4 Marketing Strategies to Engage Generation Z

Marketing trends are cyclical, rotating around generations in a different social upbringing. Marketing strategies that target Baby Boomers, Generation X and Y, and the Millennials is something of the past with a new generation coming forth, Generation Z.

This generation is exposed to the Internet from a young age. Technology and social media is the norm for communication with family, friends, purchases, their workplace, etc.

Internet is no longer a shiny new toy, it is a necessity that every business should be on immediately. Generation Z is the modern day consumer, with the Internet widespread in a variety of industries and impacting everyday tasks and needs.

Businesses should start to put effort in understand the behavioral patterns of Generation Z.

Children are big influencers. Ask parents and most will tell you their purchasing behavior is strongly influenced by their children. That goes without saying that the purchasing power of this new generation is approximately $44 billion.

Generation Z consumers are different from other groups. Companies must deliberately craft information that target and engage them through the appropriate channels.

Targeting and engaging Generation Z:

1. Visuals

In our experience video is the number 1 engagement media for Generation Z, with pictures coming second and words being the least effective. Modern consumers want to instantly consume and access information conveniently quick. Being conveniently quick means adoption of marketing content that must cater to mobile. Mobile adoption rates in the smartphone categories have been changing the global marketplace and your business should implement this right from the get-go.

Just to name a few; Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest have a lasting popularity because the platform allows Generation Z to consume quickly, share with the social circles that matter to them, and rely on information that trusted influencers recommend conveniently.

Conversations are changing. Short video messages, photos embedded with text allows Generation Z to share their life experiences with rich depth compared to describing their experiences through text.

2. Clear & Concise

Research shows that the attention span of Generation Z is approximately 8 seconds. The blame for this shocking revelation should be on the existence of smartphones and their ‘scrolling’ nature. All of the social media apps or mobile web pages exist in a scrolling form. Scrolling is extremely convenient, in fact, it is too convenient. It causes them to just scroll through or swipe away if they’re not interested in a particular post at first glance. This is why brands’ content posted on social media need to be able to grab their attention instantly to avoid being scrolled through and ignored.

Messages need to be bite-sized: short, simple, and direct. Keep this in mind, ‘less is more’.

Keep your message on point like how a drag queen’s makeup is always on point.

3. Word-of-Mouth

As permanent tenants in social media, Generation Z has been groomed to enjoy sharing in social media. They can’t be fooled easily by marketing schemes and will only share things that they find interesting or genuine. Therefore, your content needs to be authentic.

Incorporating influencers into your marketing strategy is an excellent way to achieve this. Generation Z tend to look up on opinions from a third party to obtain a non-biased opinion. Hearing it from a social media influencer which happens to be an expert in a particular field will definitely convince them into believe in your brand.

Furthermore, testimonials, reviews, and postings from people who’ve really tried it is important as well. Use your customers to convince your customers to trust your brand.

4. Locate Them & Go To Them

Put effort in finding out which social network is the widely used by Generation Z. While Facebook holds the record for the most amount of users among all social networking sites/apps, it is unlikely that you’ll reach a huge amount of Generation Z users in Facebook. Research has shown that Facebook is populated by mostly adults, while Generation Z regards Facebook as less interesting and is constantly looking to be entertained by new alternatives. New social networking platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and etc are more preferred by Generation Z as its mechanics and nature differs greatly from Facebook and offers a more innovative way to communicate with each other.

Understand these trends and factors to reach and engage them successfully. Most brands make the mistake of thinking that targeting 10 year olds are a waste of time, effort and money. This is by far the worst mistake they’ll ever make because these Post-Millennials are forming perceptions towards brands since an early age. They play a huge part in their parent’s buying decisions and has huge potential in turning into your loyal customers in the future. It is definitely a long run investment that benefits your business greatly in the future.

Find out more on how your business can focus on crafting marketing strategy to engage Generation Z while having peace of mind of having technical infrastructure being taken care of here.

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Improve Your Content with Outlines

Having awesome content is meaningless without a clear direction and focused expectation for its readers. Outlines provide that clear direction and focused expectations for its readers. How does outlines improve your articles, and help to strengthen your brand image. Content written by endowed writers lose its edge without strong outlines. Reasons why outlines improve your content are discussed in the 5 points below:

Make reading easier

Having outlines doesn't just make it easier for the publisher, writer, or author. The most important person which the context was meant for benefits from this as well. Having a form of uniformity (structure) eases our minds, it doesn't require us to think unnecessarily, giving our brains space to focus on important things. Take for example chapters in textbooks, it gives its readers a set expectation of when the point stops, when the next point begins, what contents are within that particular section, and guides people in one simple direction. 

In addition, well-crafted headers cultivates interest for people to have an excuse to read on. Often a bunch of words can be intimidating, but with a gentle nudge forward with an enticing header makes the reading substance a little bit more enticing.

Provides Focus

Do you remember having a a conversation with an overly excited friend, when your friend starts talking on a topic and changing at will. Often nothing comes out of those conversations, but sometimes there is a remote chance that it may lead to something more. The point is that more often than not the information although compelling is disoriented and doesn't have much of a focus and that unfocused conversation proves to be hard work to decipher. 

As earlier mentioned outlines make reading easier, but imagine a book without chapters. You wouldn't know what to expect, where to start, or even where to stop. Poorly structured, or unstructured writings are great pieces of mess: they float, provide 'some' value, but only among meandering sentences. Outlines help remedy this confusing wild situations by giving readers a set expectation, and delivering them in a clear, and efficient manner. 

Further Reading: How to Develop Better Topics for Malaysian Blogs

Makes your message more memorable

Case example, a blog is a place where content that is written creates value for its readers, but it isn't the only focus and certainly not its only purpose. Helping your customers, should be the ultimate goal for a business blog, and with that comes a benefit to the business where the brand is strengthened and it allows the business to have a 'proper' conversation with its customers. However, without the 'memorability factor' this effort is muddled. 

Outlines help this 'memorability factor' it helps writers write more effectively (a clear guide), it eases readers burden by providing more focused content, and the end result is an enhanced brand image that portrays various positives.

Easier Referencing

Coming back to work after a long holiday, and picking off where you last left your work sounds relatively straightforward, but as you sit down on your desk you realize the great desk pile of past work papers, and now you think to yourself that holiday was great while it lasted. What if those papers were put into labelled organizers either alphabetically arranged, chronologically arranged or through various other arranging methods. Now that great desk pile of past work papers wouldn't have existed and you could just get down to doing what matters most, without the worry of having to sort through mess.

Outlines provide a similar benefit to having labelled organizers, it allows quick access in the future. Content that is clearly structured, and points that are focused give readers, not just the writers, an easier look-back when required. Readers can look through an entire article in an efficient manner looking for what 'slipped off' their minds.

Invest in Outlines

Organizing has ample benefits, and although the task seems extremely daunting at first, having outlines give a great deal of clarity. It takes the effort off the readers and allows them to focus on actually reading the content that was meant to provide them value, and allows the initial intention of the business (to strengthen its brand image, to educate its customers, and to understand its customers better) to be realized.

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Do you think that outlines actually improve your content? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

image by hawkexpress

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