GenZ

7 Ways to Connect with Gen Z

GenZ
Photo credit: Nicola on Flickr Creative Commons 2.0

Marketers are starting to sit up and take notice of Generation Z (born after 2000) and their growing influence and buying power. Gen Z is the largest generational group in the U.S., as well as being the most diverse and multicultural. “55% are Caucasian, 24% are Hispanic, 14% are African-American and 4% are Asian,” according to AdAge. These “screenagers” grew up with portable technology: laptops, mobile phones, MP3 players and handheld gaming devices.

Gen Z-ers are comfortable across these platforms, spending 41% of their time outside of schools with computers and mobile devices—at least five screens daily. “They suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) more than Millennials (born between 1982 and 2000), so being culturally connected is critical,” wrote researchers in this Sparks & Honey report.

GenZ’s over-connectedness doesn’t mesh well with some older interactive platforms. PRWeek reports that “Although 81 per cent of those born around the millennium use some kind of social media, 25 per cent left Facebook in 2014.”

This doesn’t have to be bad news for marketers, but it does mean businesses need to adapt to the landscape where GenZ is making their home. Advice from PRWeek, Sparks & Honey, and Social Media Today:

  • Create easily digestible content that can be consumed on different devices, apps and platforms
  • Communicate with images: pictures, videos, emojis, symbols
  • Convey a unified message across social media: Instagram, Twitter, Vine, Tumblr, Snapchat and Facebook
  • Tap GenZ’s entrepreneurial spirit by collaborating with them and helping them create new things
  • Recognize their passion for social justice by promoting a social cause they can believe in
  • Feed their curiosity with games, puzzles and surprises
  • Make your content discoverable by making it search-friendly and using hashtags

If you don’t already have a GenZ marketing plan in place, it may be hard to know where to start. Qualitative research can help you gain a clearer understanding of this important demographic group and anchor your efforts in their world view. Let us know if we can put our experience to work for you.

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