The Minority Messenger
September 2017
September 2017
Engaging the Diverse Young Generation
by Greyson Peltier
Special to the Minority Messenger
September 2017
Takeaways
According to the Brookings Institution, diversity is the "most defining and impactful characteristic" of Millennials, with "new minorities" being 30% or as high as 60% of them in states like California. These demographic differences have a considerable effect on political preferences and should be adequately integrated into your activism campaigns to gear your organization for long-term success.
Millennials are often disparagingly referred to as the Me generation, hence utilizing a high level of personalization in political messaging is key. This is an audience that is used to having Spotify auto-populate playlists catering to their taste and having Amazon know exactly what they want. This personalization extends to, but goes far beyond, ethnic backgrounds. In fact, peddling ideas in a pandering or "obvious" way directed toward racial backgrounds yields poor results. Conservatives have excellent ideas ideal for a young, diverse population but they are sold in bland, one-size-fits-all packaging and when we change it up, it looks fake. On the other hand, liberals package suboptimal solutions to vibrantly extol their ability to deliver upon what a liberty-oriented approach better delivers. Let's get in the right packaging.
How? By transforming messaging, organizational attitudes, and structure. The latter are neglected frequently when engaging diverse communities, though they’re imperative. This requires deep engagement across the organization.
1. Customize your communication
Every political organization is on Facebook and Twitter, but that’s another echo chamber until you adapt your content strategy, which goes beyond naming. Calling your page "(group name) youth" or even "(name) Hispanic, Black youth.” is insufficient. In our Tea Party Youth organization, we learned this easily and took some steps to adapt and engage culture using conservative ideas. Our meme series utilized integrations to liberal-perceived ideas like #BlackLivesMatter, punk rock, and skateboarding. Even this brief overture shows that you care about young people and their cultural ideals, but one can (and should) certainly go deeper.
Young people are all about authenticity. Adapting to this demand for authenticity in your communication strategy and going a little raw is key. The "polished suit" of yesterday is not the credibility of today. It is about having someone who is like them and genuinely feels their attitudes, values, and culture. In short, don't just say something, make sure what you say sounds like you are listening and lead by example.
2. Go deep into their world(s)
True cultural relevancy starts with something as simple as talking to the people. I had a professor that asked the rhetorical question "do you talk to them?" when discussing how leaders approach diverse communities. Go there and be with them. Let them into your world as well. Find out what their issues are and creatively engage with them using your ideas while being open to their ideas. Don't dismiss any problem as being "not real" - instead reason through it thoroughly.
Embrace small, unique test cases that allow liberty and discretion to thrive in diverse environments - and it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct impact on a "young diverse looking population," creativity and authenticity matter more. From farmers markets, to specialty gyms, young people like things that are outside of the "mass market" and less conventional. By definition, government-oriented top-down solutions are uniform and bland, the opposite of their preferences. We allow different communities and cultures to work together to build the future they want, not that which is prescribed for them. We let the non-traditional, non-conformist thrive. But don't say it, instead, show it.
One of my favorite communication ideas in this space is to do videos and articles about niche communities that young diverse people can identify with and capture your ideas at work in their world. Talk to them on camera, but not like Real Housewives, more like a Vice documentary. This is where you articulate theory into reality. Not only do you show that you care about a community, you show that you care about their perspective, and are not just pushing yours on them. The appearance of caring deliberation vs. a one-way argument is the structure we are going for.
3. Integrate your teams and leadership
Social movements with young people playing key roles have seen great success, including the Civil Rights Movement and diversity is key to ensuring support in this political landscape. It is OK to teach and work with younger people to take up the ideological torch of your movement. Losing a bit of control maybe the best thing for you. The last thing you want to do is have young people who distrust various large institutions see you like a distant politician stuck in the ivory tower going into, as Switchfoot terms it, your "convenient Lexus cages."
When people see someone that looks like them and believes what they do with true authority and autonomy, trust increases. Always be ready and able to support and guide your teams where they need it, being careful to maintain their authenticity while ensuring they’re well-prepared. One major caution: young people will not tolerate tokenism. The antidote is letting them paint their canvas.
