5 Things All Luxury Copywriting Should Have

I’ll let you into a secret. Copywriting for luxury brands isn’t totally different from writing for the mass market. But there are enough subtleties to distinguish premium brand copywriting from other types.

We buy premium goods for a variety of reasons. Ultimately, they are aspirational, and the purchasing decisions are motivated by emotion as well, or even regardless of, need. If you’re writing for something where people pay more for emotive reasons, the content needs to connect with this emotional response.

But what are luxury goods?

First and foremost, what screams “luxury goods” to you? Is it all about those heritage brands that have been around for decades? Or, is the definition a little hazier? The truth is, there is ambiguity around what makes a luxury brand these days. The same goes for a luxury customer for that matter.

There are the brands and the types of customers that we all have in our heads. There are also those other brands (and there are a lot of them,) that share high-end traits. Quality, price, functionality and aesthetics are all part of that.

You can find luxury copywriting examples outside the realms of the famous luxury brands. It may be for an upmarket hotel, a laptop, or a mobile phone. And chances are, you own or have accessed a luxury brand recently even if you’re not one of the super-rich. In this way, luxury brands creep into the mass market.

1.     Remember, it’s all about the experience …

This is where a good lifestyle copywriter will take things to another level. We know from studies that we make 95% of our purchasing decisions subconsciously. That’s across the board, luxury or not.

When you’re simply factoring in things like price point or features and benefits, there’s a risk of losing the customer to a lower-priced product. But premium brands aren’t just about these things. They offer an enhanced experience that slots into the lifestyle of your customer. Good luxury brand copywriting makes this experience front and centre of your copy to appeal on a deeper level.

2.     Consider your content marketing personas

Everyone knows that brands have more than one type of customer. Take a baby clothing brand for instance. The obvious customer is the parent. Then there are relatives, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends. Those friends may be parents themselves. They might not, and in that case, buying baby clothing could be alien to them.

Ideally, someone like me would create content marketing personas based on as many insights as possible. If we’re limited on that, that don’t need to chuck the idea of personas out of the window. It’s more of a guestimate without that intel, but it still helps you to shape your content.  

There are a few good reasons for taking this approach. You can appeal to customers on an emotional level, tailor experiences with your brand, and boost your SEO copywriting efforts too through more targeted keywords and phrases.

3.     Connect the dots between your USPs and your audience

Here’s the thing. As great as your business’s USPs are, they only have real power if your customers can see how it helps them. Even if you’re a well-known brand, and there are plenty of heritage luxury names out there, you still need to connect the dots here and create real tangible benefits for your customer.

The way you do this may differ depending on the content, but that basic principle remains the same. If, for example, you’re creating blog posts for a premium service, you can target informational key phrases that answer a question or solve a problem. Then use that to develop topical posts with targeted content for your personas.  

4.     Don’t forget the keyword research

In reality, this goes for any business. Because SEO copywriting, content strategy and research will help any brand get extra attention online. Optimising your site for keywords is important, but with the right copywriter, you can build on the initial competitor and keyword research to find gaps in the market and generate content ideas.

If you work with the same freelancer throughout the process, they’ll update your keyword research document every few months to find out if things have changed and tweak your site as needed to keep it as fresh and competitive as possible.

5.     Avoid cliches and verbose language

The first rule of copywriting? Write in the vernacular. That still goes for high-end products. Understanding your audience personas, how they speak and write your content in a way that reflects that. The trouble is, if you’re writing for something rather fancy, it may be tempting to match that with flowery language.

But don’t! Here’s why. Very few of us use verbose, fancy language in day to day chat. Clichés and clever wording won’t make your luxury copywriting sound better. There are surer ways to sell an experience and connect with readers in a way that feels genuine rather than showy.