Social Marketing is the Focus of Generation Z, Should they Change?
Social marketing is an approach to develop activities which aims at changing or maintaining people’s behaviour. In recent times, marketers have put a strong focus on reaching millennials or individually age 20-35. However, Gen Z is now slowly catching its roots. Gen Z comprises of the youngest who are still in elementary school while the oldest are entering college and workforce. We have to understand the habits of both the millennials now in order to reach them in future.
1. Images vs. Text
Platforms like YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram are popular among young crowds because it is the generation grown up by communicating via emojis, gifs and pictures rather than text. Rather than sitting and reading a paragraph of text, Gen Z likes short and snackable content. They have affiliation towards images and a short attention span when it comes to reading. Keeping the content to the point and using interesting graphics, snappy headlines can help marketers stay relevant with Gen Z-ers.
2. Cause Marketing
Gen Z members are activists and want to make difference in the world, whether it is big or small. More than three-quarters of Gen Z members are concerned about humanity, while 60% want their future jobs to have an impact. Brands that understand Gen Z’s desire to make a difference can earn their trust easily. Brands that are successful in connecting with Gen Z include Ben & Jerry’s, who tackle a wide range of social issues and NFL with their campaign.
3. Creating vs. Sharing
Millennials love to share on social networks like posting photo albums to Facebook or retweeting cat videos. Gen Z would rather love to create content, live-stream, or edit photos to perfection. This spans much farther than social media, as many Gen Zers have an entrepreneurial spirit and hope to one day own their own business. Marketers can tap this mindset and create the content that sparks interest and drives curiosity.
4. Five screens vs. Two
You may think that Gen Z is always busy on the phone, and you’re right. Unlike millennials who were in their teens before social media had taken off and tend to stick on two or three screens, Gen Z had never been aware of the time without instant access to TV, social media and the Internet- all at the same time. The members of Gen Z are multitaskers, using multiple screens simultaneously to watch the latest episode of their favourite show, texting their friends and browsing the Internet.
Gen Z parents had surveyed and said that their children influence family spending and household purchases. Gen Z brings a new level of untapped potential. Brands need to focus themselves on the right platforms which can be connected to Gen Z. Gen Z moves away from tradition and conformity. They express themselves in creative ways.
So the social marketing should change their focus for Gen Z as they are more innovative, techie and advanced.
