It took some time to understand and market to Millennials. Now, marketers are working to start understanding how to best market to Generation Z. This group includes anyone who is 22 or younger now, though it will make up 40 percent of consumers by 2020. That’s only a couple of years away, which means it is time to start putting marketing strategies in place to market to the new generation of buyers. Here are 5 tips to follow when planning a marketing campaign aimed at Generation Z.
Use AI technology to communicate
If you haven’t gotten set up with an artificial intelligence company yet, now is the time to do so. Generation Z knows how to use technology extremely well, which means they often prefer communicating with computers than humans. They know that computers are more concise and clear in their communications and will give a straight answer. Artificial intelligence can be setup to respond to texts from consumers or even chats through social media. By offering a quick and easy method of communication, you’re giving Generation Z a way to get all the information they need before making a purchase. I recommend you read our report on AI use in marketing to learn how other brands are using AI to communicate with customers.
Get on social media, and don’t waste time
Generation Z is very involved in social media, though they spend mere minutes on a social media site at a time. They might still check the site up to 100 times a day, but they won’t spend long checking things out. That means you have very little time to make an impression. Make sure all advertising efforts are clear and to the point. The ad needs to grab their attention quickly and hold their interest enough to keep them from quickly navigating away.
Focus on the greater good for society
One thing we know about Generation Z compared to other generations is that they are very focused on providing a solution that helps the greater good instead of just themselves. They seem to have more money than previous generations, and they want to spend that money with companies that are benefiting a good they believe in. Your advertising efforts should highlight the ways your company benefits the greater good and why the product or service you offer is worth their attention.
This generation values social issues such as race, gender equality, income equality, and the environment. Show your company cares about those issues. Try to avoid saying anything that could be potentially damaging because Generation Z can take you to the Internet and destroy your reputation in minutes on social media.
Focus on real people
The reason why using social media influencers has been so successful is because it gets real people involved in sharing your product instead of just the big stars. In our current political climate, Generation Z tends to be distrusting of big name celebrities. However, they trust the people they spend time following on social media because they feel as though they are friends.
Another thing to consider is that it can be very valuable to highlight real people in your ads and marketing campaigns. Find a few teens or teachers who are doing great things and highlight them. Generation Z wants to see real people instead of size 0 models trying to sell them stuff.
Get them involved
Don’t just advertise to Generation Z. Get them involved in what you are doing. There are a lot of different ways to get them involved, some as simple as asking yes or no questions on social media in order to elicit a conversation about something on your page. Ask them to interact with your brand over text message and use mobile marketing to reach the generation Z. Communicate with customers on Twitter, especially if you can get to joking around with customers. Work with geofilters on SnapChat. Social media is your biggest ally when it comes to involving your customers with your business. And if you can get customers talking about your business, you’ll have plenty of new customers coming in too.
Ultimately, the biggest thing to remember with Generation Z is that you have to be quick to catch their attention, and you need to give them something important to talk about. It’s the best way to get their business, which you’ll definitely be needing in just a couple of years.
