Lifestyle brands don’t just sell products; they sell a culture. When you buy a Harley Davidson, you’re not just buying a motorcycle; you’re buying an adventurous lifestyle. When you buy a Kate Spade purse, you’re not just buying a handbag; you’re buying an iconic accessory owned by an elite crowd. Use these lifestyle brand advocacy tips to help your brand showcase not only its products but also how they could fit into the lifestyle that your target audience aspires to experience. If consumers can see their own values, journeys and identities reflected back in your marketing efforts, they’re more likely to align with your brand organically.
Tap brand loyalists
Your customers are your greatest advocates so let them promote your products in a way that feels authentic. Lean into these brand loyalists who can make recommendations feel natural.
Showcase the lifestyle, not just the product
The profits might come from individual products, but lifestyle brands earn those sales by evoking a feeling and a sense of belonging. While a Rolex watch might help customers feel as though they belong to an elite group who can afford a luxury accessory, the allure of inclusion is different for everyone. In addition to status, your brand may draw on a desire to experience adventure, freedom, beauty, power, health and wellness, style, or even creativity.
Harley Davidson doesn’t market motorcycles to people who need transportation to get from point A to point B. The iconic brand focuses on “delivering adventure and freedom for the soul.” It’s an emotion that can be felt through the screen in an Instagram post from Harley Davidson brand advocate Thein. Note the #HarleyDavidsonNation hashtag, which the brand uses to strategically capture user-generic content.
Tell stories that evoke emotion
Humans are hardwired to learn through storytelling and lifestyle brands that tell — or share — authentic stories that evoke emotion will find the shortest path to connecting with consumers. This connection helps customers feel a bond with the brand, which can increase both trust and loyalty. The stronger the emotional attachment to a brand, the more likely a customer will recommend it to others.
Storytelling helps humanize brands, differentiate them from the competition, and build community, regardless of the format. It’s common to see brand advocates share a personal journey that ties in a particular product or service, sometimes aided by before-and-after photos, real-life video clips, or moving music.
Draw from diverse advocates
The right advocate may give you access to customers who wouldn’t have found your brand otherwise. Gaining reach from an untapped or underutilized platform can expand your brand’s share of voice.
Dove has become well-known for its inclusive campaigns featuring people of all ages, body sizes, and ethnicities, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. By embracing inclusion rather than using traditional models that fit the “norm” of society’s beauty standards, Dove quickly became a relatable and beloved brand for everyone.
When Dove launched its #ShowUs campaign to encourage women and non-binary individuals around the globe to share unfiltered photos that offered a more inclusive vision of beauty, they received more than 10,000 diverse images. The idea helped create brand advocates around the world, like Diksha Singhi, who contributed this post about size inclusivity and body positivity in the media.
Put your brand values on full display
The most fearless lifestyle brands aren’t afraid to put their principles in writing and they don’t hide them in the fine print. Look for opportunities to align with advocates who share your brand’s ideals — on equity and inclusion, fair trade, eco-consciousness, animal rights, or other specific causes.
Thinking about launching an advocate marketing program from scratch? If the task feels too big to take on with your limited team, consider outsourcing the work to an advocate marketing platform like Zuberance. With a comprehensive, custom-branded platform, you’ll have everything —from advocate rewards and social sharing to reviews and analytics — right at your fingertips.
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Businesses leverage Zuberance to fuel their advocacy programs, integrating them into their overall marketing programs. The outcome? Lowered marketing expenses, enhanced customer engagement, improved retention rates, and most importantly, positive ROI.
