Lifestyle marketing involves portraying your brand as an essential part of your target audience's ideals. It's one of the most accessible advertising routes for a growing business. By making such meaningful connections with your customer base early on, your company will enjoy more success in the future.
The Benefit of Lifestyle Marketing
Many of the most popular brands today use lifestyle marketing in their advertising mix. For example, Whole Foods, the grocery store, attracts customers who want to have more natural foods in their diets. Jeep markets its vehicles to drivers looking for adventure, and even sells Jeep apparel to its customers.
By adhering to a specific lifestyle in their marketing, these brands entice customers to purchase even more of their products by making their products more relatable. Consumers also naturally gravitate towards a company that has a strong community surrounding it. When they see so many others enjoying your brand and gaining enrichment from it, it makes them want to be a part of that group.
Using lifestyle marketing from the beginning also allows your company to introduce new products or services with fewer risks. Companies develop a more loyal following when positioning its products as part of your customers’ lifestyle. That will ensure you already have a reputation for great values and customer service representatives that precede any new release. Customers are 34% more likely to make another purchase if they are satisfied with a brand's service, so as long as your customers are happy, you'll be able to retain them for many years and grow your business. However you choose to showcase your product or service, make sure it speaks to your target audience so they can continue to feel like a part of your community.
Implementing a Lifestyle Marketing Strategy
Fortunately, there are multiple methods you can use from the beginning to integrate lifestyle marketing into your strategy. The most common method is getting a lifestyle marketing segment on a local television station. That will allow viewers to see your product in action from the comfort of their own homes.
Before moving forward with your demonstration, you also need to identify your customers and their current market. You might need a few detailed buyer personas based on their current interests, age, income bracket, or geographic location. Once you understand your target, you can satisfy them by showcasing exactly what they want to see.
Align Your Brand Message Around Your Consumer Identity
When you understand the identity of your target audience, you can pick the best message to appeal to them. Sticking to that story is crucial to building your brand's success. It might be tempting to jump to whatever messaging seems the most successful for other companies, especially if you're in a slump, but while you can look to other companies to see what works, you want to stay true to your identity.
Customers appreciate consistency, especially when it comes to their values. Brands that portray consistent messaging in their advertisements typically see revenue increases of 33%. It also gives your brand more credibility to stand out from your competitors.
Demonstrate Your Product as Part of Their Lives
Product demonstrations are the best way for your target to see what your product does and how it can improve their lives. To increase your chances of success, make sure you explain the product clearly and accurately. Tie in your product's main purpose to the overall mission of your brand.
Sponsored lifestyle segments are the best route for demonstrations, but not the only method. You can also film a demonstration yourself and upload it to YouTube or Facebook. When doing so, it’s crucial to make sure you have quality production. While you want the video to look good and be edited well, you can get away with a more amateur look. Quick, low-cost smartphone videos that showcase employees or culture can go a long way in showing you live by the lifestyle your company presents.
It might also be beneficial to hire a brand representative, like a local influencer, to test out and promote your product. Ideally, that representative should be a member of your target demographic who appreciates your lifestyle marketing message. If that person already has a following, that will increase your demonstration's reach even more.
Provide Value (And Set a Positive Example)
In addition to a great product, you want to provide consistent and valuable messaging to your customers. Regardless of whether they're actively buying your merchandise, your business needs to come across as friendly and approachable. One of the best ways to establish your brand's voice is using email marketing. With the huge amount of people who check email regularly, you increase the chances your emails will be seen. It’s also an incredible medium for nurturing leads and establishing a following.
Make sure not to treat email as a sales platform and instead focus on educating your customers through each email or online blog. By providing value without asking for anything in return, you're portraying your brand as an expert and developing trust with your audience. Customers are more likely to make a purchase from brands they trust, especially if they sense their expertise. Just be sure that all your information is accurate and aligns with your brand's mission.
You can also set a positive example by building a helpful community on social media. Any questions from potential and current followers should be answered promptly and with enthusiasm.
Integrating Lifestyle Marketing for Your Small Business
Incorporating lifestyle marketing into your strategy helps establish your brand's following and unique identity. While this can be difficult to achieve on your own, a media partner can help you develop your lifestyle marketing plan utilizing lifestyle television, email, top-notch video production and more to set your business up for even greater success.
