THE FUTURE OF GEN Z

Our Future Customer

Marketers shiver at the thought of facing the Gen Z demographic, however this shouldn’t be the case. This actively online group of people are the future, and therefore we need to be more informed as to how to approach them when selling our brands.

The Feeling/ Experience Generation

Compared to Baby Boomers to Millenials, Gen Z’s are more focussed on the values, interaction and experience of the brand than simply the product. The ethos behind the brand carries a high level of importance for this generation, and if expectations aren’t met, instant disinterest would result in immediate customer disconnection. The reason behind this is due to growing up with a higher awareness about social activism and serving a just cause. If the brand can’t sell a positive message, Gen Z’s believe they are contributing to a negative cause which is against their values as a person. Therefore the experience and feeling emitted from a brand are very important factors to gaining successful customer engagement.

The Personal Connection

Giving your brand a personal touch by explaining the ethos of the product and showing your commitment to your audience will go a long way.

Older generations are more persuaded by being given a direct informative approach when being sold a product, being told to ‘buy this product’ was very effective for Gen Y’s to Millennials. Instead, Gen Z’s look for the ‘soul’ of a brand, and to have a connection with a strong ethos behind products (cruelty free, environmentally friendly etc).

When your IDENTITY of the brand is communicated clearly (and presented in a modern, clean cut way), this audience feel drawn to find out more about and potentially purchase the brands products.

Clean Presentation

The majority of Gen Z’s filter what they want to see arriving through email/ social media and don’t want to be spammed with useless information. Considering this audiences’ attention span is a lot shorter in comparison to other demographics, marketers need to concentrate on CLEAN PRESENTATION and CLEAR COMMUNICATION.

‘Less noise means more space for your message to grab their attention, pass their 8 second filter mentioned earlier, and engage your audience.’
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/guide-to-gen-z-marketing-2019/

Less is more when it comes to having an affect on this audience. However, the information given shouldn’t be simplified, but rather more concise and informative.

Short Attention Spans – Compelling Visuals

Gen Z love to experience colour, vibrancy and most importantly MOVING IMAGES.

Compared to older age groups, this younger generations’ interest are for GIFs and videos. Using moving imagery on adverts and social media intrigues the viewers to stay on the page and to acknowledge the brand.

‘Video is not the way to engage young people, rather it is one of many formats that can engage.’
http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2019/how-younger-generations-consume-news-differently/

Using both static imagery as well as videos creates a more digestible approach to a marketing campaign. If the viewer is bombarded with hundreds of videos about one brand, interest fades and the advertisement turns into ‘noise’ which defeats its objective.

Linking Platforms

The future of Gen Z involves having easy access to everything. Accessibility and fluidity in the Customer Journey is crucial, having a clear path from seeing the brand/ product to purchasing is the only way of targeting this future demographic.

The less movement, the better. When Gen Z’s have an advert that they’re interested in, they don’t want to be directed to many different sites, or complete different tasks in order to buy the product. An informative, clean-looking website which works well is the way to go.

‘Optimize your conversion process’
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/guide-to-gen-z-marketing-2019/

Create direct links from social media to the main purchase page to enable a quicker buying process.

Phone Activity

According to the University of Oxford, 18-24 year olds are most likely to wake up and look at their phones than any other device in the morning.

The main devices used by Gen Z are mobile phones and laptops, therefore we need to be very active online!

Be Active Online!

This is the online generation, one which is constantly on social media and looking for compelling, and in many cases shocking, news/ visuals/ information which can gage their attention. The involvement of the brand with the customer is essential; sending promo-codes, posting updates on the brand journey, challenges/ quizzes on the brand etc.

Gen Z’s want to INTERACT with the brand, so get them talking!

Use #hashtags to be featured on pages
Give weekly/ daily updates on brands activity
Don’t spam, but inform
Create easily digestible/ relatable content

‘Young people have a very low threshold for apps that don’t provide a great experience’

You shouldn’t have to work hard to be sold a product, so precise advertisement is the key with a meaningful and informative message. Use all social media platforms to promote the brand (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc) as Gen Z’s jump across many platforms.

Future Predictions

Considering the importance of having the audience interact with the product, there could be more holograms/ gaming aspects added more frequently in campaigns. Having a visually stimulating brand approach is an easy way to draw Gen Z’s into buying a product, so I can see future generations interacting even more with brands even when unaware.

Remember – the experience and the ‘feeling’ of a brand is crucial.