Our Pastor recently preached a sermon series titled Generation NXT. Throughout four weeks, he spoke about all the generations and how to effectively communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to each. We learned about each generation, how to teach them, and what makes them tick. The same is true for marketing. To successfully market a brand, you need to know about the generations you are marketing to.
The newest generation of consumers is Generation Z or Gen Z. Gen Zs are those born between 1997 and 2012. The oldest of this generation are approaching 25 years old, out of college, and starting families. They are coming of age, and they have a lot of buying power. In fact, according to Insider, Gen Z has spending power of over $143 billion!
How do you effectively communicate with the Gen Z community?
Since Gen Zs were born with technology in hand, this social generation deems everything they do as a social experience that needs to be shared. The odds are good that they know more about technology than you. This also makes their approach to buying different.
Humanize your company. Show real employees in your marketing! Gen Zs want that human interaction and the more they feel like they know your company, the more likely they are to buy from it. Remember, people buy from other people!
Be authentic in your approach. Stop worrying about the perfectly edited ad. Gen Zs do not care if your ad was made by a professional. In fact, imperfect TikTok videos that are made by a nonprofessional resonate better with this audience. The more authentic you are, the more trust a Gen Zer will have in your brand.
Interact and treat them as individuals. Focus on building a community with Gen Zs, not just a customer. Interact on social media with your audience with clever replies and remarks. Think of them as individuals and be attentive to their individual preferences and behaviors.
Be socially aware. It should come as no surprise that Gen Zs are very socially minded. In fact, over half the population of Gen Zers crave a job that makes a world impact. Because of this, they will align themselves with brands that share the same values. They do their research. If a company wants to cater to this audience, they need to be aware of its social issues.
Create Shareable Content. Gen Zs consume more content than any other generation. They love to share content that is not only visually appealing but content that spreads a message they agree with. However, they have short attention spans, and like amusing short-form videos they can easily share.
Show them you understand them. We all like to feel understood, but Gen Zs take it up a level. They want brands and organizations to understand not only them but their needs. They would spend more money on a brand that gets this right. Gen Zs are loyal but once you cross them, it can be hard to gain their trust again.
To effectively market to any generation, you must first do your research. Someone asked me a question years ago that has always resonated with me. Are you your target audience? If that answer is “No,” it is time to do your research.
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