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Luxury brands live and die based on their repeat customers. Customers who develop high brand loyalty will regularly purchase new item releases, shop for others at your store during the holidays, share luxury brands on social media, and bring other customers with high brand loyalty potential on board. These customers already know the target audience for luxury brands because they speak with them every day.

Understand that these relationships go both ways. They're based off of identifying repeat customers early and maintaining good communication with them.

Perks and Opportunities

Some of this is automated. Some of it is more personal. You should always be building your list of customers, including e-mail and other appropriate information that helps you keep in touch with them. Customers who have spent a certain amount before may activate perks.

Be careful about giving your products away. This only devalues your goods and services in their eyes. The perks should instead give them access to more luxury. Perhaps the perk is access to a new line before others have access to it, or an invitation to a special event near them.

Be public about how your customers can achieve these perks, but don't over-discuss what the perks get them. Instead, feature news of past events and perks to build the luxury value of reaching that perk level. Those who haven't reached it will see opportunities they missed out on, and they won't want to miss out on the next.

Check In

It's good to check in once or twice about a purchase. Ask a customer how their experience with their purchase or service was. Do this in a way that presents continued service, interest, and accountability. Customers are often very eager to talk about their experiences with a brand. Done right, a personal follow-up can boost the perceived value of their purchase.

If you need them, when their experience is a good one, say that you'd like to use their words as a testimonial. Testimonials and reviews like these are especially important for luxury brands that are on the smaller side and have less established or recognized names.

Checking in is also an easy way to reinforce a brand connection. For especially high-end products and services, part of the luxury experience is the accountability of having a real person answerable to you. By presenting that opportunity early, one-time customers will be more likely to trust your brand and return to make a purchase. After all, in this day and age of only talking to machines with every business, they dealt with a real person who reached out to them.

Elite Inner Circle

Luxury products are defined in part by their exclusivity. Nothing is more exclusive than having a personal relationship with the brand owner themselves. When something of particular clout is released, it's always a good idea to select a few of your very best and most reliable customers, and give them a sneak peek, or put them first in line if they wish to buy.

Don't phrase this as an ask. It's a favor you're doing because you have such an established and reliable relationship. “We wanted to give you a first look because you appreciated the X- and Y-line so much before.”

The target audience for luxury brands will vary by brand, but that audience is more likely to be deep than wide. Luxury brands on social media that pay special attention to creating ongoing relationships and repeat customers will have a much higher regular floor that they can rely upon.