4. Acknowledge the full spectrum of challenges they face
Ethnic minorities have struggled with a variety of economic and social challenges and young people have these challenges intensified by the context of a collapsing post-recession economy. Minorities and youth tend to believe conservatives and our supposed allies in big-something are the problem, when we do care about them. Empathy and "the struggle is real" are key pointers. Avoid pejorative terms like "SJW" and "snowflake,” minimizing one's experience. The derogation approach may work on some online but diminishes credibility with diverse groups. Instead, deduce the problem to its roots, then propose solutions. This is aided by having team members with similar experiences.
5. Utilize technology and data the right way
As someone who helps businesses with websites and social media, I hate to say it but I cringe a lot of times when people talk about social media marketing for politics. Yes, tacky and shocking, not to mention “fake news” in the political space, can help in the short term, but they are like quicksand long-term. Use the demographic and interest based targeting of social media not as a "content cannon" for your most shocking ammunition but to draw people into a conversation they feel they belong in. Thumbnails help: showing a diverse group can increase identification. But don't use your stock photo vendor yet; highlight your leadership and members instead.
The best data in targeting diverse populations comes from testing. Once you have run a campaign, determine the characteristics of the audience that responds best - this is a good start to measuring the effect of your campaigns on different audiences. However, please keep in mind that the returns from quality engagement with a community are not as statistically apparent as your normal short-run campaigns would be, which some brands have noticed. This takes time and you may need to reduce dependence on certain types of data to gain longevity.
In short, focus on authenticity, engagement, and changes within your organization to reflect the demographics and attitudes of the diverse younger population. The way to the hearts of young people is not what we would term a "marketing strategy" but rather through a holistic approach to embrace their unique preferences throughout the organization. Anything less is bound to yield unimpressive results.
______________________
Greyson Peltier is the founder of Off Speed Solutions, a consulting firm focused on marketing, support services, and cultural engagement. Greyson is a graduate of the University of Southern California who completed a research study on young evangelicals’ political preferences.
by Greyson Peltier
Special to the Minority Messenger
September 2017
Takeaways
- Pandering to racial backgrounds yields poor results
- The "polished suit" of yesterday is not the credibility of today
- Young people like things that are outside of the "mass market" and less conventional
- Young people will not tolerate tokenism. Let them into your world
- Avoid pejorative terms like "SJW" and "snowflake,” minimizing one's experience
According to the Brookings Institution, diversity is the "most defining and impactful characteristic" of Millennials, with "new minorities" being 30% or as high as 60% of them in states like California. These demographic differences have a considerable effect on political preferences and should be adequately integrated into your activism campaigns to gear your organization for long-term success.
Millennials are often disparagingly referred to as the Me generation, hence utilizing a high level of personalization in political messaging is key. This is an audience that is used to having Spotify auto-populate playlists catering to their taste and having Amazon know exactly what they want. This personalization extends to, but goes far beyond, ethnic backgrounds. In fact, peddling ideas in a pandering or "obvious" way directed toward racial backgrounds yields poor results. Conservatives have excellent ideas ideal for a young, diverse population but they are sold in bland, one-size-fits-all packaging and when we change it up, it looks fake. On the other hand, liberals package suboptimal solutions to vibrantly extol their ability to deliver upon what a liberty-oriented approach better delivers. Let's get in the right packaging.
How? By transforming messaging, organizational attitudes, and structure. The latter are neglected frequently when engaging diverse communities, though they’re imperative. This requires deep engagement across the organization.
1. Customize your communication
Every political organization is on Facebook and Twitter, but that’s another echo chamber until you adapt your content strategy, which goes beyond naming. Calling your page "(group name) youth" or even "(name) Hispanic, Black youth.” is insufficient. In our Tea Party Youth organization, we learned this easily and took some steps to adapt and engage culture using conservative ideas. Our meme series utilized integrations to liberal-perceived ideas like #BlackLivesMatter, punk rock, and skateboarding. Even this brief overture shows that you care about young people and their cultural ideals, but one can (and should) certainly go deeper.
