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This is an obvious one, but is especially important when targeting a younger audience. We can’t expect old advertising techniques to work on these new digital natives. It’s been found that the secret to a successful marketing campaign targeted at Gen-Z is to – put simply – not make it seems like a marketing campaign. The more discrete the ad the better, and this all begins with choosing the right Influencer. If the selected Influencers are genuinely interested in what they’re selling and have an affinity with the brand’s values, this new young audience will be able to tell. So, don’t go for the biggest name you can find, smaller is often better – especially when an authentic connection can be felt.
Gen-Z are notoriously savvy. They can see straight through content that’s disingenuous and will be the first to tell you about it. They’ve also been found to care just as much about the brand itself as they are the product or service, making them a potentially more difficult marketing target than Millennials. However, the solution is easy. Don’t make your campaign all about selling and instead create content that shows off your company’s values (whilst sharing as much of your business’ story as possible!). Be clear about where your product came from, how it’s made, and how it got to where it is today. Gen-Z will value this information, and, if the values of the company align with their own, they’ll be far more likely to invest in the product or service.
Perhaps the most important point of all, researching what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t is a failsafe way to get your campaign off on the right foot. Creating channel-specific content is also key, as there certainly isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach to this. The audience that will be consuming content on Reels will be totally different to the audience you’ll find on TikTok, and the same goes for Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube the list goes on. Researching the types of content and audiences that are present on each platform should be the first step in creating your marketing strategy to Gen-Z. Ultimately, if you want your paid or organic content to be a success, you need to fit in with the online social community you are posting on!
This is one that most people already know, but video content is in and it’s not going anywhere in a hurry! Whether people are tired of reading large pieces of text or our attention spans are simply shorter than ever, it’s no doubt that visual content has taken over in recent years – and this is especially true for younger generations. As a richer form of content than images and with far more space to express yourself creatively, the opportunities that short form video content can bring for marketers is endless. Studies show that relevant, well-crafted and unique videos can be the making of smaller brands. But, again, research, research, research. Find out what types of videos are working (and what’s not!) before you begin your creative strategy to avoid a flop!