Gen-Z.
Heard of them yet?
Because they’re about to take over the world…

But before we can really understand how to communicate with the latest generation, it’s important to understand who they are. By most accounts, Gen-Z is composed of young adults born between 1996 and 2010. It includes an estimated 2.52 billion young adults that currently spend around $45 billion in the U.S. every year (and that figure will only rise).

This group of young adults doesn’t actually remember life without a smartphone in hand, and their digital skills across ALL social platforms generally exceed those of older generations. They’re considered to be typically more cautious, more conservative and more focused on personal safety and personal privacy. They have never known life without easy internet access and mobile technology, and as a result, they are actually the most technologically-fluent generation thus far.

What terrifies so many businesses about the younger generation is their inherent knowledge of the Internet’s branding power. If your mobile website looks like it was made 10 years ago, it doesn’t matter what your message is—you look old. On average, Gen-Z’ers use five screens on a daily basis: smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop and tablet. They expect to find what they want, when they want with just a few touches on their devices. Because of this, it’s crucial that the new focus is on producing consistently rich content.

So… what exactly does “rich content” mean? It depends who you ask, but most would agree that it refers to any type of content that enables user-interaction. For example, videos are considered a rich form of content because they typically require the viewer to click “play”. A great example of using rich content in a social media campaign is to run a Twitter or Instagram poll (which allows you to ask users to weigh in on a certain subject). You’re distributing content that encourages user interaction while simultaneously collecting consumer insights—it’s a win-win. #winning

Gen-Z wants to feel important. They want to be part of the decision-making processes. They want to feel informed and valuable. And because of this, timing is everything when it comes to your digital marketing strategies. However,  you now have to do it in approximately 8 second intervals (That’s actually the average attention-span of a Gen-Z consumer).  If you want them to click on your blog post (or watch your video or like your Instagram pic…) you need to help them understand what the content is about, why they should care and how it will help them. This is actually an art, and it’s not easy. It’s why today’s best content creators are in such high-demand.

Connecting one-on-one with Gen-Z is crucial, because whether you’re a big brand or small business, we’re now realizing that Gen-Z’ers are both your consumers AND competitors. So when you put out content, think less about it as asking them for something… and more about it as helping them out. You’re essentially empowering them and collaborating with them.

With each new marketing tool that comes out, we continue to change how we create/distribute our messaging. Easy, searchable content will always be key to reaching younger consumers. They’re impatient… but they’re allowed to be. They don’t necessarily know any different, when it comes to digital ads and high-speed everything.

With the growing prevalence of live content in Social Media (think: Instagram or Snapchat story) more and more companies are now realizing that the old ways of marketing are slowly fading. Gen-Z wants you to speak to them on their level, on their platforms, using their terminologies. And as a result, a growing number of brands are now planning to use dynamic, interactive content to tell a more authentic story and connect with a base of Gen-Z consumers on a more personal level. This creates trust, relevance and offers a more B2B approach… even when it’s a B2C transaction.

Want to learn more? Connect with Atwell Creative today to learn more about the latest content and inbound marketing tactics to speak directly with your target audience.