Brand Strategies To Help You Market Towards Gen Z

 

Gen Z are familiar with content creators – so approach your marketing efforts like one, instead of like a brand. If you’re wondering how exactly to do this, don’t worry -here are some ways you can practice this with your social media content: 

 

• Find a niche: You won’t be the only business within your industry, but if you know your audience you’ll be able to look for specific pieces of content that speak directly them, resonating with their pain points and emotions which will provide you with support in return. 

 

• Value Authenticity: Authenticity is important for Gen Z – polished content doesn’t always cut it for them, and they prefer the human nature of content rather than something looks like its been highly edited. 

 

• Authentic Engagement: We’ll look further into engagement in a moment, but Gen Z are big on brands being real and genuine – so when you interact, make sure you’re displaying this attitude. 

It’s pretty well known that when you’re doing social media marketing, going for the hard sell isn’t the best way to approach things. You need to warm your audience up – they’re not just going to buy something because you tell them to. Gen Z, like most audiences, need to understand how your product will help them – hit their pain points and provide a solution. However, with Gen Z, establishing up your community first, building brand awareness and mixing your organic content with sales-pitches and paid ads is the way to go. 

As touched on earlier, audience interaction is important for Gen Z. Social media is made to be social, and you need to take advantage of this if you’re looking for a younger audience to be buying from you. If you, for example, go on TikTok, you’ll often find brands in comment sections whether that be on their own profiles or others videos talking just like one of their audience members. Gone is the corporate language, and in comes the trends, the slang, and the relatability. If you’re unsure what to do, just look at how your audience is interacting with one another, with similar brands – build a picture of them and understand the language they’re speaking. Not only does this help you connect, but it also shows them that you’re on their level and are a brand for them – not one trying to fit into the club. 

You need to iron out your customer service processes and make sure the process is tight if you want to impress a Gen Z audience. In 2021, Sprout Social found that 41% of Gen Z would rather choose a brand that delivers a timely, responsive service – so when it comes to customer service, ensure your team are aware of exactly how they need to respond to customers, and do so in good time to keep your Gen Z audience on side. 

The 2022 Sprout Social Index found 73% of Gen Z consumers think it’s important for brands to raise awareness and take a stand on sensitive issues. If your business wants to be inclusive, it has to do more than make a single statement when its convenient – it has to be sincere, inclusive and well-intentioned. If you choose to create products for specific awareness months or days, there’s a fine line between showing that your business holds specific values and support and doing it just to get quick sales. Be concise with your message, tell your audience why things are important to you, and make sure you plan out how you’re going to approach topics with care. Consumer research can be great here, so don’t hesitate to carry it out. 

Influencer marketing is a staple for Gen Z – the era of the influencer broke through during their time on social media, and still remains huge for many. By targeting influencers in your niche – whether you have the budget to go for big names or you’d rather go for micro-influencers – can help to display your business to their audience, who already trust what they have to say and sell, bringing in a brand-new base of people buying from and following you. Take advantage of user-generated content too, as this helps to bring in a relatability element – if your product works for someone similar, it can work for them to. 

 

Gen Z are a titan in today’s social media age – and one that will continue to be important for a long period of time, so when it comes to your marketing, make sure you really understand who they are. By doing so, you’ll find success and bring in sales.