So, what does your wine brand need to do to capture the Gen Z consumer?

You’ll entice the Gen Z crowd by digging deep into your messaging, branding, and consumer experience. Not sure about Generation Z? Read our first post: Uncorking A New Trend: The Importance of Marketing to Generation Z.

The 4 areas you need to prioritize:

1. Killing it at social media

Social media attracts and maintains customers in multiple ways. You build relationships with your customers through direct interaction, show the “human” behind your brand, and get in front of a large audience (perhaps for free!).

Make sure your brand has social media pages on the big platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, and actually engages with your audience! 

Don’t fall for old-school thoughts like maintaining too much professionalism or “stuffy” industry lingo. Your younger customers want to see your sense of humor, dreams, and why you do what you do. 

We personally love Union Wine Company’s Instagram. They’ve gained over 29K followers by being relatable and interacting with their customers. Check out this hilarious reel. 

2. Acing your website branding

Your website is critical to the success of your business when it comes to the Millennial and Gen Z audience. 

Take the time to make sure it’s nice to look at, guides your customer through a cohesive journey (don’t make them search around, make it clear what they need to know, and where they need to go), and make it easy for them to become your customer (immediately).

One of our favorite examples is One Hope Wine. Their message about giving back to the community is front and center. They have a subscription wine service to make it easy to try new wines without lifting a finger. The customer can pay right away, have wine selected for them, and it’s delivered to their house.

But the truth is, most people won’t buy the first time they come to your website — no matter how easy you make it. One Hope has done an excellent job capturing their interested audience and following up with an automatic pop-up that offers a discount in exchange for your email. They then follow up with a nurture sequence to learn more about them and how they help their customers. This is great!

3. Email marketing

Against what anyone says, email marketing is not dead. And it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. 

68% of consumers of all ages prefer email for brand communications. 53% primarily check email on their phones. But get this, that number sky-rockets to 67% for Gen Z’ers.

It’s crucial you send out regular emails to stay in touch with your customers, offer promotions, and let them know what you’re up to. Keep it interesting to look at and easy to read on a mobile device.

And remember, we’re all getting more emails than ever. Make sure your subject lines are either to the point, invoke curiosity, or give something your customer wants upfront.

4. Providing an amazing customer experience (but a different kind than before)

Curating spaces and designs to be “insta-worthy” but not always practical was a key part of connecting with Millenials. Think: the brunch Bloody Mary craze with glasses piled so high you couldn’t see the drink for 20 minutes.

Gen Z has moved from this to a more practical, livable, worn-in “vibe”. They don’t necessarily want over-the-top for the sake of it. What they value more is personality, creativity, and impact. 

Your brand should focus on making your product easy, accessible, and personal. A great example of this is Winc. They have a subscription model where their customers pay a similar fee each month and different wines show up at their door. To start off the customer experience, they have a quiz that’s interactive and personalizes their selection.

Crushing it with Gen Z…

Prioritize being a “human”. 

Being vulnerable, helping the community, and building relationships is the way of the future.

There’s a lot to do. If your wine business needs some refreshing, we wouldn’t be surprised! Bauerhaus Design specializes in helping wine businesses– just like yours– to authentically connect with your audience and grow sales. Reach out to our Creative Director, Rebecca, to set up a free 30-minute discovery call (and crush it with Gen Z) today.

P.S. Rebecca is speaking at several upcoming events for the Iowa Wine Speaker Series. Mark your calendars:

March 29: Session 1: Case Study: How Six Brands Target Six Different Wine Consumers. Click here to learn more. 

July 19: Session 2: Future of Wine Marketing: Capturing the Attention of Millennials and Generation Z

September 27: Session 3: Sell More Wine: Create a Brand Map Around Your Customer