Ah, Gen Z. Much of their generational identity is debatable depending on who you ask, but you can’t ignore their growing influence. The same old, go-to marketing approaches won’t work when it comes to engaging Generation Z, the most diverse generation in American history. As digital natives, accomplished researchers, value-driven consumers and diehard multi-taskers, they expect more than ever from products, experiences and brands.
Unresponsive apps and websites, one-size-fits all customer service or marketing campaigns, and the glossy, branded content that used to move the needle just won’t make an impact with Gen Z. They expect authenticity, transparency, new levels of convenience, deep personalization and engagement with not just your brand, but its products, employees and customers. They want to see how you operate in the world — from your values in action to the User Generated Content that showcases why your products and brand matter in the first place. It’s a tall order.
But with Gen Z climbing to 40% of all consumers in 2020, it’s an order that savvy marketers everywhere will happily embrace. Already, they wield $44 million in buying power.
The trends are clear: Gen Z isn’t just online to connect and share stories. They’re also trying to discover new brands to follow and products to buy.
Who is this generation, and how can you effectively gain their attention when they shop?
Since we’re all about social media storytelling, led by users and fans, we spent some time exploring this generation’s story. We wanted to create a simple, easy-to-use guide that covered everything you need to know about:
- Gen Z’s size, reach and identity
- Challenges of marketing to this generation
- How to optimize content for Gen Z
The result is our ebook “Marketing to Gen Z.” We took a deep dive into the stats that matter and the ways marketers can engage this generation.
Trust is more important than ever before to this generation in particular. And fueling that trust is vibrant, authentic User-Generated Content that has never been more critical.
