How to Tailor Your Digital Marketing Strategy to Gen Z

Being a marketer, it is likely that you are already up-to-date on the infamous millennials and their behaviour patterns. For the past several years, the world has been focused on understanding and adapting to millennials.

However, how about Generation Z?

This refers to the newest generation of consumers that were born between 1997-2012, which means that the oldest generation Z members will now be 23 or 24, and therefore, Gen Z members are at the age where they are starting to make their own purchasing decisions.

Gen Z now also represents 25% of the Canadian population and holds $50 billion in buying power. So, do not undervalue Generation Z because this group represents a massive opportunity for growth.

Therefore, as a marketer, it is important that you now take the steps to understand Gen Z’s buying behaviour patterns and what marketing strategies they are attracted to because this market can offer your business long-term sustainability.

This generation is unique because they have been raised exposed to the internet and social media, something that has never occurred before, and they are also the most diverse group in modern history.

Also known as ‘digital natives,’ Gen Z members do not know a time without smartphones, and they bring a new set of priorities, expectations, and norms as consumers, which you will need to understand adapt to.

In this article are some tips on how you can tailor your digital marketing strategy to Gen Z.

Generation Z acts as a highly environmentally aware group that care deeply about eco-friendly practices and socio-economic issues.

Therefore, any business that is out to make money regardless of the environmental consequences, is more than likely to be shunned by Gen Z.

Over the last few years, the most important social cause to Gen Z has been to combat climate change or to protect the environment.

This year, however, racial equality and social justice came out on top.

According to Forrester, 51% of 18-23 year olds will research a company to ensure that they are socially responsible and that they have good values before they make a purchase.

Therefore, to gain trust with this consumer group, you must align your brand’s value with theirs in an authentic way. It is also important for you to communicate this clearly and coherently so that they notice your efforts.

An example of a brand that is tapping into this successfully is Ikea. They are making their corporate social responsibilities match up to their younger consumers, and aiming to reduce their waste significantly by 2023.

Engaging with your customers is a wonderful way to build trust and loyalty for your brand. According to a study, 76% of Gen Z’s view good responsiveness as a measurement of brands authenticity.

Gen Z consumers also enjoy interacting with distinct brands, with 44% of them admitting that they would happily submit ideas for a product design if they were given the opportunity.

By involving Gen Z’s in your brand’s journey, they will feel more invested in your business, and you will gain their customer loyalty as a result. You can do this by asking for their ideas and feedback.

Feedback is important to Gen Z’s and research has shown that around 41% will read at least five reviews online before they decide to make a purchase.

Another wonderful way to meaningfully interact with Gen Z’s is through hosts, competitions, and events.

Gen Z customers will be eager to interact with this type of engagement, and you will easily be able to cultivate their loyalty.

Video content is the most popular type of content with Gen Z’s.

You might think that traditional photos for Instagram suit your brand better, but you must go where the engagement opportunities lie if you want to generate results.

In the year 2020, a new platform known as TikTok experienced extremely rapid growth, and 60% of its users were from Gen Z.

A recent survey also revealed that 50% of Gen Zs claimed that they ‘couldn’t live without having videos in their daily lives. This may be a tad dramatic, but clearly, there is a huge demand for this style of content.

Gen Z users have shown greater responsiveness to shorter videos of around 8 seconds.

As a marketer, this means that you only must produce a small clip to catch the attention of these consumers. Creating short but stimulating videos, for YouTube bumper ads, or Instagram stories, is the best way for you to go.

If you fail to exploit these new features in social media then you will be at a huge disadvantage and are likely to see much less engagement compared to your competitors.

Influencer marketing is a new concept to social media marketing. Before it was even given a name, you could bring in a lot of attention to your content by working with the correct influencers to promote your product or service.

If you are considering using major influencers with a huge following, in your marketing campaigns, then you may want to reconsider this.

Micro-influencers, with a following of around 1,000-100,000 on social media, have proven to be much more effective in generating engagement, with around a 60% higher engagement rate.

This is because Gen Z relates much more to micro-influencers and believes that they are more authentic.

An example of a brand that has exploited this is ASOS. They tapped into this marketing opportunity with their #AsSeenOnMe campaign.

The brand partnered up with a total of 29 micro-influencers with different demographics, each of whom has included the brand ASOS in their Instagram and Pinterest accounts.

By using real and relatable people, ASOS received extremely reliable results from this campaign.

Back in the day, social media was a chaotic situation, with much less legislation and regulatory control. Gen Z has grown up on the internet and has been exposed to all the negative backlash and scrutiny that social media have received from not tightening up enough on their privacy and security.

Therefore, they are more than aware of the importance of privacy, and research by NGen showed that 88% of Gen Zs agreed with the statement ‘protecting my privacy is important to me.

If you want to attract and retain Gen Z consumers, then offering complete transparency about privacy is important. Be upfront about all the information you will be collecting, and keep them informed on how you are going to keep their data secure.

Gen Z grew up during the recession and witnessed the collapse of the property industry, and their parents lost their jobs.

As a result of this, many Gen Z’s do not believe in a completely secure job, and unsurprisingly, they want to take matters into their own hands.

72% of teens in the United States said that they want to start their own business one day, and, 61% want to start a business after they graduate from university.

Gen Z does not value the standard education route as much as millennials and other generations do. They look at the increasing university fees and think, ‘for what?’

So what does this mean for businesses?

Your target audiences are becoming extremely interested in what it takes to run a business. So, show some behind-the-scenes action and give some insight into what it takes to run your business.

Gen Z will be attracted to this kind of content and you will be able to bond by emphasising your entrepreneurial qualities.

Gen Z users do use Facebook, however, 34% of US teens believe that Facebook is a platform for older people.

Facebook lost over 25% of its users aged between 13 and 17 in just three years.

You can still reach Gen Z through Facebook, however, you will receive much better results if you try to reach them through Instagram or Snapchat.

According to a survey, Snapchat is the favourite platform for Gen Z in the US, with Instagram coming second.

In addition to this, 71% of Gen Z use Snapchat daily!

Therefore, when it comes to using the correct platform to target Gen Z, forget about Facebook and focus your efforts on Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and Instagram ads!

Generation Z will require you to make changes in your marketing strategy, like any other new generation. By keeping these tips in mind, you can take the best steps to tailor your strategy into the best possible model. You will see benefits such as customer loyalty and high engagement.