Understanding and Engaging Gen Z: Key Strategies for Effective Marketing in a Digital World

Gen Z are the future. This generation, currently roughly 11–26-year-olds (Gen Z birth years: 1995-2010), are the next up and they want to make a difference in the world. This generation of young people is just as significant as each that came before them, but in their own unique way. 

About Gen Z

According to ­­­­­the Influencer Marketing Platform Fanbytes, Gen Z shouldn’t be put into a box with all the same characteristics, or assumed to be all the same with all the same indistinguishable likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests. The Gen Z age demographic is very diverse; made up of a vast compass of ranging sub-cultures and micro-audiences.

It’s an audience that will often share similar values, behaviours and expectations from brands, but there should be great awareness about not generalising them.

It is important for brands to find other niche sub-cultures that match the brand’s personality. ‘Many brands have had success through tapping into alternative verticals such as music, gaming, beauty or lifestyle’. According to global student loyalty and marketing platform StudentBeans’ Q1 2021 Youth Brand Affinity Tracker (UK Edition), the tables below present the performance of leading brands in 10 of the sectors most important to Gen Z consumers. The data in the table was based on a survey that looked at 4 key metrics; brand visibility, brand engagement, purchase intent and brand advocacy. Data like this is so important to know in terms of appealing to an audience as it gives clear indications about how you can appeal to Gen Z through their favourite brands, for example, with vouchers, events, away-days, food offered nearby, where to locate, etc.

Where is your target audience and what are they interested in?

Content

In terms of Gen Z and content-creation, it very often tends to be the case that if you don’t bring it to them, they'll create it. Social media has given Gen Z the power & ability to create the types of entertainment and content that they themselves want to see, make and share. Looking into this and keeping up with content trends can inform marketers about what type of content brands should be creating that will hugely appeal to Gen Z.

TikTok is a social media app, launched in 2016, that allows its users to watch, create, and share 15-second to 3-minute short video clips shot on their smartphones. Tik Tok had about 1.1 billion active global users by early 2021, meaning an extremely large audience. Potentially, a large part of a brands’ audience. TikTok allows a lot of content to be seen in a short amount of time, and these short, snappy video clips are better for Gen Z’s quick attention span meaning brands will make most impact with quick and attention-grabbing advertisement and marketing on this platform. TikTok Communities are groups who share the same passions, hobbies & interests and identify each other and connect through hashtags (#). Many Gen Z who use TikTok like to be part of TikTok communities and see content that interests them and content that they can relate to their friends with.

Marketing to Gen Z

Fanbytes CEO, Tim Armoo, mentioned that he sees a lot of brands getting their own creative teams or agencies to create content for them on social medias. While this holds value, they sometimes miss out on ‘taking their audience and making them part of their messaging’. It is recommended to ‘involve the community, visually, wholeheartedly, in your content’. It is essential to ask Gen Z what is important to them – for example, doing polls, surveys and Q&A’s across subscribers and followers in order to find out exactly what is important to a brand’s own audience direct from that audience themselves! As a business or brand, there can have no better source of information on what they should be doing/talking about and what kind of content to create, than their own audience.

In terms of marketing, every social media platform has its purpose - so many brands will go onto TikTok, for example, and attempt to replicate what they’re already doing on Instagram, but this strategy just won’t work because each social media platform differs in various ways, including specific demographic, in-app culture as well as other specificities. Marketers should discern these differences and be able to apprehend which platform and how to promote certain brand content. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and all of the many other social networking platforms need will different strategic marketing approaches.

“Your business’ brand IS your community”. This also means making a customer-centric brand. Creating a community in people who follow all of the brand’s content on social media, who share their products, services and content with friends, family and others, and who enjoy seeing everything that that particular brand does. The aim is to grow a community and provide as much value to your community as you can!

Most importantly, consistency is key and can lead to brand loyalty from Gen Z. “Know who you are as a brand and be consistent. Know what you stand for, what your mission is, and who you speak for. Then stick to it.”