Essentially, Generation Z young children to old children, and a few young adults. However, this audience has shopping parents, and shopping parents will continue to shop for years to come. Here’s the breakdown of the Gen Z profile:
* 91 Million
* Born 1997 or later
* As of 2019, they’re age 22 or younger. I’ll focus mainly on those we can identify as adults, so 19 to 22.
* Instagram or Snap Chat
* Grew up during a recession
* Tend to be pragmatic
* Focused on saving money
* Mobile and tablet natives over desktop
* Prefer brands that feel authentic
* Mostly raised by Gen Xer’s
* Attention Span is just 8 seconds, which is 4 seconds shorter than their Millennial counterpart
My recommended 5 Marketing Strategies for market segment:
1) Sell experiences, not products – immune to obvious marketing campaigns. Don’t want to hear about how amazing a product is, rather they want to know if it will benefit them. What experience will the product bring them?
2) Video, video, video – Youtube is the first platform Gen Z turns to when they want to be cheered up or entertained. They also use it to expand their knowledge, and improve or gain new skills. They also tune in to Instagram, especially with Instagram Stories. Your website needs to have video content too.
3) Rethink that major influencer campaign – If you want to use influencers, opt for micro-influencers instead of the major ones. These are defined as having 1,000 to 100,000 on social media. Micro-influencers drive more engagement than the bigger celebrity types because Gen Z can relate to them. Stats show that once you’ve gained more than 100,000 followers, engagement levels tend to drop off. Micro-influencers drive 60% higher engagement levels and 22% more weekly conversions….and micro-influencers are affordable. Toss the carefully curated, staged images on Instagram, and opt for an unfiltered, messier approach. It’s real and they will identify with it.
4) Engage with customers – Real reviews on your products and services are crucial to building trust with Gen Zer’s. They want brands to respond to feedback and view this responsiveness as key to determining the authenticity of a brand. 41% read at least 5 online reviews before making a purchase. They also share twice as much positive feedback than negative, so you want to build your number of reviews.And you don’t want to just build out your reviews, you’ll want to reply to them as well. If it’s positive feedback, you’ll want to tailor your response so potential customers can see them…rather than a one-size fits all reply. Certainly, you should respond to negative feedback too, showing readers that you hear the issues and you’re doing everything you can to resolve it. Twitter is the top place for complaints.
5) Highlight your dedication to privacy – almost 90% of Gen Zer’s agree with the statement: “Protecting my privacy is very important to me.” Only 1/3 are comfortable sharing their personal details online, but most would feel better sharing if they trusted the brand would securely protect it. So, when you’re targeting Gen Zer’s, and are asking them to share info, do so with transparency, and openly highlight your commitment to ensuring their data remains safe and secure.