It is way out-of-date to think of millennials as the youngest generation. These days, millennials are nearing the end of their 20s; many have finally reached relatively well-paying positions and are transitioning into more stable lifestyles, even buying homes. So, when you think of trying to target a younger audience with your marketing messages, you shouldn’t be aiming for millennials.
Instead, if you are looking to capture a younger generation with your marketing campaign, you need to focus your efforts on generation Z. Gen Z, sometimes called zoomers, were born roughly between 1995 and 2015; they face many of the same struggles as millennials — economic instability, technological familiarity, progressive ideology, rampant anxiety — and marketing to them takes skill and subtlety.
If you have just begun a content marketing campaign targeting a younger audience, here are some tips for harnessing the power of zoomers.
Recognize Diversity
It is easy to imagine the prototypical baby boomer as an older, middle-class white man, but zoomers are not as easy to pinpoint. Gen z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation of Americans to date, with only 52 percent of them identifying fully as White — compared to 72 percent of boomers. Zoomers revel in their diversity, helping to amplify the voices not often heard in broader media and making space for the representation of non-European looks and lifestyles. The same goes for non-standard body shapes, the differently-abled, neuro-divergent perspectives and more.
You need to do the same if you want to catch the attention of gen z and earn their trust. At the very least, your marketing images should feature more than White faces and White bodies. However, on a deeper level, you should strive to make content for more than White, middle-class readers. It would be wise to diversify your marketing team with professionals boasting assorted backgrounds, who can help produce content better suited to non-White, non-slim, able-bodied and/or neurotypical audience.
Commit to Authenticity
Speaking of trust, gen z has grown up with the internet and is incredibly savvy with regards to how digital marketing works. As a result, most zoomers are skeptical of marketing messages and unlikely to engage with branded content, especially if that content seems disingenuous. Thus, to draw in a younger audience, you need to commit to an authentic content marketing strategy.
Authenticity is honesty — it is leveling with your audience and divulging things about your business both good and bad. By participating in ameliorating activities like sustainability, ethical employment and sourcing, charitable giving and community building, you can make your brand seem better, but only if you do these things because you believe in their goodness, not merely because you know it will attract gen z. Zoomers have a good sense of which businesses are actually interested in doing good and which are pretending to be good to get more money, so you need to strive to be the former.
Find Favored Environments
Finally, you need to meet gen z where they are — and they probably aren’t hanging around on your business website. As mentioned before, zoomers grew up with the internet, which means many of the most established websites and social media platforms are associated with their parents, not their peers. For example, though Facebook is the largest social media site in the world, gen z has almost entirely abandoned it, making Facebook pages and leaving them to rot. Instead, zoomers have migrated en masse to less polluted social media platforms, where you need to be to catch their attention. Some of their favorite social spots include.
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- YouTube
You should focus on obtaining content marketing services with experience developing content for these channels. It might be worthwhile to partner with influencers on these platforms, who have demonstrated the ability to attract and build trust amongst younger audiences.
Additionally, gen z is much more likely to engage with brands over mobile devices as opposed to more traditional desktop and laptop computers. It is even more imperative that your website is mobile-friendly; it might be worthwhile to develop your mobile site for greater responsiveness than is typically necessary.
