Luxury travellers want to engage with branded content
A recent report by American Express found that of the top 1% of consumers (dubbed ‘the ultra-affluent’), 37% planned on increasing their spending on luxury goods and services in the next year, many luxury marketing managers are focusing their efforts on this niche. Luxury is BIG business. But with the buying patterns of luxury travellers changing rapidly, unless luxury travel companies and hotels start connecting digitally with consumers, they stand to lose out.
Luxury travel has changed forever. Today it isn’t just about creating a relationship when someone visits your hotel. It is about building an ongoing relationship through smart use of digital. Leading experts agree that digital shouldn’t be thought of as a separate channel, it underpins everything you do. The ultimate goal is to create an emotional connection with guests and consumers to turn them into loyal customers and digital can play a great part here.
Four Seasons are one of the brands leading the way here. “By broadening the Four Seasons experience from the hotel room to a multi channel digital content program, anchored by FourSeasonsMagazine.com, we are deepening the already strong connection” says Elizabeth Pizzinato, senior vice president of marketing and communications, Four Seasons .
An affluent landscape
The affluent are no longer just the Baby Boomers and Generation X’s, who we understood and marketed to in a reasonably predictable way. Today, the super-affluent are as likely to be willing-to-spend Millenials and the emerging Generation C’s are hot on their heels. Driven by connectivity, curation and community, their psyche is very different. The new luxury travellers live via their smartphones, social networks and tablets. They are only too aware the power is in their hands.
More and more of us can be considered “affluent”. In the US alone, more than 20% of the country is considered ‘affluent’. In a study by Elizabeth Danziger, one-third of those are ultra-affluent, making more than $500,000 a year or more. In Asia especially, there is a surge in affluence, with China and India leading the way with growing populations of young, wealthy and ready to spend.
Research has shown that they are only prepared to show the love to brands if they brand does have the ability to connect with them, tell them a great story and be prepared to move into their zone, not the other way round. Enter the world of branded content.
In the luxury travel industry this is even more relevant than other markets. The affluent are more likely to be connected, use social media and a variety of devices than any other type of consumer. It is surprising that many luxury hotels and travel business have yet to wake up to this.
Time-poor, super-inquisitive and a quest for money-can’t-buy experiences combine to paint an interesting picture of today’s affluent traveler. They are searching for experiences, one-on-one relationships and being time-poor, will do it all through trusted agents, recommendations via friends, connections and the publishers they trust the most. Digital is their guide in this quest.
Understanding where and when to publish content is critical. A mix of short and long-form content should be created according to your customers needs. Elizabeth Pizzinato says; “We are consuming information in very small, snackable delights because that’s all we have time for”.
The opportunity – how to reach luxury travellers online
1. Shape your content strategy
Create a content strategy that includes both short and long-form content to engage them at all of their digital touch points. The theory is that you should be everywhere consumers are. The Four Seasons are real leaders in this and they have committed to being everywhere their customers area.. A magazine is available in print, online and in mobile. They have a number of focused specialists blogs.
2. Reach out to travel agents and other influencers
The affluent are less likely to make a buying decision based purely on Trip Advisor, but they are also less likely to book a stay with a hotel that has no online presence/reviews. With many affluent people turning to trusted agents, creating content that is purely aimed at helping those influencers with their pain points and to grow their businesses is a winning strategy.
3. Be personal
Personalization is increasingly important. Savvy travellers know that they have given out their data and want it used to serve them up only the relevant content and offers that they are interested in. Segmenting your customers, creating blogs based on their area of interest and thoughtful curation of content will work here.
81%of consumers are “more likely to consider a brand when its advertising is tailored to me.”
4. Social
The affluent like and use social media. There are a lot of luxury travel marketers out there and their goal is to help luxury travellers make a decision. Research shows that they are more likely to establish relationships with the individuals in the hotels the stay in so building up the social profiles of the people they connect with is imperative.
5. Multi-channel
The majority of affluent consumers regularly multitask with media on multiple screens, including laptops, smartphones and tablets, according to the latest Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer. Creating content that is made relevant for multiple devices is essential.
Sources: Luxury Daily : Four Seasons Strengthens Brand Content Strategy, e-mc2: 58 % of affluent consumers use smartphones while watching tv report.
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