Luxury Briefing: Luxury brands are evolving their social media strategies in preparation for a ‘bumpy ride’

Since joining TikTok in August 2023, Marc Jacobs has seen “explosive growth” on the platform, as described by Kristin Patrick, the company’s CMO since May. The brand’s account has nearly 380,000 followers, and its organic posts regularly see views in the millions. Among the most memorable include a July 2024 video of “tradwife” influencer Nara Smith making a “delicious red Marc Jacobs tote bag” from scratch (17 million views) and a January 2024 video by the duo known as Shadrinsky featuring Marc Jacobs himself blowing out his brand’s inflamed 40th birthday cake (1.9 million views). 

“We love TikTok because it’s where we have a lot of Gen-Z followers,” Patrick told Glossy. 

The brand’s TikTok strategy greatly differs from its approach to Instagram, where it has 12.3 million followers.”We can be more outrageous and quirky on TikTok. It’s our ‘let’s-try-crazy-things’ channel,” Patrick said. “And that works for us because Marc Jacobs has always been a little off-center and irreverent.” In addition, she said, the brand’s TikTok content is less produced and features different influencers than its content on other platforms. 

However, churning out regular, unique, viral content across multiple social channels requires a lot of work. For its part, Marc Jacobs does not work with agencies. All of its content is created in-house or by enlisted influencer talent. 

“Brands have had to become publishers of content,” she said. “What’s working now is a talent strategy that includes A-level talent, B-level talent, platform-specific creators and influencers, and a presence on five or six platforms.”

It’s not sustainable, which is one reason why Patrick said Marc Jacobs is bracing for a “bumpy ride” this year in social media. 

“[Along with pressure] to create the sheer amount of content they have felt they need to create to have a presence across all these platforms, brands and businesses will be [contending with] the upcoming new U.S. policy on TikTok, pop culture changing and algorithms changing,” she said.

Moving forward, Patrick predicted brands will streamline their investments in organic social content by becoming “much more” KPI-driven. That will include Marc Jacobs.

“When thinking about the platforms we’re going to double down on, I’m [considering], ‘Who are we reaching?’ And, ‘Is it driving sales?’” she said. “We’re spending a lot of money on some platforms and not seeing the return.”  

The brand will also update the type of content it’s putting out on these platforms. “We’ve swung the pendulum too far into creative, over-the-top content,” Patrick said, “We also have to make sure that we’re talking about and selling our products.” 

A diversified, multi-tiered social strategy will be the way forward for Marc Jacobs, with some content made to drive brand and brand awareness and some facilitating “click-to-shop” behavior, whether that’s to the brand’s e-commerce homepage or its “shop” on a social media platform. 

Currently, TikTok serves as a brand builder, Patrick said. Despite Marc Jacobs’s reputation for moving faster than its luxury brand counterparts, in terms of taking advantage of social media-based opportunities, the company has yet to explore sales on TikTok Shop. 

“We focus on being two steps ahead of where everyone’s going; it’s important for us to be ahead of the trend,” she said. “So we’re continuing to find great creatives across all the channels and to discover emerging [opportunities] to jump on them first.”

But, Patrick clarified, the trend has to be a clear fit for the brand, which is known for innovation, creativity and irreverence. While Nara Smith, who was gaining buzz at the time, worked wonders as a brand collaborator, “demure” never made its way into the brand’s posts, she said.

As for TikTok Shop, “We want to make our product accessible to consumers, but we are also a luxury brand, so we can’t be too accessible,” Patrick said. “So, we’re watching how our consumers are shopping and waiting before making a move [onto TikTok Shop]. But they’re on TikTok, Amazon, … everywhere. And I’m feeling a shift [toward more accessibility] happening in luxury.” 

Marc Jacobs currently distributes through owned stores, owned e-commerce and wholesale partners. In addition to organic social content, it invests in digital ads. 

Patrick also acknowledged that the “digital ecosystem” is reshaping consumers’ shopping behaviors. For example, many consumers are landing on a brand product page through a social media link rather than through a Google search followed by a stop on a brand homepage. 

TikTok isn’t the only way Marc Jacobs is reaching Gen Z, and the brand hasn’t been super-reliant on the platform, Patrick said. If the TikTok ban goes into effect, the brand will likely shift its focus to Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snap and Pinterest, she said, adding, “Gen Z and Gen Alpha love Pinterest because it’s creative and interactive. … It’s one to watch.” 

Other marketing focuses for the brand this year include continuing to diversify platforms and explore new lifestyle verticals, including those focused on music and gaming where its customers are spending time. 

“Buckle your seatbelts because we’re in for a lot of changes, from a marketing perspective — as well as a lot of business chaos when it comes to making sense of it all,” Patrick said.

Venus et Fleur is embracing affiliate commerce and ‘grandiose’ influencer campaigns

The luxury brand Venus et Fleur, best known for its long-lasting floral arrangements, also plans to shake up its social media strategy in 2025, based on the success of its holiday influencer marketing campaign. 

