International Conference “Risk in Contemporary Economy” ISSN-L 2067-0532 ISSN online 2344-5386 XX th Edition, 2019, Galati, Romania, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Romania – Faculty of Economics and Business Administration 119 DOI https://doi.org/10.35219/rce2067053212 The Importance of Integrating Digital Marketing within the Sales Strategy of Luxury Brands Zaif Alexandra Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania andra_zaif@yahoo.com Cerchia Alina Elena Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania alina_cerchia@yahoo.com In the age of digital technology, companies around the world have to adapt their strategies to the new requirements and expectations of their consumers. The Internet has revolutionized traditional means of marketing, being a key factor in globalization. A market sector with hundreds of years of tradition ,such as that of luxury brands,is facing the necessity to introduced new,innovative strategies into their marketing plans. The purpose of this paper is to identify the ways in which luxury brands can adopt digital marketing strategies, highlighting the benefits that could be gained ,despite some incompatibilities mentioned in previous literature studies. Thus, we intend to contribute to the clarification of certain aspects present in published literature regarding luxury brands, their perceived value and their image, determining the influences of digital marketing on the aformentioned aspects,as well as consumers` consequential behaviour. Keywords: digital marketing, social media, luxury brands 1.Introduction Over the past decades,the consumption and marketing of luxury brand products have sparked great interest and generated numerous debates in both the academic,and bussiness environment,due to its complex,multidimensional nature . The interest in its research has been increasing,in the actual context of luxury market globalization .A recent study shows that,despite a global economic downturn after 2009, the luxury market continued to grow, predicting that in 2014-2019 period, it will see a 35% increase over the previous benchmark (Bain & Company, 2014).This growth has been attributed ,in specialists` opinion,to the integration of online comercialisation and distribution platforms by the companies from the luxury brand sector.Luxury brand executives have been focusing their attention towards online marketing as a branding and selling tool,viewing it as a way for their clients to truly experience the brand and its products,by engaging their customers,improving brand involvement,providing interactivity,which leads to brand loyalty and increased purchase,as well as brand equity growth. The rise of social media marketing(SMM) and its worldwide usage has driven marketers to seek the opportunities of promoting their brands through a variety of communication channels such as Facebook,Instagram,Twitter,Pinterest.It is noted that the usage of SMM helps raise brand awareness,facilitating communication without any restriction in time place and medium,making it a two way communication between the customer and the brand,creating their own platform in which they exchange ideas,communicate their opinions,share information as well as their experiences with the brand(Kim&Ko,2012)-articol leveraging a luxury fashion brand.Thus,by engaging in online interaction which leads to creating new content or contributing to content created by others(6,7-articol examining consumer luxury brand related behaviour intention)brands gain exposure and also strengthen relationships with customers,enhancing brand value and,in the case of luxury brands,the prejudices surrounding them(especially that their content availability is limited to the masses) are reduced (Kim&Ko,2011) Social media has been