AuthorGeorgia Anderson
LinkedIn
Building high-quality links for a luxury fashion brand is a challenge anyway but throw a global pandemic into the mix and you are presented with a real challenge. Thankfully, at NOVOS, we love taking on challenges – our digital PR team has successfully created link building campaigns for luxury brands during a time where money was being spent more on toilet paper than bespoke suits. Here’s what we have learned from our experience designing and executing a digital PR strategy for luxury menswear brand, Savile Row Company.
Key takeaways:
- Know who your target audience is
- Develop a range of link building strategies – don’t solely rely on content marketing campaigns
- Get creative in the ways you source news
- Be proactive and have quotes from the brand ready for reactive requests
Simplicity & Creativity – The Success of Our Digital PR Strategy
In March 2020, our digital PR strategy for luxury menswear brand Savile Row Company became outdated (almost overnight!). When the work-from-home order was imposed, we had to go back to the drawing board and really think outside of the box.
As expected, Savile Row Company also pivoted its business strategy, releasing new product lines such as face masks and loungewear. We knew that consumers had disposable income due to staying in and, in some cases, wanted to treat themselves to a luxury pyjama set or a reusable facemask.
Once the products had launched in July, we reached out to fashion journalists and bloggers to secure links from sites such as Prima and The Industry Fashion. A similar piece about work-from-home winter fashion trends landed on sites such as Men’s Style Fashion and Finance Digest. These PR tactics are simple but when there is so much noise in the news, simplicity can help you rise above the competition. It not only acknowledges the current situation but also provides a useful product and information.
We then started thinking about other areas within the business that were newsworthy. Savile Row Company has a unique approach to sustainability – designing in-house and providing innovative cardboard shipping materials which are traditionally made from plastic. We started working closely with London Research and Trustpilot on an in-depth report on why customers desire more ethical fashion brands and thus secured a link from Trustpilot in their whitepaper.
Keeping with the business theme, we asked some of Savile Row Company’s employees to provide us with quotes on their new way of working which we used for reactive journalist requests and these comments landed in publications such as Marketing Weekly and The Chartered Management Institute.
Know Your Customers & What They’re Searching For
Buying a luxury product is a big decision and we know consumers research their choices before committing to purchase. Buying guides put your brand front and centre while providing value and establishing a relationship even before the purchase has been made. At NOVOS, we are always looking for buying guides that are suitable for our luxury clients. We also create guides on using and caring for luxury fashion items that not only increase brand loyalty but can attract even more customers. You can see examples of this in The Independent and The Daily Mail.
By 2021, lockdown 3.0 was in full swing and everyone was exhausted from the pandemic and looking to consume content that provided a sense of escapism. The hit Netflix TV series Bridgerton hit our screen on Christmas Day. As a result searches for ‘Bridgerton’ jumped by 3,540% in December and continued to rise through January. This was also the case for ‘Bridgerton fashion’ which jumped by 2,984% in January.
As a result, we newsjacked this trend asking one of Savile Row’s tailors to comment on the Regency-era menswear featured in the show and estimate how much it would cost to replicate one of these looks in 2021. The piece saw us covered on sites such as Style Pilot.
Content Marketing in Turbulent Times
As link builders, content marketing campaigns are our bread and butter and we deploy content alongside some of these smaller link building methods. Ideation is a key part of landing a successful campaign so it’s important to move ahead with an idea that’s in line with the times.
Consumers were looking for escapism. We knew that content with a celebrity hook has a universal appeal and opens up to more pitching opportunities than having a UK-centric idea. So we decided to create a content marketing campaign on ‘The Most Expensive Celebrity Suits to Sell at Auction’ and worked alongside a graphic designer to help illustrate the piece. British GQ, GQ India and Luxury Launches all picked up the campaign and we had feedback from the journalists that they were particularly receptive to the design assets.
Conclusion
According to Statista, the global luxury goods market is expected to increase from $285.1 billion in 2020 to $388 billion in 2025 meaning luxury brands will be looking to boost their online presence even further. Digital PR must be part of a luxury brand’s online marketing strategy moving forward.
If there’s anything the pandemic has taught us about digital PR, it’s that strategies are made to be changed and that you can build links even in uncertain and turbulent times. Of course, we also tried strategies that weren’t as successful but we hope, by covering what has worked, you can find some useful information that will help you in your link building efforts well into the future.
