Social media is where brand discovery and buying decisions happen. That’s because most people look at brands’ social media profiles — including the posts, reviews, pictures, and videos — to learn more about a business’s offerings and, ultimately, make their purchasing decisions.

In fact, the latest research reveals that:

• Roughly 3 out of 4 people depend on social media to help them choose between different brands or options when they’re ready to buy a product, reserve services, or book a stay.

• Younger clientele typically rely on social media more than more mature consumers, with about 85% of Gen Z admitting that social media strongly influences their buying choices.

With that, hospitality and luxury brands have the opportunity to really stand out on social media and:

• Maximize brand visibility and exposure: Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms offer global reach, with the possibility of sharing and boosting that can amplify exposure in ways that other digital and non-digital channels simply can’t match.

• Craft and crystalize brand identity: Tell a rich, compelling story about your brand on social media through images, videos, witty text, and smart hashtag use. All of this can create a uniquely attractive brand narrative that not only sets an upscale brand apart but that also imparts a sense of aspiration and mystique that keeps audiences coming back for more.

• Get and stay in front of their target audience: Your future clients spend time on social media. They’re also commenting on, sharing, and reposting content they like. If brands are consistently putting out thoughtful social content, they can stay top-of-mind with an audience while establishing a one-of-a-kind voice. They’ll also be ready to respond and engage with their audience, cultivating greater brand awareness and more trust.

• Highlight their distinct value and exclusivity: What extraordinary offerings or experiences does a luxe brand deliver? Answer that question on social media, with pictures, reels, and clips that highlight exclusivity, lifestyle, unparalleled experiences, and finer touches.

• Remain relevant: These days, the brands that aren’t active on social media can raise questions among consumers about how legit a business is. In other words, customers expect brands to have a social media presence. That’s especially true when other brands in the same space are active on social media (i.e., when social media marketing is the industry standard).

• Attract more clientele: Social media can be the ideal place to show off different offerings, unique spaces in or around a venue, and the distinct features of a product or experience. That can give an audience all-new ways to connect with a brand and decide whether they want to hand over their money to that brand.

• Engage with customers in real time: Not only can brands have real-time conversations with customers on social media, but those exchanges can also serve “assets” that any other online customer can see, respond to, or leverage in their purchasing decisions. In other words, social media engagement can show that a brand cares, is responsive, and has a “personality.” That can influence an audience in the moment. It can also drum up more brand loyalty and trust, as future visitors can see these exchanges and immediately see why your brand is one they can trust.

That means that the hospitality and upscale brands that aren’t engaging in thoughtful social media marketing may be:

• Damaging or diluting their brand image: A poor social media presence can make a brand appear out of touch, behind the ball, or unable to provide modern experiences. That’s more likely to occur when competitors are engaging in well-crafted social media campaigns.

• Handing customers over to the competition: When it’s time to decide between your brand and another, the other could win out if their social media shares a better, more attractive, and more interesting story.

• Losing out on incredible growth potential: Social media can help brands step into various spaces that they may not be able to access otherwise. That can open the door for extraordinary visibility and all-new connections, setting the stage for exceptional growth.

Knowing the role thatMaximize brand visibility and exposure social media can play for brands, better questions here may be — Why would brands risk losing out in the digital age by not engaging in social media marketing? Can high-end brands afford to fall behind by NOT doing social media (or SEO) these days?

Alias partners with all types of brands and businesses, providing custom social media marketing solutions for new, growing, and well-established brands. That includes (and is not limited to) brands associated with:

• Restaurants: Alias has deep experience running social media for fine dining establishments, trendy bistros, ultra-chic cafes, high-concept eateries, and many other restaurants.

• Bars and clubs: Our team has devised and managed multi-faceted social media campaigns for nightlife brands nationwide.

• Hotels and resorts: Through short- and long-term social media campaigns for hotel and resort brands, Alias has generated extraordinary exposure and jaw-dropping ROIs.

• Hospitality groups: Harmonizing B2B and B2C strategies, Alias continues to set hospitality groups apart on social media, putting these brands centerstage for mainstream attention and more nuanced objectives.

• Travel and tourism: From inspired oases to ultra-hip destinations, it takes more to elevate travel brands on social media — and Alias has the keys to fuel more success on social for a wide array of tourism-focused businesses.

• Upscale products and services: Alias puts super-luxe goods, services, and experiences in the perfect light, spotlighting elegance and exclusivity while enhancing the allure in ways no one else can.

• Events and entertainment: Pop-up events, festivals, annual celebrations, and so much more can come to life in thrilling ways on social media. The Alias team can activate next-level social media for small, large, ticketed, and other events and entertainment activities.

Whether or not a business has been active on social media in the past, we can be their Alias, stepping behind the curtain of their brand identity to do more and deliver better results from social media.

There is no single answer or cookie-cutter solution that works across the board for all high-end brands. That’s because different brands, with their own unique offerings and voice, will usually have distinct audiences who may have specific desires, needs, or pain points that they’re looking for a given brand to “solve.”

That means:

• Social media marketing that works for one high-concept brand may not have the same impact or efficacy as it would for another business in the same (or a similar) space.

• Identifying the ideal times and engagement strategies for a brand’s social media posts can require some testing, real-time course correcting, and the creativity to innovate options that the competition hasn’t put into play yet.

