Although Bernie Sanders was unsuccessful in his bid for the presidency, there is no denying that the Sanders campaign found great success with millennials. According to a Gallup Poll, 55% of millennials had a favorable opinion of Sanders, versus 38% for Clinton and 22% for Trump. Read on to discover 4 lessons from the campaign that you can apply to improve your eCommerce business.
Make an emotional connection
Millennials loved Bernie Sanders because they related to him. Despite a fifty-year age gap, he connected with them by tapping into ideas and causes that they are passionate about. How does your company relate to millennials? Do you give back to the community? What about your products? Are they modern, sustainable, or efficient?
A great example here is Toms Shoes. Toms are made with sustainable materials, offer a variety of styles, and donate a pair of shoes for each pair purchased. While that model may not work for every business, consider how you can incorporate these principles into your company. You may be able to emphasize products or practices that are eco-friendly or on the cutting edge of tech. Does your company give money to or volunteer with any charitable causes? Are you creating content that effectively gets that information to your customers?
For eCommerce companies, an emotional connection is even more important because there is no physical store location for your customer to remember and identify. There is no music playing when you walk in, no sense of smell or touch to associate, no actual person present to help you with a question. An emotional connection will make it easier for the customer to remember you and help you stand out from the myriad of other online options.
Be consistent and genuine
The Sanders campaign has emphasized his consistent voting record on hot-button issues, dating back several decades. Regardless of popular opinion, Bernie continued to champion the causes he believed in. Sanders also avoided claiming to be something he was not. From wild hair to emphatic hand gestures, Sanders was unafraid to be himself. Your company can benefit from these ideas by being consistent and genuine in your approach to customers.
Millennials love to look online for product reviews or recommendations and can easily discover if your company has a history of not quickly solving a customer’s problems or using gimmicky sales strategies. As an eCommerce company, your customer service may take the form of email, forums, or social, which means there will be a written record of your efficacy. Always showing your online customers that you care will help build a visible reputation of authenticity and consistency.
Show your passion
Watch a few seconds of any Sanders speech and you will notice the undeniable passion with which he speaks. This fervor draws people in and makes them curious. Show your audience as much passion for each facet of your business as he does for each topic. You can accomplish this through exciting site content, helpful product descriptions, enthusiastic customer service, and a desire to grow and get better.
Seek feedback from your customers whenever you can and focus on their user experience. Millennials respond to marketing that adds value to their life and is well-integrated with other activities. Also, think about why your company got into this business in the first place. What do you love about eCommerce? Here at ParadoxLabs, we love helping our clients succeed and pursue this goal relentlessly every day.
Get social
No discussion of marketing to millennials would be complete without a nod to social media because it is such an effective channel for the audience. The Sanders campaign gained huge popularity on social media through the use of memes, hashtags, and even Snapchat geofilters. Social media is a great marketing channel for millennials and can be used to highlight the lessons above.
If your company helped out at a volunteer event, post pictures and celebrate that with your customers. Use social to show your employees hard at work on a particular project. Tell your followers about a training or continuing education course you are attending, showing your passion for the industry. Always use proper grammar and spelling, of course, but aim for a conversational tone, not a sales pitch. And don’t try to use millennial buzzwords if that is not the way you actually talk; you’ll just end up sounding like someone’s mom. In the eCommerce industry, an ineffective social media strategy is not an option.
By taking a few cues from the Sanders campaign and making a connection, being consistent and genuine, showing your passion, and utilizing your social media, your business will be well on its way to marketing effectively to millennial customers. For more marketing tips and insight, check out our marketing services.