Study: The rise of the luxury industry on social media
According to a recent study, the luxury industry continues to establish a strong presence on social media. This trend is reflected in the volume of content published on these platforms by major brands in the sector, as well as the number of interactions generated. Which luxury brands in particular are the most influential? What strategies are they employing? We'll explore these questions in this article.
Luxury and social media: the perfect match
Let's be clear. For a long time, the relationship between luxury and social media was rather complicated. It must be said that major brands in the sector were wary of social media, many fearing they would lose their identity by investing in these platforms. Today, this is no longer the case at all, as evidenced by the latest Visibrain study on the place of luxury on social media.
According to this study, the relationship between luxury and social media works wonderfully since in 2023 no less than 176.1 million messages were published on social media by major brands in the sector, an increase of 35% compared to the year 2022.
Top 10 most influential luxury brands
Other indicators showing that luxury brands are performing very well on social media include the spectacular increase in interactions. At the top of the list of the most influential brandsis Louis Vuitton with 25 million interactions, ahead of Dior (17.9 million interactions) and Gucci (8.6 million).
Behind the top three, we should also mention Tiffany & Co (7.6 million), Cartier (4.7 million), Chanel (4.5 million), Prada (4.4 million), Alexander McQueen (4.2 million), Versace (4.1 million) and Loewe (3.9 million).
The social media platforms most favored by luxury brands
Of the 30 brands analyzed by Visibrain, 100% have a presence on YouTube and Facebook, 29 have an Instagram account, 93% are present on X (formerly Twitter), and 26 have a TikTok account, representing 87% (compared to 80% for the world's most powerful brands). It's worth noting that Louis Vuitton was the most followed brand on TikTok last year.
Regarding the social networks most used by luxury brands to build their social presence, Instagram (Meta group) comes first. The platform is even far ahead of TikTok in terms of engagement, with 90.3 million likes generated compared to 17.6 million.
The use of these two social networks also shows that luxury brands favor video formats of less than one minute to promote their products. In doing so, they are now readily adopting the established conventions for communicating on these channels. Similarly, YouTube Shorts are also increasingly appealing to the luxury industry, allowing them to reach a new, younger, and more diverse audience than their usual clientele.
Other platforms used by luxury brands include X (formerly Twitter), which they use to announce events (fashion shows) or partnerships (with influencers). Finally, Facebook is primarily used by brands to share their media coverage.
Social media strategies of luxury brands
Beyond the types of platforms used to disseminate their messages on social media, luxury brands also adopt very specific strategies. Storytelling is part of the arsenal of major fashion houses for engaging their audience. Through this approach, the objective of brands in this sector revolves around a strong and deliberate intention: to make as many people as possible dream by telling stories.
Similarly, it is noticeable that English is the language predominantly used by luxury brands to communicate on social media. The objective: to target an international clientele.
The democratization of luxury through social media
As the Visibrain study reveals, luxury brands have never been more successful on social media. Long neglected, these communication channels now offer them incredible opportunities to reach and grow their audience.
This increasingly strong presence of luxury brands on social media reveals that they have become largely democratized, overcoming their elitist and inaccessible brand image.
In the coming years, it's highly likely that this trend will intensify. At So Bang, we have a long history of supporting players in the luxury industry (see our portfolio).
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