The Rise Of Gen Z & How To Earn Their Trust
Everyone is talking about Millennials and how they are the now market to tap into, but every great entrepreneur knows that it’s just as important, if not more, to be forward and future thinking in their business growth. So, if Millennials are the consumer generation of today who is the consumer generation of tomorrow?
Generation Z
Truth be told, they are already playing an important role in today’s consumer economy and the way they think, consume content online, and purchase goods will dramatically shape the way brands do business in the near future.
Born between 1995–2004, Generation Z is the world’s first truly digital generation. They’ve had the luxury of growing up with the internet at their fingertips and have no idea what type of torture it was to experience a slow internet connection (let alone the pain of the dial modem). The young enthusiasts have literally hopped out of the womb with iPhones (okay, maybe not literally) and are as savvy as can be when it comes to navigating the digital landscape that is vastly becoming more real to us than the physical world.
Though the oldest of the generation may only be 23 years of age, Gen Z collectively has over 44 billion dollars in buying power and are poised to spend more as they age.
So, how do you tap into this market and make sure that your brand is top of mind amongst Gen Z consumers?
You learn how they think, how they navigate on social media, and what would make them buy into a brand like yours.
Most new generations always get labeled with negative connotations.
Millennials have constantly received a bad rap for being, “lazy” and, “self-involved” and feeling “privileged” and the bad rep Gen Z has been getting is no different.
The truth about Gen Z is that they are far from lazy and having grown up in a post 9/11 era and having post-apocalyptic ideas reinforced through the shows they watch, they are actually more money oriented, entrepreneurial and driven by financial stability; hence the reason why their buying power will continue to grow.
That means Gen Z has a much more realistic outlook towards life and they approach brands and consume content with the exact same perspective.
Because of Gen Z’s pragmatic outlook on life they tend to gravitate towards brands that have the ability to craft a compelling story that proves their commitment to what they believe in. This is the generation that needs to know a brand stands behind something and is willing to invite their customers to become a part of it.
Generation Z is also the most gender fluid generation to date, and with the internet at their fingertips, they are well aware that most gender labeled fragrances are nothing but a marketing ploy. Therefor, marketing your fragrances by gender could completely turn them off to your brand.
Le Labo is one brand has done a great job with marketing to the Gen Z audience. Through their stripped-down approach to giving consumers a glimpse into how they create genderless fragrances, their stance behind being a vegan brand, and their personal touch to adding customers names to their labels they are quickly becoming a hit with Gen Z fragrance enthusiast.
On average, Gen Z spends 10–15 hours consuming media and switching from multiple devices so it’s safe to say that this generation has an extremely short attention span; couple that with an increasingly saturated market and long gone are the days when marketers could throw beaucoup amounts of money towards any and all social media platforms with lackluster content and make an impact.
While it’s incredibly important to make sure that your content stands out from the crowd, you need to also keep in mind that because of Gen Z’s attention spans there is a chance that they may not have the capacity to digest long-form content (no matter how good it is) and you need to give them multiple options to choose from.
This is where optimization is key.
Instead of taking the same 7 minute branded video you uploaded to YouTube and putting it on your Instagram T.V. channel and using it as a Facebook ad think of the specific types of content that exist and work for each individual platform and optimize your content to fit each one.
Because of the targeting power of the Facebook ad’s platform and the success brands have been having on Instagram many artisanal brands get caught up in thinking the two platforms are the promised land for success, but if you’re forward-thinking and wanting to tap into the Gen Z market you better start looking elsewhere to reach your new audience.
In fact, most Gen Z social users consider Facebook, “For old people” (only 10% of Facebook users are under the age of 24), and while they still use Instagram they tend to favor platforms like Snapchat, Pinterest, and even online forums like Reddit and Quora more.
Remember, the more popular something gains the less it becomes valuable to the younger generation so don’t get stuck on what’s hot just because it’s hot, be willing to taste multiple platforms like the ones mentioned above and even others like Twitch and Musical.ly to see where you can tap into blue waters.
While Millennials are still playing a role in the way the world is shaped and brands are formed Gen Z will cause a shift in marketing like we’ve never seen before and it’s best to be ready now so you don’t have to get ready later.
