Category: Social Media

Beyond Millennials: How to Market to Generation Z

Posted on by Mindstream Media Group

As a marketer, you’re probably familiar with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, their common traits and how to reach them. And, it’s difficult to go anywhere without hearing about Millennials and their effect on the marketing industry.

But what about the generation after Millennials, Gen Z – people born from the mid-1990s to 2012? Who are they? What makes them tick? How should brands market to them?

Although it’s difficult to generalize about an entire generation, let’s explore some of the characteristics of this maturing group and how they’re shaping the advertising industry.

Say Hello to Gen Z

Gen Zs, also known as iGens, make up a quarter of the U.S. population and by 2020 will account for 40 percent of all consumers. Gen Z is a powerful consumer force spending a whopping $143 billion a year – and that doesn’t even include the money spent on them by parents or the indirect influence they have over household purchases. With that much buying power, it’s important for marketers to understand their values to successfully engage them.

Generational Composition

(Percent of U.S. Population)

Career-minded

Members of Gen Z are career minded

Thanks to the Great Recession of 2008, members of Gen Z grew up in a world that hasn’t always made them feel financially secure. As a result, they are willing to work hard for a well-paying, stable career. With 72 percent of high school students and 64 percent of college students indicating they want to start a business someday, Gen Z is poised to become the most entrepreneurial generation ever. But this desire is more of a survival mechanism to achieve financial stability rather than “Silicon Valley home runs.”

Socially responsible and diverse

Gen Z is the most racially diverse U.S. generation to date and has a more global world-view than previous generations. As a result, they tend to be more tolerant of differences and instead focus on fairness and equality. Gen Z takes this social responsibility to a new level, using their power to effect political change and support causes and the environment. Likewise, they favor brands that facilitate positive change in the world.

Increasingly impatient

As digital natives, electronics that were a luxury to preceding generations are a necessity for modern life for Gen Z. Thanks to smartphones and the internet, they want instant gratification and expect to find the information they seek quickly and easily. You’ve probably heard about the ever-decreasing human attention span (now only 8 seconds). But growing up with a deluge of information has helped Gen Zers develop a sophisticated filter that lets them quickly sort through and assess a tremendous amount of content. As a result, they tend to be visually-inclined and prefer images, memes, GIFs and video over text-heavy content.

Likely to visit brick-and-mortar locations

Although they don’t know a world without the internet, a recent study found that 67 percent of Gen Z shop in a physical store most of the time, and another 31 percent shop in-store sometimes. That’s 98 percent who shop in-store overall. Another study found that 76 percent of Gen Z shoppers believe physical stores provide a better shopping experience than online. Why? The driving factor for going in-store is shopping with friends.

But that doesn’t mean technology isn’t part of the purchase. Before even setting foot in the store, 58 percent check online product reviews and 59 percent compare prices online. While in-store, 47 percent use their smartphones for comparison shopping or sharing with family and friends.

Gen Z doesn’t distinguish between online and offline channels and moves seamlessly between them. To them, the digital world complements and enhances the physical shopping experience. As a result, retailers are constantly pressured to innovate and provide unique, seamless customer experiences across channels to stay relevant.

Among members of Gen Z

In-store shopping habits of Gen Z

Traditional

Other surprising statistics about Gen Z lean traditional as well. An Ad Age report calls Gen Z “part cutting-edge and part traditionalist” with:

  • 77 percent reading printed books
  • 84 percent paying attention to out-of-home ads in trains, malls, airports and taxis

Gen Z traditional media habitsAlthough Gen Z shows traditional tendencies, it’s still difficult for advertisers to engage with them using traditional marketing channels. Gen Z relies heavily on social media and firsthand recommendations and reviews from others to help them decide on new products or experiences. In the same way, they post regularly about brands and products as a form of self-expression, often engaging a brand directly to share their own experiences, whether positive or negative. They also pay close attention to a brand’s response, or lack thereof, and act accordingly. They want to participate in the brand story and know they are being heard, or they’re moving on.

Bringing it all together: Marketing to Gen Z

Marketing to Gen Z

Advertising has always been about disruption – i.e., finding ways to cut through the clutter and stand out. But Gen Z views this disruption as not only an invasion of privacy but also a waste of time. They prefer a less intrusive advertising experience (or no ads at all), with 82 percent skipping ads as fast as they can and more than half using ad blockers.

According to Pew Research, 45 percent of teens are online “almost constantly” with smartphones being the device of choice and 75 percent say they receive most of their information on social media. To reach them, it’s critical to implement mobile and social-first strategies on the platforms used most. Gen Z tends to be active on multiple social networks and uses each one for different activities. It’s important to understand how each one is used to create content and ads that resonate.

Which Social Media Platform

Do U.S. Teens Use the Most?