With that said, here are some general guidelines that luxury and high-concept brands can follow when it comes to the timing and content of their social media posts:

• Timing: When is your target audience online and on social media? Whenever that is, that’s when you want your posts to go live.
  
  As you consider “peak” timing, it’s crucial to keep in mind that different social media platforms may not share the same ideal timing — and that your target clientele may not be in your (or the same) time zone.

• Content: What content is going to land with an audience, captivate their attention, and motivate them to remember the brand (or take some action with it)?
  
  While the topics here can vary widely, best practices for social media content span written and visual content. That means every post needs visuals and some corresponding text. The best social media content for luxury brands instantly tells a story that the audience wants and has to be a part of.

Alias knows what works on social media. Our experts have unique eyes for the remarkable moments and details that make the perfect subjects for social posts and larger campaigns.

Social media can seem effortless when you’re looking at amazing posts that really work. That doesn’t mean that it’s easy or simple to nail social media for luxury and hospitality brands.

Actually, many brands get social media all wrong and end up burning a lot of resources spinning their wheels, getting nowhere, or — worse yet — damaging their reputation. That tends to happen when lifestyle, hospitality, and ultra-luxe brands make the following mistakes:

• Diving in with zero or problematic strategies

• Forgetting about who the target audience and clientele really are

• Pushing promotions with every post

• Using the same tired images and/or copy over and over and over again

• Trying to “automate” everything with an overreliance on AI

• Getting the brand voice wrong or not keeping it consistent

• Ignoring messages, reviews, and comments from customers

• Posting exactly the same way across all social platforms

• Overlooking analytics to find out what’s truly working and, in turn, not finetuning social media strategies, posts, and content

• Failing to try anything new and/or ignoring emerging social media trends.

These missteps aren’t always easy to recognize, but they most certainly hold back, if not fully sabotage, social media marketing for smaller and major brands alike.

Even if brands have made or are still making these mistakes, Alias can step in and swiftly turn the tables to improve social media presence, engagement, and ROIs.

If you want optimal results, then there’s quite a bit that needs to go into your social media planning. That’s because a well-thought-out plan can put luxury and high-concept brands exactly where they want to be on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms.

To start solidifying these plans, the team at Alias generally:

• Conducts brand discovery to identify needs, target audience, and the objectives.

• Evaluates and analyzes a brand’s competitors to dial in strategy, identify the top dogs, and determine the opportunities for standing out and getting optimal traction

• Selects the best strategies and content to focus on, including visuals and digital assets for social media profiles and specific campaigns.

• Assembles a social media calendar that details various campaigns for a given month (or year), with timelines for planning, releasing, and reporting on various short-term campaigns.

• Builds in some flexibility, so our team can refine social media plans in light of the latest metrics and reporting that reveal which images, language, topics, and more are performing well (versus what’s falling flat) with an audience.

For more on what goes into smart social media for lifestyle and high-end brands, check out our guides on:

• The Hottest Social Media Trends for Luxe Brands in 2024

• How to Spotlight Lifestyle Brands on Social Media

You can also contact us for answers specific to your needs and brand.

Alias applies a complex, evolving array of proven social media marketing strategies to deliver optimal results. That’s because social media is a dynamic, constantly changing space where creative thinking and ahead-of-the-curve content can magnetize audiences and make brands the stuff of viral legend.

While our strategies fit the needs, circumstances, audience, and objectives at hand, generally, Alias leverages social media strategies like (and by no means exclusive to):

• Content strategies to define topics, tone, language, and sentence structure that best fits the brand and its audience

• Engagement strategies to inform how brands interact with and respond to audience comments, reviews, and messages, so the voice is fitting, consistent, and still distinctive

• Hashtag strategies to put brands and their posts in the ideal and widest digital circles

• Digital asset strategies to specify the visual subject matter, tone, and messaging to feature in images and/or videos for social media

• Influencer strategies to outline what types of influencers ideally fit a brand and how they will be incorporated into that brand’s social media campaigns and big-picture strategies

• Community building strategies to create a roadmap for how a brand will actively grow its following and/or run live (streaming) “events”

• Testing strategies to routinize and delineate the timeline, steps, and focal points of social media testing, so brands can uncover the latest trends and insights before the competition — and so brands can constantly be improving, based on the latest results.

To get a brand-specific social media strategy, talk to an expert at Alias. We can tell you more about what would work better for your brand on social media after getting some specifics from you.

You’ll get clear data that details impressions, clicks, reach, audience demographics, and more for transparent ROIs and instant insights on performance.

Alias is one of the few creative partners that offers regular, easy-to-ready reporting on all social media activities.

We do that to streamline and simplify the process of making key decisions and maximizing engagement for every post and campaign. We also prioritize social media reporting because we know the metrics can make it easier to integrate the vision, mission, and creative spirit of a brand with it strategic, financial, and operational objectives.

Partner with Alias because your brand deserves more from social media — and because we have the expertise, insights, and tools to deliver more with smarter social media marketing.

At Alias, we get to know each of our client partners deeply, so their voice, brand, and vision is second nature to us. That’s how we become their Alias, unleashing exciting, custom campaigns that showcase brands with electric creativity that inspires, connects, and converts.

Find out more about what Alias can do for your brand by contacting us today.