See You Later, Millennials! 7 Essential Tips for Marketing to Gen Z

You’ve just learned about marketing to Millennials and now everyone is moving their focus to marketing to gen z. What are the best practices and how do you reach this “text” generation.

While there is a lot to learn, if you take the time, you can reach these buyers that are fully ready to spend some of their cash. Continue reading this article to learn more about getting your message in front of gen z.

The 411 on Marketing to Gen Z

You can learn more here about marketing to the generation of text lovers. As we go through this article, you’ll see some of the differences between what you’re doing now and what you need to implement when you want to reach this new generation.

1. Know Who You’re Marketing to – Who Is Gen Z?

Before you start trying to market to gen z, it’s a good idea to know who we’re talking about. Gen Z is the “young people” of today. 1997 to 2011 are the years that are counted to be Gen Z.

One of the things that makes Gen Z different than the other generations is that they never experienced a world before the terror attacks on America. Taking their shoes off before boarding a plane is just something they do. Besides that, they’ve never known the internet without social media.

Gen Z is used to being connected all of the time and having the internet at their fingertips. Not sure about something? Google it!

2. Always Be Upfront & Honest

Gen Z isn’t forgiving to people and companies that lie. While other generations might have turned their heads and let things go — not Gen Z. If your marketing is even accidentally misleading, you’ll likely find that your young customers have gone to hang out with your competition.

3. Earn Their Trust

It’s not easy to earn Gen Z’s trust but when you do — they talk. When Gen Zers talk and share about products and services they love, their friends accept that they’ve already vetted the source.

You’re not going to earn their trust through fancy ads or cool displays. The only way to earn Gen Z’s trust is through superior products and great customer service.

4. Have a Mission

Having a company just to earn money isn’t going to sit well with Gen Z. There has to be a reason that you’re doing what you’re doing beyond profits. This generation aims to see a world that is connected and helping each other.

If your company doesn’t have a way that it is giving back and helping make the world a better place, Gen Z is likely to go find a company that is giving back. Remember that this can’t be a strategy because they are going to sniff that out from a mile away. If you don’t mean it — don’t do it.

5. Think Outside the Box

When you’re creating marketing materials and campaigns for Gen Z, you have to be creative. You don’t want to be labeled “basic.” Basic is a pure slap in the face meaning that you offer nothing of value — that you’re one in a million.

It’s better to think outside the box and miss than to offer up another boring campaign and be laughed into shame by the generation you’re targeting.

6. Do Good – Be Good

If someone wouldn’t define your company as a good company, you’re probably not going to attract the attention of Gen Z. They want to do business with good people. Even if you’re not on a mission to save the world — at least don’t be hurting it.

Part of being good is being transparent. If you don’t have anything to hide then don’t hide it. This generation doesn’t believe in company privacy.

They don’t care if you want to keep your trade secrets.

They want to make sure that you’re not doing anything shady because they don’t want to have any part of illegal dumping and other illegal activity. These children have grown up seeing what evil has done in the world and they don’t want to support it.

Being open and transparent isn’t going to hurt your business. It’s going to help you connect with Gen Z better and give them that closeness that they want with the companies and people they support with their business.

7. Go Where They Are

If you’re trying to reach Gen Z with traditional marketing methods, the chances are that they aren’t even seeing the ads you’re running. They are bored with your ads and they’ve likely bought the upgrade on their services so they don’t see ads.

Most Gen Zers aren’t even on Facebook that much anymore. Yes, even after you took that Facebook course on how to write the perfect ad copy — they’re not hanging out there anymore.

You have to keep up with what’s happening and hot today. While we could tell you that TikTok and Snapchat are on and poppin’, that might not be the case tomorrow. If a newer, cooler platform comes out, these are the people that are going to be testing it and making it work for them.

Learn More About Marketing & Beyond

Now that you know more about marketing to Gen Z, you’ve likely got some changes to make. Why stop your education here? We have many other great articles that can help you be more effective in business and in life.

Browse our site, find your favorite section, drop a bookmark and come back soon for more great reads.