For marketers, Gen Z is the big thing right now. Millennials and even Baby Boomers have their places in the market, but Generation Z consumers hold power over many brands. Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is currently the largest demographic group in the world, with approximately 2.6 billion people. Unlike their predecessors, Gen Z is digitally native, meaning they were born and raised in the universe of screens and technology. Because of their ready-made availability of information, they have a unique take on brand preferences, buying behaviors, and attitudes toward the companies and products they endorse.
Here’s the thing: Marketers need to understand Gen Z and leverage the data gathered from these consumers to create effective marketing strategies that resonate with this audience. With this in mind, let’s dive into some Gen Z statistics and see how you can use this information to drive your initiatives.
1. Understand That Gen Z Puts Their Values Where Their Wallets Are
Gen Z is the most socially conscious and politically active segment. They come with a strong sense of purpose and a desire to impact the world positively. Gen Zers are likelier to buy from companies that align with their values and positively impact society.
To appeal to this demographic, your brand needs to be transparent about its policies and practices and show it’s taking concrete steps to impact the world positively.
2. Emphasize Authenticity
Gen Z values Authenticity and is skeptical of overly polished or inauthentic marketing messages. This group wants to see real people doing real things with authentic brands. They are more likely to engage with content that feels genuine.
As a marketer, your team should strive to create content that encompasses the real human experience, even if it’s solely designed for marketing purposes.
3. Embrace the Power of Social Media
There’s never been a generation more connected to social media than Gen Z. This group comes with a high degree of comfort using social media, given it’s been available to the people in this demographic since they started crawling. Gen Zers spend a lot of time on social media platforms, using it as one of the primary ways to discover new brands and products.
Your marketing team must ensure your brand has a strong presence on social media, creating shareable and engaging content.
4. Utilize Influencer Marketing
Gen Z trusts influencers more than traditional celebrities, and this demographic is more likely to purchase based on influencers’ recommendations.
Influencer marketing can be a powerful tool to reach Gen Zers, but your team needs to ensure the strategy follows suit with an exact roadmap that aligns with the influencers’ values and interests.
5. Create Experiences
Generation Z consumers value experiences more than possessions, and they’re willing to spend money on experiences that are unique, memorable, and social media-ready.
Marketers must create experiences that welcome engagement from their target audiences, ensuring the content produced is shareable and encourages interactions with others.
6. Embrace Diversity and Inclusivity
Gen Z is a demographic group that’s super diverse and values the inclusivity of all individuals. As such, consumers in this segment expect brands to reflect and embrace the diversity they love deeply.
Teams responsible for Gen Z attention need to lean on the images and messages they’re using to get the word out about their brands. In doing so, make sure your marketers strive to create content representative of the diverse experiences and perspectives Gen Z audiences want (and expect) to see.
7. Pay Attention to Your Mobile-Friendliness
It’s worth noting that Gen Z is more likely to use their mobile devices for shopping and consuming media than any other generation. They also expect a seamless mobile experience, no matter what app or website they visit.
With this in mind, your marketers need to make sure your website and customer-facing materials are optimized for mobile devices; your brand messaging must be available to anyone at any time, no matter how a user happens upon your links or what device they are using.
8. Personalize the Experience
The people who fall into the Gen Z era value personalization and want to feel like the brands they support speak directly to them.
Marketers must collect data about this group and use that information to personalize messages tailored to these consumers’ preferences, behaviors, and interests.
9. Keep Apprised of Trends
Gen Z always looks for the brightest, shiniest new things, even if they don’t know they’re doing it. As such, they expect companies to deliver unique, innovative products and services that stay ahead of the curve.
Want to grab their attention? Ensure you’re on point with trends and be ready to pivot your strategies quickly when a new fad enters the landscape.
10. Be Transparent
Gen Z values transparency and expects brands to be honest and forthcoming about their products, practices, and values.
Companies can harness this need for transparency by touting their policies and showcasing how those values are integrated into their businesses. Your marketing team should be able to answer any questions consumers have by providing information directly related to core values, goals, initiatives, and the state of the business.
Lean In!
Gen Z is a fruitful bunch of consumers. Wise companies leverage stats related to this demographic to create marketing strategies that drive their efforts forward.
It’s a plethora of data! You can’t be better if you don’t know where things stand now. With this information at your fingertips, you can create a roadmap for success, leveraging all the statistics Gen Z has provided marketers.
