The way to Gen Z’s heart is through their screens, but this insight alone is not enough to find and engage the youth of today. Within this digital world, you must know where to look, what to say and how to say it – just like in real life. The online world in which today’s students (born between 1995 and 2009) hang out, including the way they speak and what speaks to them, are as starkly different to their parents as the rock clubs and gaming arcades were for generations before.
Teenagers’ attention spans are short, hard to win and easily lost, and if your brand isn’t shouting the right message in the right place at the right time then that’s 20% of the Aussie population missed. The following 7 strategies are designed to nurture prospective Gen Z customers.
Find their medium
Social media is at the forefront of youth culture; it’s a world they deep dived into during primary school and since then, most haven’t come up for air. Whether you’re a marketer or an educator, the giants of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube are a goldmine, absorbing close to 3 hours of Gen Z’s time daily. Throw in Tumblr, blogs, Pinterest and everything else and the avenues to youth are like a 10-lane highway.
With half this generation predicted to have uni degrees and making up over a quarter of the workforce by 2025, they’ll be going on to have 5 careers and 17 jobs in their lifetimes. So now, more than ever, brands need to be part of their online interactions and conversations – entertaining, educating and helping them along the way. Positive engagement here will have exponential value as Gen Z grows up.
Speak their language
Merely creating an online presence is not enough, it must be curated with the deftness of youth. That style can be neatly summarised with one word – visual. Young people today are entertained and educated visually; a wall of text is a sin in engaging Gen Z and is the quick path to irrelevance.
Pictures, videos, graphics, emojis and GIFs are what they will like, comment on and share. When they’re interspersed within a piece of writing, from long-form to listicle (think Buzzfeed) visuals can turbocharge its power and appeal. Funny GIFs and well-crafted videos are a great way to stop a rapidly scrolling thumb and have them stamp it down for a like, gaining precious moments in their thoughts.
Have a voice
Even though you are speaking in their language you must have your own identity and social media is where companies can come and let their hair down. Speak casually, ditch formality, and don’t treat it like a sales-driven ad. A knowledge of trends, slang, what’s going viral and pop culture references are invaluable, as is being ‘punny’ – everyone enjoys a good pun. Of course, merely jumping on every bandwagon with no clear link to you will see your core message lost and Gen Z can sniff inauthenticity from a mile off.
Alternative news and pop culture website Pedestrian.tv is a master at harnessing these youthful tidbits to its nearly 300,000 followers. Between word plays and pop culture gags, their posts regularly “bring the LOLs”. Humour truly is one of the most powerful tools in the social media arsenal for grabbing attention and creating a personality.
Be social
Social media is a two way street and you want to make a personal connection with your followers whenever you can. Gen Z expect that talking to a company online should be as fluid as with their friends, and 60% of them are primarily concerned with brand perception compared to 40% who are primarily concerned with the actual product.
Therefore, having a strong social media team is vital. They can answer questions and compliments humorously and complaints can be handled with more nuance than an auto-generated reply. Occasionally these interactions go viral and give personality to a brand in a way a logo can’t. This sweet layer cake of interaction should leave your audience feeling happy, appreciated and wanting to come back for more.
Know their concerns
Youth have problems and concerns, too, and tapping into these in a meaningful way can really set your brand apart. For Generation Z this can include anything from climate change, refugees, online censorship, downloading and streaming, bullying, mental health, marriage equality, gender discrimination, sexual orientation, social inequality, resource sustainability, housing costs and the rapidly changing nature of the economy and jobs.
These are not just isolated to our backyard, many are issues which Gen Z have their eye on through a global lens, and where we lag behind other countries, they will strive even harder for change.
Work towards solutions
If any of these issues can be tackled in a genuine way with the help of business then Gen Z are willing to listen. Of the issues listed above, perhaps none is so vital to their lives as staying ahead in the economy of tomorrow. Currently, unemployment among youth is at 13.3%, which is more than double the national rate. More importantly though, 40% of today’s jobs are forecast to be automated by the end of next decade.
With a job change on average every 3-years, this generation will be learning, up-skilling, retraining and job hunting for life. If a company can help the young with the general and technical skills to work, innovate and thrive in this labour market then they will be at the forefront of what Gen Z and Australia need.
Don’t forget their values
Even value issues which may not directly affect someone and have no implicit connection to a brand can be vital to how it’s seen in their eyes. Take Telstra, the telco that copped a massive social media backlash after it withdrew its public support for marriage equality last year. They quickly reversed their public position, showing that the majority of young people believe the weight of corporates can and should be used for change. Knowing where the hearts of Gen Z lay is as crucial as helping them create change for a better future.
