When brands are looking to market and appeal to Gen Z, they need to be concious that it goes way beyond simply trying to sell a product or service.
Gen Z are not only creative, tech-savvy and connected but they hold strong desires for authenticity and concepts of value in all aspects of their lives.
Gen Z has an estimated $143 billion in buying power, and further account for about 40% of total consumer shopping.
This demographic is more inclined to purchase from brands with established values, inclusiveness (harboured through a secure community) and ultimately a meaningful brand message.
How exactly can brands across the globe achieve this? Keep reading to find out.
Brands should build a strong community
Creating a digital community is a critical element of your Gen Z marketing strategy.
Since they grew up with smartphones and widely known social media platforms, Generation Z is often alluded to as a ‘digital native’.
Therefore, businesses should use this in order to place a great focus on creating engaging, interactive and supportive communities online.
Social media is so prevelant in the lives of everyone today that building a strong online presence and utilizing it actively should be at the forefront of any brand’s marketing activities.
As many platforms have become mainstream it allows for companies to tap into the various types of people on them and cultivate a two-way dialogue that enables brands to interact with their audience in an authentic way.
Influencers have a fantastic way of doing this, as they are known to achieve much higher levels of engagement & ROI.
Use their platform for change
It does not matter what exactly the product or service you are offering to consumers but more so how you are defining your brand values and using your platform to get this message across.
One brand that articulates this successfully is skin & body care brand, Dove.
They have a #RealBeauty campaign pledge that considers 3 vows:
Feature real women
No digital distortion in its campaigns
Build body confidence and self-esteem
Over the years, they have denoted this through exactly the above.
Using real women, with flaws and imperfections within their campaigns to promote body positivity and acceptance.
This has been extremely powerful and well-received from not only the women who feature in them, but the many consumers and audience of Dove itself as a brand.
Another way that this was evident was through the brand Glossier, who allocated a total of $1 million dollars, including $500,000 in funding to be given out across various black-owned beauty companies.
Moreover, they postponed the release of their newest product at the time, in an effort to focus their attention, and the focus of their audience, on the ongoing fight against racial injustice.
Keeps things entertaining
According to a Q&A on Merkle EMEA:
“We’ve found that Gen Z are demanding rich, interactive content, but they seem to have a lower attention span. Simple, short content and media that is easy to consume as opposed to longer-form video and written content seems to appeal here.“
Therefore, the best way for brands to capture their attention is through creative, quick and playful content such as TikTok’s and Reels.
In fact, 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z’ers and it is reported that ‘next year, 74 million people in the U.S. will be part of “Gen Z”, which will make it the largest generation of all’.
They are not phased by fake and misleading informatioin, which means that as a brand you uphold the responsibility to properly plan your content to align with the genuine, authentic things they want to see.
The tremendous purchasing power of Generation Z, combined with their internet usage, has given them significant influence within the world of digital marketing.
Generation Z provides a vast opportunity for long-term growth for brands, regardless of your specific market.
Have you had any luck marketing to Generation Z? Tweet us your best tips @itpliveme.