Generation Z has a significant impact on Millennials and Generation X’s purchasing decisions. Gen Z influences their parents on purchases they want and Gen X is listening carefully to what their children are talking about to determine their own purchases. Gen Z tends to look beyond the tangible elements of products and companies and digs deeper into the mission, purpose, and the “why” behind organizations. They are looking for sustainability, authenticity, and diversity in their brands of choice.
While Gen Z is more interested in standing out and being unique, millennials are searching for luxury items. These generations are similar because they both turn to social media to discover brands across various platforms. This change in how generations experience and are exposed to advertisements has beyond the limits of traditional advertising. The Baby Boomer generation viewed advertisements on television, billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc. Gen X relied on a combination of television ads and word-of-mouth marketing. The introduction of social media platforms gave Millennials access to a broader and more diverse range of content. Gen Z has always been familiar with social media to curate better individual experiences and ways to consume advertising and marketing.
How does this impact us as marketers?
It’s important to be aware of the behaviors of each generation when crafting your strategy. In general, your brand should internally decide who your audience is and how you can impact them. Decision-making should be driven by the idea of winning the purchase each time. Focus on how to best engage customers with changing demands by incorporating constant dialogue and opportunities for customer feedback. Be willing to stand out and be different to win at each step in the sales process and with each experience consumers have with your brand.
Here are a few ideas to incorporate into your social media strategy to jump-start your thinking on how to market to your target audience (via JeffBullas.com).
Make Your Content Stand Out
- Use hashtags that are relevant to your products and services. Combining the right hashtags will make it easier for your target audience to find your posts, which will increase brand awareness.
- Post user-generated content as word-of-mouth advertising for your feed. It will help followers feel more connected to your brand when they see other consumers participating in the content. Encourage followers to engage with you through a branded hashtag.
- Write relatable or humorous captions. Using puns or witty captions will improve consumer’s perception of your brand. Need to be more serious? Try inspirational or stimulating phrases to spark conversation or thought.
- Keep the sales posts to a minimum. Be creative when pushing your products or service by creating valuable and engaging content that sparks conversation and makes your brand memorable to users.
Utilize Influencers for Marketing
- Connect with influencers. By partnering with influencers, your brand will have access to their already established audience, which will help you reach higher traffic and more engagement on your content.
- Subtly incorporate your product or service into the influencer’s feed. Their audience should be similar to your target audience, and your product should be seamlessly integrated into what they are posting.
- Define a goal for influencer marketing. Do you want to communicate a specific message? Increase brand or product awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate sales? Whatever the reason, keep that goal top-of-mind when determining what kinds of content you want the influencers to be posting about your brand.
Whether you are focused on Millennials, Gen Z, or a variety of generations, it’s essential to keep your target audience in mind with each piece of content you publish. What is the purpose behind each image, graphic, or video? Everything should be aligned with your organization’s marketing guidelines and goals. Want more tips and tricks on how to curate content for your specific target audience? Sign up here to get our newsletter delivered to your inbox every week!