What Makes Gen Z Tick? Marketing Strategies to Target the Most Diverse Group of Young Shoppers

Marketing to Gen Z may seem daunting. A marketing trend is hard to catch with this group, and they’re moving so quickly. Just as you catch on to one trend, another is taking over, and you feel like you’re on a constant quest of finding this youngest generation on the right platform. Even so, marketing to Gen Z is vital for brands, and it might be easier than you think. These digital savvies are progressive, so they are usually in the frontline of adapting new channels and technologies. As a result, you may feel behind in your marketing strategies, but don’t worry. Understanding what makes this generation tick will help you reach the younger generation and use the correct methods to promote your products to Gen Z.

Visuals in Your Content

Different generations have varying preferences when it comes to online content. Gen Z is obsessed with visual content. The average Gen Zer watches an average of 68 videos per day. The generation consumes more visual content than any other generation. If your content is chunks of written text, you’ll have to step up your game with more visuals to reach Gen Z. While the text is still very effective for older generations, we’re not talking about them. You can still have text in your content, but it needs to be broken up with images, videos, gifs, graphs, and more to grab Gen Zer’s attention.

Video Content

Gen Z streams video for roughly 23 hours each week, and about 71% of Gen Z teens use mobile devices to watch videos. However, such high popularity of video among the youngest generation has led many companies to reevaluate their marketing strategies. 

Gen Zers are looking for more inspirational and valuable content than a fancy-looking video commercial of your newly-launched product. They prefer authentic content, with 82% saying they trust a company more if it uses images of actual customers in its advertising. So, instead of hiring actors for your next video, consider incorporating client testimonials into your videos. Such video content will help Gen Zers understand how they might benefit from your products and build your brand’s credibility.

Besides, Generation Z aims to change the world for the better. According to Marketo, 60% want a job that they believe will impact the world. In addition, 72% of Gen Z are more likely to buy from a company that contributes to social causes. So, if you think your company serves a mission, make it clear in your video content that you’re also aiming to make positive changes and talk about how your brand and products contribute to a social cause.

The internet is already full of content, including video, so you’ll need to create something entertaining and unique. Gen Zers typically have an attention span of just 8 seconds, so don’t take too long to grab their attention because, after 8 seconds, they will most likely be already watching something else. 

Use the Right Platform

Although Facebook remains the top social media channel, it’s not where you can find Gen Zers. The leading social media platform for Gen Z is Instagram, followed by YouTube and TikTok, so if you want to target Gen Z in your social marketing campaigns, these platforms are the way to go. Instagram is a photo and video sharing social network, so no wonder generation obsessed with visuals chooses Instagram over Facebook. Here you can create:

• Posts – Pictures or video
• Stories – pictures, video, text, polls
• Live Videos – broadcasting video in real-time
• Reels – short, entertaining videos you can edit and assemble directly on Instagram App on your phone (up to 30 seconds)
• IGTV videos – IGTV is a video application by Instagram which allows you to publish longer videos compared to Instagram feeds. ( up to 15 minutes)

YouTube is an online video-sharing social media platform where you can upload videos up to 15 minutes long. Verified accounts can upload videos longer than 15 minutes up to 12 hours.

TikTok is an excellent place to share authentic videos of your brand, such as your office pets running around, a tour of your workplace, behind the scenes, production process, etc.

Influencer Marketing

Almost half – 44% of Generation Z has made a purchase decision based on a recommendation from a social influencer, and 70% of Teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities, so it’s an excellent marketing channel to target Gen Zers online.

Influencers are well-established internet figures with many followers who see them as experts in a particular field or community. Social influencers can affect others’ decisions by reviewing, endorsing, and promoting products through their content.

Although influencer marketing is a must to target Gen Z, it drives results only when done right. Firstly you must find the right influencer. Although someone might have many followers, they might be from other generations. Furthermore, the influencers’ content should be relevant to your products, and their primary audience should resonate with your prospective clients.

Before jumping to conclusions, research influencers, scroll their feeds and analyze their content to see if the collaboration will benefit your marketing goals. Another factor to consider is that mega influencers with more than 50k followers might not work better for your brand just because they have more followers. Contrary, micro-influencers on Instagram with 10k-50k followers boast an average engagement rate of 3,86% compared to 1.21% for mega-influencers.

And what makes it tricky is that influencers do have to like your product. Otherwise, they will not risk their reputation over the years to promote a product they dislike. To find out more about influencer marketing, read our blog about the DOs and DONTs of influencer marketing.

Interactive Content

Grabbing Gen Zers attention requires creativity and interactivity, research suggests. Younger customers want to interact with your content instead of passively consuming it, so create as much interactive content as possible. Social media features like polls are great at winning your customers’ attention and learning about them. Interactivity and personalization are crucial when marketing to Gen Z; they want to be seen as individuals and be part of the process instead of targeting your marketing campaigns. You can even ask for their opinions about your products. For example, 44% of Gen Z would like to submit ideas for product design if given the opportunity.

Encourage Feedback

Nearly 60% of Gen Zers said it is essential for brands to value their opinions. Therefore, it’s necessary to embrace customer feedback and reviews on your social media channels and website. According to Sprout’s Digital Natives Report, 82% of Gen Z shoppers will buy from a brand after reading customer reviews. So, allowing online feedback is a double win – it’ll enable Gen Zers to share their opinions about your products and impact their buying decisions by reading others’ comments.

Although reaching the youngest generation may seem daunting, we hope the aspects above will help you include Gen Z in your marketing campaign. If you have already tried many of the above-discussed techniques, and want to find weak points in your strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to Internet Marketing Geeks today with your questions or schedule your new client consultation. Our team will be happy to help you target the youngest generation in your marketing plan.