Young people are all about authenticity. Adapting to this demand for authenticity in your communication strategy and going a little raw is key. The "polished suit" of yesterday is not the credibility of today. It is about having someone who is like them and genuinely feels their attitudes, values, and culture. In short, don't just say something, make sure what you say sounds like you are listening and lead by example.
2. Go deep into their world(s)
True cultural relevancy starts with something as simple as talking to the people. I had a professor that asked the rhetorical question "do you talk to them?" when discussing how leaders approach diverse communities. Go there and be with them. Let them into your world as well. Find out what their issues are and creatively engage with them using your ideas while being open to their ideas. Don't dismiss any problem as being "not real" - instead reason through it thoroughly.
Embrace small, unique test cases that allow liberty and discretion to thrive in diverse environments - and it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct impact on a "young diverse looking population," creativity and authenticity matter more. From farmers markets, to specialty gyms, young people like things that are outside of the "mass market" and less conventional. By definition, government-oriented top-down solutions are uniform and bland, the opposite of their preferences. We allow different communities and cultures to work together to build the future they want, not that which is prescribed for them. We let the non-traditional, non-conformist thrive. But don't say it, instead, show it.
One of my favorite communication ideas in this space is to do videos and articles about niche communities that young diverse people can identify with and capture your ideas at work in their world. Talk to them on camera, but not like Real Housewives, more like a Vice documentary. This is where you articulate theory into reality. Not only do you show that you care about a community, you show that you care about their perspective, and are not just pushing yours on them. The appearance of caring deliberation vs. a one-way argument is the structure we are going for.
3. Integrate your teams and leadership
Social movements with young people playing key roles have seen great success, including the Civil Rights Movement and diversity is key to ensuring support in this political landscape. It is OK to teach and work with younger people to take up the ideological torch of your movement. Losing a bit of control maybe the best thing for you. The last thing you want to do is have young people who distrust various large institutions see you like a distant politician stuck in the ivory tower going into, as Switchfoot terms it, your "convenient Lexus cages."
When people see someone that looks like them and believes what they do with true authority and autonomy, trust increases. Always be ready and able to support and guide your teams where they need it, being careful to maintain their authenticity while ensuring they’re well-prepared. One major caution: young people will not tolerate tokenism. The antidote is letting them paint their canvas.
4. Acknowledge the full spectrum of challenges they face
Ethnic minorities have struggled with a variety of economic and social challenges and young people have these challenges intensified by the context of a collapsing post-recession economy. Minorities and youth tend to believe conservatives and our supposed allies in big-something are the problem, when we do care about them. Empathy and "the struggle is real" are key pointers. Avoid pejorative terms like "SJW" and "snowflake,” minimizing one's experience. The derogation approach may work on some online but diminishes credibility with diverse groups. Instead, deduce the problem to its roots, then propose solutions. This is aided by having team members with similar experiences.
5. Utilize technology and data the right way
As someone who helps businesses with websites and social media, I hate to say it but I cringe a lot of times when people talk about social media marketing for politics. Yes, tacky and shocking, not to mention “fake news” in the political space, can help in the short term, but they are like quicksand long-term. Use the demographic and interest based targeting of social media not as a "content cannon" for your most shocking ammunition but to draw people into a conversation they feel they belong in. Thumbnails help: showing a diverse group can increase identification. But don't use your stock photo vendor yet; highlight your leadership and members instead.
The best data in targeting diverse populations comes from testing. Once you have run a campaign, determine the characteristics of the audience that responds best - this is a good start to measuring the effect of your campaigns on different audiences. However, please keep in mind that the returns from quality engagement with a community are not as statistically apparent as your normal short-run campaigns would be, which some brands have noticed. This takes time and you may need to reduce dependence on certain types of data to gain longevity.
In short, focus on authenticity, engagement, and changes within your organization to reflect the demographics and attitudes of the diverse younger population. The way to the hearts of young people is not what we would term a "marketing strategy" but rather through a holistic approach to embrace their unique preferences throughout the organization. Anything less is bound to yield unimpressive results.
______________________
Greyson Peltier is the founder of Off Speed Solutions, a consulting firm focused on marketing, support services, and cultural engagement. Greyson is a graduate of the University of Southern California who completed a research study on young evangelicals’ political preferences.
