Marketing ABC’s for Gen-Z

Generation X or the Millennial generation has been known to disrupt marketing techniques regardless of the industry. They shift the way that marketers have to thing due to the way they buy. The internet is filled with articles that posit Generation Xers look to purchase from companies that are values-based companies. For example, Generation Xers would prefer to buy the handcrafted soap where proceeds support local organic operations rather than buy soap from Target even though the Target is more convenient and has a broader variety. Generation Xers impact doesn’t stop there, although they are labeled as entitled and lazy they have created an equally significant effect on the job market. It seems that everything they touch is beginning to shift. Due to their ability to shift the approach to traditional practices, they have been widely researched to attract and best engage this engage the group. However, there’s another generation that has created a more vast disruption. Just as marketers have been able to catch up with Generation X, Generation Z has arrived to send them back to the drawing boards. Generation Z is anyone 22 or younger today and the latest group of buyers entering into the consumer market.

Generation Z is expected to account for more than 40 percent of recent consumers and is recognized as the next consumer powerhouse. So ramping up your marketing practice now to accommodate Gen-X and Gen-Z is crucial. But the two generations are very different. Finding the tips to marketing to Generation X is a Google search away, however, due to the majority of Generation Z just becoming 18 years old there’s little information about connecting them to your marketing campaigns. If you’re like Gen-Z, you don’t have the attention span to search through the many articles online, here’s a list of the best ways to get the attention of Gen-Zers:

1. Involve Gen-Zers in the Message.
Gen-Zers are involved. Empowering them to help produce or create the message around a product can make other Gen-Zers more engaged. Companies can leverage Instagram or Twitter competitions to encourage Gen-Zers to get involved in designing packaging or providing the best slogan to go on swag.

2. Your Company Social Responsibility Initiatives are Essential.
Gen-Z equates “value” to the social responsibility causes companies support. This shows Gen-Z that the companies they support are actively focused greater good. Studies have shown that Gen-Z is interested in racial, gender and income equality, as well as environmental issues. Standing up for these values is becoming a differentiator for brands.

3. Adaptability of Social Media Practices is Vital.
Marketing teams will have to be agile in the ways they communicate through social media, creating quick easily digestible content to keep the attention of Gen-Z. Gen-Z is a technology-driven generation; they don’t have time for ads or the interest to sit through sponsored time. They want information that is easily digestible because Gen-Z has an attention span of eight seconds.