Key takeaways to keep in mind when marketing to Gen Z

  • Be transparent. Because they care about the world, Gen Z wants companies to be socially and environmentally responsible. Share your brand’s core values and mission, be transparent in your products and highlight the social good you provide. Transparency also relates to customer data – they want to know what personal information is being collected, how it’s being used and what measures are in place to protect it.
  • Be authentic. Gen Z finds celebrities inauthentic and unrelatable. They prefer influencers, real people more like them, that post about products they use and love. A survey by Fullscreen and Shareablee found that 42 percent reported trying a product or service recommended by an influencer, and 26% made a purchase.
  • Be inclusive. Ask them to participate and give them a reason to by engaging them with contests and custom content. Encourage collaboration for a social cause or opportunity to influence or earn recognition from their peers. Also, Gen Z will market for you. Provide a fantastic customer experience and they are more likely to broadcast it to their network. Alternatively, if you provide bad service, be prepared for the internet to know about it.
  • Be personable. Make it a conversation, rather than one-way communication from your brand to them. Talk with them instead of at them. Be available via the many channels and platforms they are using and respond when they engage you. Tell your brand story and include personal touches like employee photos and community involvement. Remember that they don’t want to be marketed “to.”
  • Be engaging. Don’t disrupt their lives. Be entertaining, polite and considerate instead of pushy and intrusive. Visually engaging content marketing efforts can work wonders. Keep it brief and use video, infographics and images to reach them.
  • Be unique. Although privacy-conscious when it comes to communication, Gen Z expects brands to collect data on their customer preferences to personalize marketing communications. They want something unique to them rather than a solution for the masses. Tailor your messaging based on their purchase history or give them a photo op to express their creativity.

Bottom line, understanding your target customer, regardless of age, is key to developing a successful personalized marketing campaign. But, inherent generational differences along with changes in technology and shifts in media channel usage can make that even more challenging.

This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated with new information.

Want your marketing efforts to reach younger generations? Contact Mindstream Media Group to learn how we can help.

Second Screen Advertising: Friend or Foe?

Posted on by Mindstream Media Group

For nearly a decade, marketers have been talking about the effect of the second screen on media consumption and advertising. As is often the case with change, fear hit early, and doubt was cast on the consumer’s ability to engage with primary content funded by ad dollars, and second screens were largely seen as distractions. But before long, marketers began to see the opportunities ahead and started weaving multi-screen strategy into media plans. Success varied as waters were tested. As consumption and channels continuously evolved, so too did the media plans with increasing return.

The question persists: is the second screen friend or foe to advertisers?

Before we go on, let’s acknowledge a technicality– your first screen may not be my first screen. The average 18- to 24-year-old spends almost two hours more than older adults streaming video on smartphones, including television content. For the sake of simplicity though, assume first screen here is television.

 

How Consumers See the Second Screen

First, take a look at the consumer experience with second screens. Second screen engagement is practically a given as audiences “sometimes” or “always” have a smartphone or tablet in-hand 73 percent of the time they’re in front of a TV, according to Nielsen’s 2018 Total Audience Report. Not exactly a shocking statistic, but what are consumers doing with multi-screen use?

Consuming Related Organic Content.Over 70 percent of multi-screen users are engaging in content related to programming. They’re solving their own trivia questions by searching online for things like:

  • Sports statistics and bios during games
  • Actors, filming locations, past seasons and show spoilers
  • Music artists, fashion and style or product influencers

Socializing. How can you NOT talk about the final episode of The Bachelor on social media or by texting and emailing friends? Forty-one percent of second screen users report talking about their shows like this. Plus, second (and even third) screens put audiences in the moment as they take to social media to give their opinions and share related content. According to Facebook, half of sports fans say they use social media or message friends when second screening during events.

Engaging with Paid Ads, Apps and Other Content. Just ask Super Bowl advertisers–enough audience mass, hype and creative paid content will draw attention. Campaigns running during other key sporting events, like the World Cup, March Madness, World Series and Olympics, have seen tremendous audience engagement. (ICYMI, throw back to our blog, Sports and the Second Screen, for more on this.)

Literally Anything Else. Work, homework, paying bills, etc. will likely always distract audiences from paid programming and advertising to varying degrees.

 

How Advertisers Can Profit from Second Screens

Not every advertiser has a Super Bowl-sized budget to create and place multi-channel content in front of record-breaking audiences. Most don’t; we get it. But you can still develop profitable strategies for multi-screen consumers that create greater brand awareness and generate online and offline sales.

Think Holistically. Cross-platform planning for television, online advertising and owned media deliver extended reach, greater frequency and compounded performance. This means brands may need to bring multiple in-house marketers and agencies together to ensure cohesion of goals and tactics. For example, Mindstream Media Group commonly includes our traditional and digital strategists in client planning and optimization discussions, and we work closely with other creative and general agencies to activate holistic strategies.

