Many creative people have ideas but much fewer have the organizational ability to turn their ideas into reality. Successful entrepreneurs do, and working with one is always a rewarding experience.
I’ve recently begun working with Simon Tooley, the founder of a luxury skincare boutique in Montreal, Etiket, with very niche, high-end fragrances, beauty and specialty hair care products. A former VP for Anne Klein and Michael Kors Canada, Simon has a wealth of knowledge about building successful fashion brands, and he also intuitively gets marketing.
Simon Tooley
With product names like Penhaligon’s No. 33 (luxury grooming and skin care product for men) and Mona di Orio perfumes, the experience of being inside the Etiket boutique is one of being comfortably ensconced in a discreetly packaged, elegantly placed, vial of opulence. It is as close to shopping on a London High Street as you can get in Montreal. You are courteously attended to upon arrival, and will leave feeling well-pampered.
But how do you reach the customers who crave your high-end goods but aren’t able to make it in to your street-front store? You bring the boutique online, of course, which is the other side of Etiket’s thriving business. And as any tech entrepreneur knows, the online experience is brought to life by intuitive design, a focus on user experience and strong visuals.
One of the tactics Etiket uses to connect with and reward its customers is a subscriber based email marketing program, featuring a themed monthly emailer focusing on a few targeted products from the shop. December is all about the Art of Giving, as you might suspect and customized, product photography is an integral part of both the emailer and website.
Generic product photography might not get you wild with excitement, but if you are managing any kind of inventory and competing in a very challenged retail environment, customizing your product photography can give you an edge over your less aesthetically minded competitors. Consider creating use-case presentations of a few of your top sellers, placing the products not simply against a seamless white background, but in contexts that reflect how and where they will be used by your target customer. Like all marketing, it costs more than doing nothing, but the uplift in sales is measurable and should quickly prove the value of developing your own customized imagery to promote your site, store and brand rather than relying on the product photography given to you by your supplier that will look the same on your site as it does on every other retailer’s carrying the same product line.
In a world where everyone is fighting for a minute share of increasingly fragmented attention spans, any touchpoint you can create between your brand and your customers creates a connection that can help you prove your value and ultimately drive sales. Though now nearly twenty years old as a concept, a targeted email-subscriber list built by creating thoughtful and useful emails that are relevant and visually appealing is still a highly effective way of reaching your customers. Creative, customized photography can significantly raise the engagement rates you are aiming for with each send.
If you decide that 2016 is the year you improve or launch your email marketing plan, be sure to focus on content that tells your unique story to create that meaningful connection with your customers. Using a thoughtful combination of design, text and curated, hand-crafted imagery will help you get higher open rates, and ultimately, a lift in sales from your efforts.
