Instagram Luxury Lifestyle: Influence on Us!

Scrolling through socials, it’s impossible not to notice the constant flood of Instagram luxury lifestyle—private plane, designer attire, luxurious vacation. It’s a virtual red carpet in which brands and influencers curate a life that’s almost accessible but not for everyone. The real question is, why is this aesthetic so powerful? 

One word, engagement!

I have noticed over the years, through working with many a client, how likes sway perception in the luxe niche. It’s not about possessing costly items; it’s about getting people to believe in your life, in your life through your posts. I remember working with a woman with a luxurious luxe wardrobe but no traction. Her photos were high level, but nobody liked them (no pun intended). Once she started prioritizing scheduled posts and meaningful captions, likes tripled overnight. Likes don’t make for statistics, but social proof that build an aura of success and exclusivity about a post. 

How Instagram Likes Give Luxury an Edge

We all know likes matter. A post with a thousand likes feels more aspirational, and desirable. It subtly tells everyone else that the post is worth reading, worth a glance, worth wanting so that you can increase your influence. It’s particularly important in luxe, when exclusivity is your biggest sales tool. 

A little while back, a buddy of mine started an Insta page about high-end watches. He understood the niche inside and out, but nobody was reading about it. Examining his posts, I noticed that his posts were too geeked out—mentioning watches and not creating an aura of exclusivity about them. Once he took a switch and started curating luxe life (showing a watch with a high-performance car, a whiskey, etc.), likes shot through the roof. 

Luxury companies and influencers utilize likes to: 

• Establish credibility – With increased engagement, a page feels authentic.

• Create demand – Thousands of likes for a post about an elusive bag, and everyone else feels that they have to have one.

• Secure brand deals – Most high-end brands work with influencers with a proven track record.

The bottom line? Liking creates perception, and perception creates influence.

Instagram Luxury Lifestyle: Crafting Aesthetic by Influencers

Being a luxury influencer isn’t about taking photos of expensive items. It’s about crafting an experience.

I have represented influencers who took for granted that dropping a post about a bag of Gucci onto a countertop of white marble is enough. Fact? Luxury isn’t about goods, but about life. Successful influencers curate a world everyone wants to enter. 

Some key tips include: 

• Curated looks – Clean edits, uniform theme, and high-end aesthetic.

• Story-driven captions – Instead of "New watch," say "Time feels a little differently when having a sip of coffee in Monaco."

• Collaborating with brands – Partnering with high-end brands in an effort to build credibility.

One of my influencers had a pretty, curated feed, but no one in her following seemed interested. Issue? She wasn’t putting her face in photos. Luxury isn’t about goods, but about the individual living life. As soon as she added her face in photos—plopped in designer heels, having a champagne toast aboard a yacht—engagement doubled overnight.

Business of Luxury: How Luxury Brands use Instagram

Luxury brands don’t sell goods, but sell an identity. High-end ones understand that Instagram isn’t a platform, but a stage for a narrative. 

Some key techniques brands use in leveraging Instagram include: 

• Exclusive launches – Teasers about soon-to-be, one-off releases.

• High-value customer engagement – Engaging with high-value buyers directly through Instagram.

• Collaborations with high-profile influencers – Engaging with big influencers in a drive for promoting the cachet of the brand.

I remember when a high-end fragrance I represented was gearing up for a new scent launch. First, they planned a traditional campaign. But when they took a new direction and concentrated on Insta-first promos—teasing out the perfume with high-end photos, influencer collaborations, and access behind the camera—the demand reached a fevered level even in anticipation of the launch date.

And it confirmed my suspicions: Insta is the new billboard for high-end. 

Buying Engagement: Controversy Over Likes & Followers

The high-end niche isn’t free of buying engagement, either. Most companies and influencers buy likes, followers, and even spurious feedback in a ploy to make them busier and successful in reality, not fact.

I know one with 100K followers with fewer than 500 likes for a post. Engagement feels artificial—and their comment threads? Full of spurious, canned feedback such as "Great post!" or "Love this!" (which tends to hail from bot profiles). 

The problem with buying likes and followers: 

• Luxury is about scarcity—and robots don’t buy Rolexes.

• Original brands track engagement quality—not mere volumes. Weak engagement is a problem.

• It destroys trust—once everyone sees followers and likes aren’t real, trust is over.

I helped a client who bought engagement early but couldn’t make deals with high-end brands. The problem? Luxury brands track not only likes and followers but even engagement quality. Once she focused on developing a real following, her traction (and collaborations) took a sharp boost. 

How to Cultivate a Real Luxury Profile on Insta

For those wanting to make it in the high-end niche, real and authentic is key. High-net-worths and high-ticket buyers can sniff inauthenticity a mile off. 

Some key tips include: 

• Spending in high-quality photos – Poor photos won’t fly.

• Choosing a standout luxe aesthetic – Old-money luxe? Clean and simple? Define your aesthetic.

• Tell a story, not a flex – Don’t say, "Here’s my pricey car," say, "Sunday driving is a whole lot sweeter when the engine purred like that."

• Exclusivity through community – Luxury isn’t one-upming—it’s about creating an exclusivity everyone wants in.

I have a student who struggled with branding. She'd accumulated a strong arsenal of high-ticket bags but wasn't getting any traction. Once she began creating content about experiences (and not simply about featuring items), her traction tripled.

Luxury has been reimagined through Instagram. It’s no longer about what one possesses—it’s about showcasing it in a high-touch, luxurious format.

But success in the luxe space isn’t necessarily about getting likes alone. It’s about creating an aspirational environment everyone wants to enter into. Regardless of whether you're an influencer wanting to develop a high-ticket personal brand, a luxe brand wanting to target an exclusive community, the objective is the same: make your content a VIP experience.

Related Articles:

• Learning to Live the Luxury Lifestyle
• The Ultimate Guide to Creating Luxury Lifestyles in Your Home