Act Precisely. Imprecise, mass marketing will kill your budget and underperform. So, while you need to consider holistic strategy, that doesn’t mean paint with a broad brush. According to Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, only 30 percent of survey respondents think professionals in their organizations are “very knowledgeable” about viewing trends and related advertising needs. So, get with your agency, and be generous with your customer data, consumer targeting and intent for lookalike audiences. Pinpoint accuracy on buying journeys and viewing habits tied to content relevancy are key to efficiently and effectively allowing one screen’s marketing to play off another.

 

Ongoing Advertiser Opportunities

The complexity of video across screens and channels continues. With it, comes the opportunity for marketers to exploit remarkably finite data points to predict and personalize the ad experience.

Want to get the most out of second screen ad strategies? Contact Mindstream Media Group to learn how we can help. 

Advertising to Smartphone Addicts: How to Get Attention from Teenage Consumers

Posted on by Mindstream Media Group

Parents don’t hold back when asked if their teenagers spend too much time on their phones. They have good reason. According to a 2018 USC Anneberg study on media, 78 percent of teens check their devices at least once hourly and almost half of have a phone in-hand within five minutes of waking up.

This group of 12- to 17-year-old teens are almost always on their phones. The questions marketers need answered are, “What are teens doing while they’re on their phones?” and “How do I engage teen consumers through the noise?”

We’ll start by looking at where they spend time online and what they’re using their phones for.

Smartphones Everywhere

The latest report from eMarketer estimates eight out of 10 U.S. teens have their own smartphone. You can assume much of the remainder have limited access. That’s comparable to the overall adult population, where 94.1 percent of Millennials, 88.5 percent of Gen X and 65.7 percent of Boomers have smartphones.

The older the kid, the more likely they are to be on their phone. They’re most readily found using social media, apps, games and messaging services like WhatsApp. And, important for marketers, they have buying power. From clothes to electronics to eating out, teens are buying (or influencing parents and other adults to buy). To get them to notice your ads and brand content, then ultimately buy your products and services, your brand needs to step up its social game.

Shifting Social Channels

The eMarketer report claims 70 percent of those aged 12 to 17 use social networks, and almost 46 percent of them are still active on their Facebook accounts although Instagram and Snapchat have surged with this age group. While they use Facebook and Twitter, trending for teens tends to be away from what their parents or other older demographics are using and into newer, image and video-based content. That said, don’t forget YouTube where teens (and younger kids) are heavy consumers. Take a look below at what teens report as their favorite social media platforms.

As for the social site ads, eMarketer states that teens are more likely to click on sponsored posts in apps and on mobile than other demographics, with 46 percent willing to click on an ad. Here’s the challenge: nearly 75 percent said they “find the majority of mobile ads not relevant or useful.” These consumers were born into digital, and they’re quick to sniff out content they find enjoyable or helpful while ignoring mass communication. Customize ad content to teens when product or service is relevant to them. Show them the benefit and relevancy to their world.

Make sure to analyze your campaign from the start and adjust bids, messaging and targeting on your ads to optimize. Testing your ads, and your organic content, will save you money and drive more sales.

Truth About Influencer Marketing

As far as celebrities, their influence on teens may not be as profitable as you may think. Generation Z, which includes our 12- to 17-year-old demographic, is only modestly swayed by their fav celeb’s social ads. According to eMarketer, just 18 percent of teens and young adults say influencers made a difference in their purchases.

What did matter? Quality took the No. 1 spot with 77 percent, price came in next at 71 percent, real customer reviews (which ties back to quality) ranked third at 60 percent of survey respondents identifying factors that matter. Your brand’s values and reputation matter, too, at 51 percent.

So, while influencer marketing has its place and gets attention, teens claim value and quality trump famous product peddlers. In fact, the desire for authenticity and customer reviews has increased engagement in nano- and micro-influencers.

Where To Next?

Research studies and surveys are consistent in reporting that adolescents bounce quickly between social networks with little exclusivity, and their preferred networks shift over time. Teens are adaptive, and loyalty to any given social app is short-lived. That means successful marketers need to keep tabs on teens’ online habits like they’re your own kids. Watch the usage trends like those we’ve shared here.

eMarketer’s 2019 Time Spent with Media report predicts extremely modest to flat social growth over the next 18 months, so keep an eye on emergence of online games, which have become social channels in their own right, and digital video. But don’t ignore newer social apps like TikTok for content opportunities. You don’t need to be the first brand to jump in though. Learn about the ad content that’s performing, and remember that teens engage with customized, relevant messaging that offers value, instead of pushing sales.

If your brand wants to target teenagers, remember they’re a moving target. Their interests, their media platforms and their influencers change as they grow. Their current buying influence and future buying power make them worth the investment.

Need more guidance on reaching teens or other demographics through social media? Contact Mindstream Media Group for help.