Give Your Brand a Boost With Lifestyle Content It's your ticket to reaching an audience that doesn't even know they need you.
By Te-Erika Patterson Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
How do you earn intensely loyal and interactive followers for your business?
You start by developing a strategic content strategy. Think of every photo, tweet, video or blog post you share online -- the sum total of all that content you share builds your brand's reputation.
Developing a content strategy that exceeds the expectations of your audience is vital for you to stand out among the best in your industry. Your first step should include focused content which proves your expertise by educating your target audience about your specific business services or products through clear, informative articles, images and blog posts.
Many businesses hit a plateau in their digital reach because they stop here. The missing link between brands who have a few thousand followers and those who've become social media legends is a key ingredient called lifestyle content.
Your followers are searching for more than just the service you provide -- whether they know it or not. Why not offer content that educates, informs and helps your audience develop holistically, creating a one-stop digital media empire they can't turn away from?
Lifestyle content is your ticket to reaching an audience that doesn't even know they need you.
When you're ready to take that next step and upgrade your digital presence, allow the following categories to inspire your content strategy.
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Personality
Create content that appeals to the personality of your target audience.
Are you serving educators? Create content that depicts the lifestyle of an educator. What unique problems do they face? What do they do outside of work? How can you prove to them that you understand them on a fundamental level?
When you create content that shows a deep understanding of someone's life experience, they're more likely to share the content with others because we share content that represents who we are.
Related interests
Your target audience may need you to solve a specific problem, but there are related issues and interests that you can build content around as well. If your target audience is young musicians, and you offer album reviews and interviews, include content about trends in music technology, the history of music genres or profiles of the leaders of distinct music cultures.
Keep your audience guessing and yearning for more.
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Popular culture
There's always a way to tie in trending pop culture topics to your brand.
If your target audience is concerned with dental health, create content that ties popular names and issues with your service. What Kim Kardashian Does to Avoid Plaque Build-Up, What Would Hillary Clinton Look Like With Gold Teeth? and 10 Celebrities Who Need A Dental Makeover are all great ways to increase awareness for your services as well as entertain your audience by attaching your brand to names they admire.
Inspiration
Your target audience has a goal in mind, and they've come to you for information.
Besides teaching them how to achieve their goal, it would be great if you simply reminded them they can do it. Share stories, photos or video compilations of people who have achieved the goal they have in mind.
Simple inspiring quotes and messages take little to no time to create. Ask yourself, "What do I need to hear to keep moving toward my goal today?"
Humor
You may not have the ability to create truly humorous content, but that's OK because others do.
You don't have to create original content in this case -- you can be a comedy curator. Find funny content around the web and repost it, with attribution of course. Your audience will love you when you demonstrate that your brand cares enough to make them smile.
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