Marketing to the Gen Z Era

Reposted from February 4, 2020

Nowadays, Millennials, Gen X’ers, and Baby Boomers aren’t the only people buying products from your business. We have reached the Gen Z era, filled with stylish, curious, and unique individuals. The question is, “What draws attention to the Gen Z eye?”. Well lucky for you, it just so happens that I am part of Generation Z and can provide some perspective from a teenage point of view.

Who is Gen Z?

Generation Z is made up of individuals born in the late ’90s and early 2000s (teenagers and adults in their early 20s). Individuals in the Gen Z era are always trying to stay on trend, and are often influenced by the media on how we go about our life. We are also said to be the largest generation in human history, making up 27% of the U.S. population. With all of this in mind, keeping up with the Gen Z era will be extremely beneficial when thinking about your business and marketing strategies.

Why Does Gen Z Matter For Your Business?

Generation Z is expected to account for about 40 percent of all consumer markets by 2020 and has $44 billion in buying power. Oberle Not only that, a majority of these teens are in high school and living with their parents. Many of these teens have an influence on parent and home purchases, which makes their real spending power closer to $200 billion. Oberle This is huge! With all of this in mind, you can see how Gen Z plays such a significant role in consumer markets.

Grace’s Tips and Strategies When Marketing to Generation Z

A few tips when marketing to teens would include, connecting with them through social media, building a strong presence on YouTube, celebrating their uniqueness, offering value, and using technology to enhance the shopping experience. Rialto Marketing One way to accomplish this is through video marketing. As a member of Generation Z, here are my 2 cents on how to use video in marketing strategies.

1. Make Your Video Personal Connecting with potential clients is extremely important. One way to effectively have this connection is through video marketing. Video presents more to the human eye than just words and text. “In Google’s report on Gen Z, 26 percent of teenage shoppers said they expect retailers to offer a more personalized experience based on the customer’s shopping habits and preferences.” Oberlo When thinking about future marketing strategies, video marketing is a great way to showcase products, convey company values, personally connect, and get your point across.

2. Make Sure To Go Mobile Out of all of the technological devices out there, Generation Z uses their mobile device the most. We can and do access almost everything we need on our cell phones. As mentioned in our previous post, “It just so happens video is a fantastic pairing with mobile. In fact, mobile video consumption rises 100% every year. Moreover, by 2020 it is predicted that 75% of all mobile traffic will be video.” If you’re wanting to get in front of Gen Z’ers, video, and mobile is the way to go.

3. Social Media Can Be Used To Your Benefit in Multiple Ways Teenagers find themselves on social media for a large portion of their day. Linking your video to platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook can generate a large number of views, and more importantly, brand recognition. “YouTube is Generation Z’s platform of choice at 24 percent, followed by Instagram at 17 percent and Facebook at 16 percent.” Oberlo As much as we don’t want to admit it, social media influences our lives more than we realize.

4. Focus On Video And Make The Content Clear And Entertaining The average attention span of Generation Z is 8 seconds. Oberlo That is crazy! The question is, “How does your business capture the attention of Gen Z?”. This is where video marketing shines. Something to think about is, “71 percent of 13 to 17-year-olds spend more than three hours a day watching online videos on their smartphones.” Oberlo Although maybe not all of these teens may not be punching in their credit card numbers to buy your product, they do have a huge influence on what their parents choose to buy.

The overall message I am trying to convey is the older generations may not be the only ones purchasing your products anymore. With teenagers now a prime market, adding a modern look and providing trendy details would benefit your business for continued growth. We, teens, are inspired by things we see on social media, television, and online. Generation Z is going to be the next big client base, with that in mind, you should consider changes in your marketing strategies. Focus on making your marketing content rich, visually appealing, mobile-friendly, and online-based. If you want to learn more about video marketing and its benefits, look back at our previous post. There you will find tips and ideas for marketing to everyone, not just Generation Z.