“Influencer marketing has become so saturated, so cutting through the noise has been top of mind for us,” said Sylvette Sein, the brand’s CMO. 

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Venus et Fleur enlisted Dialogue New York, an influencer agency focused on balancing brand and performance marketing. That led to overhauling its existing influencer strategy of gifting bouquets according to an influencer’s style, which typically resulted in a single static post on social media. Instead, to promote its holiday collection of wreaths and garlands, for example, the brand curated 20 influencers who love the brand and post related content. It then gifted them — all 20 in one day — the full collection via “white-glove delivery” by its operations team dressed in suits, Sein said. The collection was worth an estimated $5,000.

According to Sein, the effort resulted in follower growth, engagement and sales exceeding expectations. Over the following week, across TikTok and Reels, the videos were viewed more than 77,000 times. Plus, the brand’s TikTok profile saw a 1,500% boost in views and its Instagram engagement increased 570%. In addition, Venus et Fleur’s holiday wreath sold out. Based on the success, the brand repeated the process with 10 additional influencers, driving comparable results. 

“I’ve never seen so much engagement from influencers,” Sein said. “They posted multiple videos without payment.”

Such “grandiose and spectacular campaigns” will define Venus et Fleur’s influencer marketing playbook going forward, Sein said. She noted that, as proven with the holiday campaign, influencers do not need massive followings or engagement to drive results.

As for other social strategies Venus et Fleur is newly adopting, starting this quarter, the brand has been testing the YouTube Shopping affiliate program and TikTok Shop. 

“We haven’t found what hits the mark for us [on TikTok Shop] yet,” Sein said. “It’s tough for luxury.”

What’s worked for the brand in terms of more general TikTok content has been AR videos, which have gone viral. And “partnering with influencers has allowed us the flexibility to be a bit more organic” as a luxury brand, she said.

If a TikTok ban were to go into effect, Sein said Venus et Fleur would likely turn to Snapchat, where it’s seen advertising success. 

“Luxury brands tend to be like, ‘No, we wouldn’t do that,’ when it comes to an [emerging strategy]. But then they start to see the opportunity to get on board [by way of] their own voice and brand guidelines, and they realize, ‘OK, maybe it’s not so terrible.’ … As we all try to diversify off of Meta and Google, we’ve all become more open to doing things on our own terms, versus just immediately saying no.” 

‘We’re in a creativity crisis’: How influencer marketing will evolve in 2025

Julianne Fraser, founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Dialogue New York, breaks down the state and direction of influencer marketing for luxury brands and beyond.

How would you describe the power and influence of TikTok as it stands?

“TikTok is a force, and it’s continuing to build in importance across the board, especially as luxury brands focus on ways to penetrate Gen Z and build credibility with that audience. The emergence of TikTok over the last couple of years has shifted things back to more vulnerable and real narratives and less polished content; consumers are looking for the real storytelling and rawness that TikTok provides.” 

What’s the current dynamic between luxury brands and influencers?

“For a long time, there was this nervousness among luxury brands to engage in the influencer community for the sake of maintaining brand [cachet]. They felt, ‘That’s going to be off-brand if we work with XYZ creators.’ … A lot of luxury brands feel uncomfortable releasing the control, but doing so is necessary to drive a return. And a lot of brands, including Chanel Beauty, have found effective ways to work with influencers that make sense.”

What’s the biggest challenge facing the influencer marketing industry today?  

“We’re in a creativity crisis. More money is being poured into influencer marketing every year. Because the industry is ballooning, creators and brand marketers are getting complacent and lazy and not driving creative, thoughtful narratives. And agents are getting complacent and lazy and not negotiating the right brand alignments. When you combine all that, there’s a numbing of consumers, where they’re just so sick of seeing the same hashtag ads and inauthenticity. … Everyone’s makeup looks the same, everyone’s homes look the same, everyone’s hair looks the same, everyone’s outfits look the same — because we’re all in these echo chambers of our own algorithm, and we’re being served the same content over and over. … [I would advise brands to] jump on a [social] trend and capitalize when it’s right, but to not only lean into this copy-and-paste approach.”

What marketing trends are you anticipating for 2025?

“Meta advertisement is not performing well, and it’s only going to get worse in 2025, across the board. It’s becoming far more challenging to see any sort of return with Meta. So I expect more brands will shift their social advertising budgets to influencer marketing. There is also a shift toward brand marketing — brands are seeing the importance of investing in top-of-funnel marketing. User-generated content will continue to take off because brands are finding it hard to keep up with the volume of assets they need. And the value of offline influence and smaller niche communities will also become more apparent.” 

The latest from Glossy

As deadline approaches, a second East Coast port strike looks likelier by the day

Coach CEO debuts new collection and material innovation at CES

LA beauty and fashion brands collect donations to support each other after fire damage