Instagram Marketing Strategies for Lifestyle Brands - The 3 C’s

There’s a clear reason why 90% of the top 100 brands are on Instagram. There are over 25 million brand accounts on Instagram and 80% of users follow at least one of them. The numbers don’t lie in regard to brands looking to tap into a hub of over 1 billion monthly active users, hungry for products.

Instagram is fast becoming the easiest way to shop, especially with its simple shopping feature that allows brands to show off their products within the app itself. It’s the place to be for product-based businesses and lifestyle brands.

Click here to learn more about the importance of having a lifestyle brand.

Instagram is essentially a free marketing tool that allows brands to be creative with the way they share and promote their offers. Customers often look to social media for the coolest trends and products and will connect with the brands they love directly. While driving and making sales via Instagram was once a pipe dream, it’s quickly becoming a reality for more and more brands willing to put in the time.

Often, brands have a tricky time wrapping their heads around Instagram marketing, which is completely understandable given the huge amounts of competition and factors to consider such as imagery, hashtags, videos, customer engagement, and Instagram ads. It’s a battle to be seen when putting a brand on a social media platform, it requires time, energy, and, most importantly, consistency. Having a successful account requires a creative flair and commitment to staying up to date with the continuously changing ways to use the platform to build leads, show off products, and build a brand community.

Whether you are a seasoned user or new to the platform, check out our tips on how to create a killer Instagram marketing strategy for your lifestyle brand.

The three C’s of Instagram Marketing

C #1: Creation

Users of social media often seek lifestyle brands that can illustrate (and commodify) those aspirational lifestyles they seek. When you know your audience and the content that will resonate with them, you can engage your consumers, create a bustling community they want to belong to and will contribute to, and ultimately grow your revenue.

TIP: Sometimes it pays to get straight to the point depending on your brand’s values and target audience. Real-life product photos in diverse environments can certainly speak for themselves as can customer reviews.

It’s important to keep your feed fresh by diversifying the content that is created. Utilizing the full range of features, such as Reels, IGTV, stories, and in-feed imagery will not only make your feed more attractive but will improve your chances of being seen by the right customers. The Instagram algorithm, which is constantly changing, favors those accounts which use all of its available features. 

As for the posts themselves, they should be relevant, useful, and interesting to your clientele. Informative, entertaining, and even humorous content will attract consumers – and they will bring others by sharing your posts. Over time, you will build credibility and trust. In turn, this will mean increased engagement, repeat visits, more customers, and, most importantly, more revenue. 

TIP: Consider creating mini-commercials specifically for your Instagram account, you can use the Reels and/or the IGTV feature for this.

Need content ideas? Check this out!

C #2: Connection

Lifestyle brands have an in-depth understanding of their target audience’s way of life; their demographics as well as their psychographics. You want your content to reflect the lifestyle your customers want to be living and you want to use it as a way to connect with them.

Connecting with your followers is an important step in converting them to customers, especially if you are new to Instagram. Larger brands often speak for themselves, but people appreciate feeling seen and after all, social media is, at its heart, a social platform. Whether it’s a personal touch or simply giving your following a shout-out, the seemingly simplest of touches can go a long way toward a more dedicated customer base.

Share customer reviews, photos of your product in real-life settings and keep up to date with your comments and direct messages. A lot of customers will come to your social media page with questions and queries. 

TIP: Create a more authentic Instagram profile by showing off imagery of your customers using your product as well as professional photos.

C #3: Consistency

Updating your feed daily is not only an expectation within the Instagram community but, also, a means of ensuring that you’re making as many impressions as possible on your followers.

This signals the need not only to consistently put out new content but also diversify it as previously mentioned.

It’s better to consistently post 3 times a week rather than aiming at posting every day but then feeling overwhelmed and posting on week one 5 times, then on week two only once, and the third week 4 times.

For this reason, it helps to have a means of curating content in bulk to keep yourself from constantly scrambling for new post ideas. 

TIP: not every post on Instagram needs to be aimed at selling your product. Posting beyond your products can not only help you build your brand’s personality, but also give your following something to smile and think about.

Whilst there is a lot to consider when creating your marketing plan for Instagram, ensuring you are uniquely creative, connecting with your audience, and being consistent with content will guarantee you attract customers to your page. 

Check out the best hashtags for Interior Designers & Home Decor Businesses

Examples of Lifestyle Brands who are using Instagram successfully

Looking for inspiration outside of our own industry is also a great way to get creative! Here are two accounts we enjoy following:

WeWork - Coworking Spaces

WeWork operates shared office space worldwide and their Instagram (with over half a million followers) is just as trendy as the spaces they provide. Why? Because their photography is stylish, highlighting their cool workplaces in unique ways making you want to dive into the picture and be right there. They also do a great job of showcasing their many monthly wellbeing events, and their self-made hashtag #DogsofWeWork is extremely shareable and, not to mention, adorable. They utilize creative photography, exciting community building, and consistent content posts, creating a highly successful profile.

The North Face

With their famous hashtag #NeverStopExploring (that boasts over 28 million uses), The North Face successfully shares its brand ethos through multiple content features. Their profile is full of exciting content in multiple formats and is paving the way for eco-friendly brands to follow. They create content not just for their dedicated long-standing customers, but for a new, younger, audience too. They create trust and community easily.

Are you ready to level up your Instagram game and connect with thousands of potential customers? We’re here to help!

Click here to schedule a Complimentary Brand Consultation.

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