““Stay true to your values. That’s why you were a success in the first place, and that’s how you make incredible things happen.”- Rafe Offer
The way we engage with advertisements is certainly changing fast. I still, and (and maybe strangely) remember the first time I saw an ad in between my Instagram posts.
It was a Sprite ad, and it was really simple: a young couple on the grass at a drive in movie, holding their glass Sprite bottles as if they had just told the couple a hilarious joke. The ad looked like it could have been a post from any of my friends! And definitely made me want a sprite while I watched an old movie at a drive-in.
Users can now dive into an experience, a creative branding story of colors, sounds, and images that draw you to a brand you can watch evolve over time. So what companies are utilizing this new social media marketing playground to its greatest potential? Let’s dive right in.
Madewell
A clothing store catering to modern, chic, tomboy-ish young women, increased sales by 39% in 2018 by focusing on how to build a lifestyle around denim through their social media accounts.
Their style of content is varied with both video and images. All of their content is clickable, giving access to prices and details of every clothing item. These links immediately lead to a page where they can buy said item. Not to mention, the aesthetics of their branding style make you believe you could be as cool as these girls if you just buy the right jeans.
Just another clothing brand selling athletic men’s shorts - until you look at their Instagram page. The owners had an early passion for fun swim trunks as a great conversation starter in college, and built the company as a response to a lack of availability of swimwear the creators could identify with. On their social media page, you’ll see a fantastic variety of memes and user-generated content. You can just tell they don’t just understand their audience - they treat them like friends. They use tons of humor in their brand and even use their customers as models - showing them in their brand, in all of their relatable dad-bod glory.
This creative engagement strategy has enabled the company’s following to grow to an impressive 3.5 million, while avoiding the use of any traditional media branding styles.
Kayla Itsines
Over the last few years, Austrailian personal trainer Kayla Itsines has been gaining a lot of attention (and followers!) for her Bikini Body meal plans, as well as her Stronger with Kayla Itsines workout plans. Time magazine even voted Itsines one of the most influential people on the internet. One clear reason for her success is how she approaches marketing for her brand.
Itsines has never shied away from ads on social media. Itsines even got a shoutout from Instagram about her social media success. She was able to reach over 6 million people and create 6 times more brand awareness than the average social media marketing campaign.
Another standout, is that her Instagram page isn’t all about her, it’s about her brand. One of the main focuses on her Instagram page are Before and After photos submitted by women who follow her workout program.
This is strategic in a marketing sense in two ways: It shows that real women can accomplish real results if they put in the effort. Also, tagging her customers will lead to reposts and more tagging, this expanding her social media network just that much further. See some of our examples of lifestyle branding options.