #love, #brand #love #makeupaddict #skincare #style Luxury bloggers and consumers use very different hashtags. #instagood Food *Bloggers: blog, blogging, blogger, vlog, vlogging, vlogger, channel, youtube, influencer, creator in bio *Consumers: love to shop, shopaholic, shopping in bio #foodstagram, #delicious, #foodgasm Click to Tweet 4

We collected 130 different luxury brands bios across our six different verticals to see how brands are describing themselves within this luxury world on Instagram.

5 Brand bios can help drive engagement Engagement strategies tend to focus on getting the right visual and the perfect message in front of the target audience at the optimal time. But what does your brand s social bio tell a potential customer about if they should or shouldn t engage with your content? We collected 130 different luxury brands bios across our six different verticals to see how brands are describing themselves within this luxury world on Instagram. A brand s bio on social media is central to their social identity, and taking a fresh look at how the competition presents themselves can help your brand stand out. Most-used words in luxury brands' Instagram bios KEY FINDINGS: Make it official: Official is a common label allowing users to know the account is legitimate. New tech, deep history: Founded language is common across brands, in particular fashion, jewelry, food and tech/ home brands. For example, Tiffany & Co. Founded in

since/founded Snapchat jeweler age Instagram you/your share your experiences since/founded Snapchat

6 Most common Most-used words in luxury brands' Instagram bios Fashion Jewelry Food Cars Beauty Home/Tech Ranked by Frequency official since/founded legal taglines beauty official Instagram world follow official emoji/icon since/founded Snapchat jeweler age Instagram you/your share your experiences since/founded Snapchat since/founded our skincare luxury emoji/icon watch drinking Snapchat Instagram Less common *Similarities highlighted by colour 6

What else did we find? We saw that food and drink brands tend to have more legal language in descriptions than any other industry ( you must be the legal drinking age to follow us ).

7 What else did we find? We saw that food and drink brands tend to have more legal language in descriptions than any other industry ( you must be the legal drinking age to follow us ). We saw that fashion houses and jewelers frequently link over to Snapchat, and that tech/home brands directly call for engagement to share your experiences. And as for the luxury label, it s probably best to not directly call that out although luxury appears in the top 10 most-used words across all brands, it doesn t reach the top five of any category except tech/home. As we have learned, beauty brands and tech/home brands use their bio to ask their followers to engage with their content and product. Hashtags are central to this as they facilitate interactions. If we include hashtags in our word ranking, we see that beauty and tech/home brands use hashtags more than other vertical. When it comes to brand bios, don t think that luxury doesn t mean hashtags: they re used in luxury brand bios more than any individual word or phrase. This tactic is most used by tech/home brands, and least by luxury food brands. Hashtag usage by luxury brands Vertical Most common Less common Ranked by Frequency 7

8 And when it comes to making the brand more engaging on Instagram, the strategy of using hashtags in bios seems to be working. When we look at user-generated posts tagging luxury brands by using the brand's hashtags or tagging its account, a correlation surfaces: the brands mentioned most are those with hashtag-laden bios. 19% 14% 30%k % growth in user posts tagging brands from July 2016-Feb %k 68%k 39%k 8

We collected 126 thousand photos posted on Instagram from within London s four luxury department stores: Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Liberty London.

9 Location data shows some shoppers hungry for travel, others just hungry For any upscale brand, a refined in-store experience is core to the brand. Instagram data gives us a rich source of location-based information to mine social data from any retail location to gain insight into consumer patterns and attitudes. We collected 126 thousand photos posted on Instagram from within London s four luxury department stores: Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Liberty London. We then broke this conversation down further by category and activity to see what people are talking about while shopping in department stores. Category of Activity Food (inc. dining) Shopping Fashion #love Brand names #luxury Beauty Events Window Displays Home Jewelry Selfies Gifts Overview of all department stores: volume of posts by category/activity 0 2K 4K 6K 8K 10K 12K 14K 16K Volume of Posts 9

In the stores Liberty London and Harrods, topics such as travel and shopping top the list.

This is especially true for Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.

Lots of #love: Shoppers love to share positive in-store experiences on Instagram with the #Love hashtag.

We also see patterns from the location data coming from different stores, best illustrated by looking at the most common

10 WHAT DID WE FIND? Topics, not brands: Brand names alone don t do the talking. The most popular hashtags refer to activities like #shopping or #eating. In the stores Liberty London and Harrods, topics such as travel and shopping top the list. Food drives conversation: Department stores cafes and restaurants are just as important as the other departments. This is especially true for Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. Window shopping is social: We found more conversation about the stores window displays than the homeware, technology or jewelry departments. Selfridges #wastedlondon* #fashion #wasted #love #style Harvey Nichols #burgerandlobster* #fashion #lobster #love #foodporn Lots of #love: Shoppers love to share positive in-store experiences on Instagram with the #Love hashtag. Individual brands should be tracking positive posts to find what is resonating with their shoppers. We also see patterns from the location data coming from different stores, best illustrated by looking at the most common hashtags used across Harrods, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, and Liberty London stores. The top three hashtags for each location were 1) #london, 2) their own store hashtag (#harveynichols) and 3) their location (#knightsbridge). But after those three, the hashtags showed different patterns, each unique to the in-store experience. Liberty London Harrods #shopping #shopping #flowers #uk #travel #love #uk #travel #londonlife #fashion *name of restaurant inside the store 10

11 What the rest of us can learn from how luxury brands perform on Instagram Make the most of how people self-identify on Instagram: Looking at how social shoppers talk about your brand on Instagram can yield important insights to inform your strategy. Take the lead from your target audience and use the hashtags they use rather than trying to create new ones. Brand bios are an important space: Looking for patterns in how brands in your industry construct their bios can help you craft a bio that makes you fit in with your peers, while standing out. A carefully constructed bio has the potential to drive engagement with your content and brand. Location data can reveal important insights specific to your brand: The wealth of location data is unique to Instagram. Since you can t always expect shoppers or consumers to name-check your brand, knowing what they are talking about and which hashtags they are using when they interact with you in your space becomes even more important. As conversation around luxury goods grows on Instagram, it s important for brands to understand how to use the channel to their benefit. There is a lot we can learn from consumer and brand profiling around luxury goods on Instagram. 11

Spredfast is transforming the way companies connect with consumers.

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12 Spredfast is transforming the way companies connect with consumers. Spredfast s smart social software enables companies to build lasting relationships with today s digitally connected consumer. Part of that is using social data to make smarter marketing decisions when you plan, execute, and analyze your social efforts. See the brands we work with: Spredfast Intelligence provides a searchable lens to historical and real-time insights to better understand your audience, relevant conversations, and your brand s social performance.

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