Content Marketing Fuels Social Media
It won’t come as a surprise if we tell you that long gone are the days of newspapers and TV dominance where the start of a day meant drinking coffee over a daily newspaper and the end of a night meant watching TV over popcorn. Now it’s all about checking emails, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and reading our daily newsfeed of blog posts. Let’s face it, we should have the internet hooked up to our blood stream so we don’t miss a beat.
So, if the internet and its myriad of social networks and bloggers have become the star of our daily life and the prime means of all our communications, why do brands still concentrate a large portion of their effort into traditional PR and marketing tactics? Is it because they don’t understand that social media linked to great content marketing is the new and best way to reach their desired clientele? Most likely. As a matter of fact, most agencies have yet to embrace content marketing and social media in their own efforts to acquire new clients; so, how can they transfer this knowledge to their current clients.
What you need to know is simple. Your digital agency must first identify then connect with key influencers in your niche industry. Getting your brand on a world-class news site might actually be far less successful then getting it in front of the very attentive fans following ten influential industry bloggers. Why? Because these major news outlets have a very broad and mixed audience while the blogger’s audience is extremely targeted to your needs.
Secondly, your digital agency must curate and create valuable content such as infographics, white papers, eBooks and imageries to reach out to these bloggers in the hope of getting some coverage. In our time as luxury bloggers at LuxeInACity, we have never ever received anything else then a press release from an agency. Imagine our surprise if a luxury hotel sent us a cool infographic on the Top 10 sightseeing activities in their city or if a boutique fashion brand sent an eBook on the must-have fashion items for the next season. We would not hesitate for a second. It would be published, posted on Facebook, tweeted several times, shared on LinkedIn, etc. My team would have a field day with such great content. We would probably pass it along to our fellow bloggers (yes, we are all friends and send each other random tips) in hopes of getting it to go viral.
Lastly, your digital agency should participate socially and share the efforts put forward by these generous bloggers. This is a step that is often forgotten by agencies. We publish an article for them and they forget about us. Bloggers write for different reasons, some for money, some for fame and some for passion, but they all want the same attention. Why else would they pour out their souls on the web? So, make sure your digital agency gives plenty of love before, during and after a blogger has promoted your brand. Remember that you will most likely want to work with them again in the future regardless of the digital agency you choose, so give a favorable lasting impression. And why not send them a personal thank you note and establish contact with them directly. A little love always goes a long way, especially in the blogging world.
So, if you feel like giving us some love, tweet to us at @luxeinacity or connect with us on Facebook.
Overpowered By Selection? Welcome To The Era Of Curation
AgenceLuxury becomes the new curator for IGet.it, a private shopping club that caters to affluent men and women across North America.
In today's world of mass-consumption and mass-production, finding great products that deserve our attention can seem like a daunting task. And since brands create hundreds of new products every minute, the role of the curator starts by ingesting, analyzing and bringing together a great selection of products we love. The curation process requires patience, resourcefulness and a keen eye for the finer things in life. A luxury curator's work is never done.
Having spend the last ten years working in the luxury industry, whether aboard a superyacht, as a personal assistant to the wealthy or as the co-founder of both AgenceLuxury and LuxeInACity, Roxanne has acquired the skills to quickly identity great brands and great products amongst the mass.
"New luxury is not about price, excess or pedigree, but about personalization, customization and above all an intimate and unforgettable experience. The face of luxury is becoming more subtle or “in-the-know” and less ostentatious with its once coveted logos", says Roxanne Génier. "The IGet.it team understands new luxury and I am excited to start curating brands for their audience."
Over the last few years, IGet.it's team of luxury curators have identified and brought forward hundreds of first-class brands such as BMW, Viking, Fauchon and All-Clad in front of their affluent community. Whether the products come from small boutique brands or large corporations, IGet.it curates products that are both desirable and well-crafted.
For her first campaign, Agence;Luxury has curated both Alfons & Isadore, a premium brand that creates luxury towels made without compromise in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, and Vinotemp, a leader in the wine storage industry that has been building premium wine cabinets for over 25 years.
Luxury aficionados are invited to experience the IGet.it curation process and its acclaimed collection of luxury products by visiting http://bit.ly/1dokJaf. All curated products are brought-forward in a short-term 7-day pre-sale campaign. New members will receive $100 in credits, that's $10 for every $100 spent.
Go Niche With Your Press Releases
We all know that PR agencies have limited time and resources to get their client's brand, product, event or campaign on as many media outlets as possible, but when they try to shoot for the mass, they might end up with little or no results. The days of creating a media list and sending a mass email with a copy/paste version of a press release are over; and yet over 90% of PR agencies who try to reach us at LuxeInACity still use this tactic. We have to say to them: STOP! It doesn't work!
Ok, they might get a few bloggers and journalists to republish their client's press release (we have done so ourselves in the past) but ask yourself what the true outcome of using such tactics will be? Will these dry copy/paste type press release articles be shared virally on social media? Nope. Will they reach the client's target audience and make a lasting impression on them? Nope. Will it result in more social fans, website traffic or an increase in sales? Probably not. So why are most PR agencies still using tactics that have not worked since the web has gone social? Why haven't they adapted to the new web etiquette and joined the social wave?
So if sending generic press releases doesn't work, how should a brand get their message out to bloggers? It's actually fairly simple. First pinpoint a short list of bloggers that have real influence in your market. Start interacting with them on social media as a fan or peer but always keep it real, non commercial. Then connect by email with a short, personable and once-again real message. If the blogger decides to work with you, great, but don't harass them every day with requests. Also, if they help you, don't forget to send them a thank you email and help them promote the article with your own social media channels. Finally, stay in touch sporadically in the following months. There is nothing worse than a "fake friend" who only calls out to you when they need something.
So if you have something to send us at LuxeInACity, please-oh-please, don't send us another generic press release! Become our friend, get acquainted and then give us valuable content to work with.