Gen Z is unlike any generation seen before and is, as a result, quite challenging to market to. But if you can get it right, you can tap into the fastest growing buying power of any current generation!
Previous generations have been fairly easy to sell to in comparison to Gen Z and could be persuaded using well-known marketing tactics like brand loyalty, FOMO (fear of missing out) and high production ads featuring well-known brands. Not so with Gen Z. They are a very budget-conscious generation and because of this have relatively modest spending habits. So, unfortunately, traditional marketing tactics won’t work on this crowd.
Gen Z’s budget-conscience habits reached new heights during the 2020 global pandemic due to worries about job security and the subsequent complete loss of income. So businesses had to step up their game when marketing to this age group. They rose to the challenge by creating content that affirmed to Gen Z that their products and services were essential, worth purchasing and readily available. Brands also had to prove to Gen Z that their businesses could be trusted and that they embodied shared values and, on top of that, were relatable. This made creating engaging content for Gen Z no easy feat.
The difference between Millennials and Gen Z
It’s best not to lump Gen Z and Millennials into one category and believe that both audiences will be simultaneously engaged and entertained, because it turns out that the two are quite different and prefer very different types of content. Here are some distinct differences between the generations.
- Both Gen Z and Millennials are looking for authentic content, but Gen Z differs in that they display unique consumer behaviours, not seen before.
- Another difference between the two is that Gen Z prefers to consume content on smartphones, tablets, etc. because that’s what they grew up doing, unlike millennials who are not so picky when it comes to how they consume content.
- If brands want to win Gen Zs over, they must demonstrate that they are authentic, trustworthy, entertaining and up to date. And must make an effort to take note of the newest innovations and include these details in the content that they create.
- Gen Z grew up in a time of economic recession. Millennials experienced their childhoods in the middle of an economic boom. As a result, Gen Zs tend not to trust so easily when compared to Millennials.
Where does the Gen Z crowd hang out online?
When marketing to Gen Z, it can be hard to determine which social media platforms they spend the most time on, which platforms are just a passing trend and which have true marketing potential. This is what we have observed so far.
1. TikTok
TikTok experienced immense growth when it was first launched and received another burst of growth again in 2020 during the Covid 19 pandemic when everyone was required to stay at home to keep people safe. Consuming short-form content became the norm and TikTok became the most downloaded app during the first quarter of 2020.
TikTok fulfilled an entertainment requirement for those stuck indoors and was used as a form of escapism to block out what was happening at that time in the world. It offered endless amounts of short-form content to watch which ranged from comedy to dance challenges and everything in between.
Unlike its competitors, TikTok values personality, originality, innovation and fun. Because of this, TikTok has the ability to offer all kinds of businesses the opportunity to reach consumers in a new and fun, relaxed way.
Another way that TikTok differentiates itself from its competitors is in the way their algorithm works. It matches viewers with videos that the algorithm thinks they will enjoy. This data is based on how the viewer engages with various videos and means that brands have a chance to go viral without needing a huge follower count.
2. Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels offers brands a platform to showcase their videos in slightly longer-form content and allows businesses to reach a massive audience of over 2 billion users.
The future of Reels appears promising when taking into account Instagram’s overall success over many years. Yes, it might not be as popular as TikTok right now, but brands should definitely be looking at this platform to feature their content on, especially if they have managed to garner a Gen Z audience already.
3. Triller
A newcomer to the industry, Triller is a potential alternative to TikTok and is a great option for countries that have had TikTok banned. Triller, although fairly new, has been experiencing steady usage and appears to cater to more specific brands and creators within the music industry. Triller has been downloaded over 250 million times and is close to reaching number one in app stores around the world.
It doesn’t seem to be in direct competition with TikTok and has chosen to take a more niche direction as it continues to cement itself within the music marketing industry. Conversely, TikTok is more suited to brands in a variety of niches.
Creating content for Gen Z
Video
Video is the most effective when appealing to a Gen Z audience according to Forbes, stating that “it’s a richer form of content than just text or photos and it’s more versatile as well”. Gen Z tends to reject all other forms of traditional advertising due to a mobile-first mindset and spends an average of 3.4 hours per day watching videos on the internet. They also prefer to rely on video research when determining whether they should make a purchase or not.
Podcasts
Aside from video marketing, making audio content is worth looking into as well. Podcasts are big amongst Gen Z, so advertising on music streaming services is bound to pay off. Audio marketing also creates a sense of personal connection and intimacy, something that Gen Z’s love!
Short and punchy
When it comes to creating content for Gen Z, it shouldn’t just be informative, it should get to the point quickly! Gen Z only has an eight-second attention span and that attention span only gets shorter when surfing social media platforms with an endless amount of content. So create content that is short and punchy, complete with a great hook, to get noticed and stand out.
Be subtle
Adopt an ‘advertainment’ approach that consists of entertainment first and product second when marketing to Gen Z. Naturally balance attention-grabbing content with brand information and focus more on entertainment and less on intrusive product placement.
Another option is to let Gen Z create the content for you. They love to be creative and experience a brand through content creation, so why not let them try their hand at it? If the content is a success and on-trend you might be able to amass a large following of fans who will be willing to make content for you going forward, free of charge.
Should you market to Gen Z right now?
As you can tell, there is a lot of effort that goes into marketing for this generation, so it is worth it to start planning now if you want to get ahead. Gen Z may not have full purchasing power yet, but many of them have reached adulthood and are beginning to get jobs. So as this generation gets closer to becoming one of your target markets, it’s probably a good idea to do some research on them beforehand.
