How This Sock Company Makes $100 Million a Year
It’s just one simple marketing strategy
The year is 2013. Two coworkers David and Randy decide to start a sock company called Bombas after viewing this Facebook post:
“Socks are #1 requested item in homeless shelters”
They decided to donate a pair of socks for every pair sold. Simple, concise and clear.
Buy one, donate one — that was their motto.
Excited, they get to work to design a high-quality product with a consumer-focused approach and best quality cotton.
So they have an amazing marketing strategy (business model) and high-quality socks, now what?
They launched their first campaign on Indiegogo and within 24 hours, they made a jaw-dropping $150,000 in sales and a staggering $100 million in sales as of 2019.
How Did They Do It?
Now, let’s take a deeper look at Bombas’s strategy that made them millions and how you can do the same.
A really successful businessman once told me something that blew my mind, “If you know what you are doing, you can even sell sand to an Arab.”
Think about it.
Why is it that Bombas was able to outperform other companies in the same niche who have been in the business for longer than them?
Do you think it’s because of the great material, high-quality cotton or merino wool?
Well, not quite. Something else is at play here.
Us humans, we love to make ourselves feel good and happy. We achieve happiness by fulfilling often unconscious emotional desires like standing out from the crowd, a desire to be who you want to be, to protect the environment, and so on.
We buy limited edition new cars, expensive dresses from big brands, we work and give back just to fulfill those emotional desires and get that amazing feeling about ourselves.
Buy 1 pair for yourself and donate 1 pair to homeless — now that’s a great feeling of accomplishment, isn’t it?
Well, there are a large majority of customers who’d rather not donate or keep both pairs of socks to themselves.
But at least for Bombas’ customers, buying one pair of socks and donating a pair to someone in need makes them feel good.
“It’s a no brainer for me, I get comfy socks and someone in need gets super comfy socks,” said a Bombas customer in their review.
This simple, yet effective strategy helped this sock startup to sell and donate 32 million pairs of socks while bringing in neat $100 million in revenue!
Why This Strategy Works so Well
Bombas associated their brand with a great cause of “helping someone in need” which not only gives the customer a feeling of accomplishment about the purchase but also builds a positive brand perception.
Think about it. Bombas is not just selling high-quality socks, they are selling that amazing feeling you get about yourself when you help someone(emotions). Therefore, their customers aren’t just fully satisfied with the brand, they are emotionally connected.
According to the Harvard business review,
“When a company helps its customers to fulfill deep, often unconscious desires, the customers go from being fully satisfied to emotionally connected brand ambassadors. Emotionally connected customers are 52% more valuable than highly satisfied ones.”
If you want to sell a sh*t load of “fill in the blank” like Bombas, consider forming an emotional connection with your audience. Associate your business with a strong desire that the majority of your audience supports and help them fulfill it.
Once customers find an emotional attachment to your brand, they’re likely to buy more, care less about price, recommend you to everyone and most importantly, make you millions.
And hey, hat’s off Bombas.
About This Publication
How They Made Money is a publication that’s focused on analyzing how rich individuals exactly generated their income. Feel free to stay in the loop if you want to use this knowledge to reach one step closer to your own financial freedom.
