Hello everyone. My name is Ellen Stephenson and Iām a content executive here at RocketMilll. Today, I want to talk about marketing to Generation Z the doās and donāts or as what I think would be more aptly named āmarketing to Generations Z avoca-doās and avoca-donātsā. Worked a lot better in my mind. Also, just as a disclaimer, I have to tell everyone something thatās quite personal to me. I cannot say something that is going to be brought up at a lot of times in this talk. I thought Iād just get it out right now. I canāt say the word Millennials. Letās continue. Cool. I will be referring to it as the M word. Who is Generation Z? Generation Z is 1995 to 2010 and the M word, 1981 to 1994.
What makes them any different?
Now, who is a Gen Z here? Great. Cool. Amazing. Who is a Millennial? There we go. Fabulous. Who is none of the above? I am sorry. Donāt hate me. I want to talk today about why I think Generation Z is probably the most exciting generation weāve seen. Itās not just because Iām part of it. I have a lot of reasons why I think they are pretty darn exciting. First of all, I just want to show a nice stock photo of some of them laughing about all the meal deals that theyāre buying instead of houses. Just a nice little icebreaker.
I think theyāre very exciting because they have trust issues. We have been brought up to have a very distinctive route on the internet. We come on the internet to try and find what we need to find, and we have been trained to avoid pop-ups at all costs. 84% say they donāt pay attention consciously to ads online and only 1% say they are influenced by the ads they see online. Also, 31% say that they never turn off their Adblock.
I also think theyāre very exciting because theyāre demanding. They have an eight-second attention span and thatās not because they lack interest or any desire to learn or get bored easily. Itās simply because they are children of the internet. They have grown up with all the knowledge they could possibly have in one click. Why would you blame them if they didnāt get the information that they needed within eight seconds to go on, bounce somewhere else, and find out what they need to find out, they also have an incredible bullshit metre. They can see fluff and sales from a mile away.
Entrepreneurial, 72% have said they want to own their own business and more are saying they want to self-teach rather than go to university or college. They have seen the generations before they go to university, the bills that they have to pay for that and they donāt think itās worth it.
Theyāre broke. I can attest. Very frugal, they grew up in the great recession. They know what itās like to lose money and theyāve seen the effects of that and unfortunately, theyāre not buying many avocados.
Theyāre beyond the binary. 14% say they want to have careers before marriage, they make their own milestones, and they donāt listen to the milestones that society traditionally has put upon them. I think thatās a very exciting thing. Also, theyāre very inclusive. Many have said that they would prefer brands who openly talk about social justice issues rather than ones that do not.
Marketing to Gen Z myths
I read an article recently on a famous news source site and I want to share it with you because I thought it was a little bit darn silly. It was called How to Market to the Younger Generation.
-
- Number 1. Use the right ROI (as opposed to deliberately using the wrong one for any other generation.)
- Be human, because weāre all very robotic to any other generation as well.
- Ā Use GIFs, because statistics show the young girl trying to be a lawyer is going to decline to go to a law school that is the best in the country if they donāt have a GIF of a minion on the home site.
- Four. Find a connection.
-
- Be authentic.
- Keep them gratified. These are speaking for themselves.
- Reward them.
Now, whilst I donāt think this is the absolute worst thing on the internet, I donāt agree with this list simply because these are all the kind of things you should be doing regardless. Regardless if youāre working with Generation Z or marketing to them.
How else can you reach Gen Z
However, there are three things that you should be doing, I think, and I want to share them with you.
-
- Cut it down.
We spoke earlier on about the eight-second attention span. You need to be adapting to that and you need to be adapting to it quickly. 59% decide as soon as they see the ad pop up that they donāt want to tune in. Youāve got to make those five seconds before they have the chance to bounce, make that count. - Staying social.
I think itās very easy for businesses to create social platforms and tick a box and be like āWell, weāve done that. Weāre a very social brand.ā Youāve got to stay on it. Itās not a one-way street. You need to have these conversations on social because theyāre willing to be a part of your company. Theyāre willing to learn. - Also, tech aināt everything.
Although itās a common stereotype that young people love young new things, actually most have said that they are less likely to use voice search because itās not quick enough. Things like AI and VR, they all sound great on paper but actually, theyāre less likely to be in tune with this because they donāt think that itās up to scratch and up to the potential that it can be. Theyāre not going to waste their time until they know itās a trend that will follow on. A perfect example of this was the Snapchat spectacles. They did significantly bad on paper, on method, and when it came to selling them.
- Cut it down.
Making your ideas count
40% of all consumers right now are Generation Z and 32 billion is their budget and itās only going to grow. They are conscious, hardworking, determined, entrepreneurial, future employers, and above all else illiterate because some of them canāt even pronounce Millennials. I want to leave you with a quote thatās very dear to me from the great wordsmith that is Kanye West āListen to the kids, bro.ā Thank you.