As generations come and go, so do effective content marketing strategies. The internet has evolved rapidly over the past two decades, and a content marketing strategy from five years ago won’t do any good compared to your competitors’ strategies.
To market to Gen Z, you’ll have to understand what drives and fuels them, as well as which marketing techniques they respond to. This generation is more aware of marketing tactics than other generations, so you have to show them why your brand really counts and how you can add value to or make a difference in their lives.
What Defines Gen Z?
Generation Z is the latest crop of young adults coming into the world with buying power. As they’re one of the most active generations online, you should want them to enjoy your content.
Where this generation starts is a point of confusion for many people. Some might lump them in with Millennials, the generation that saw the most technological advancements as they were growing up. One of the biggest differences between the two generations is that Millennials grew up as technology grew, and many didn’t even use the technology in childhood – Generation Z has never known a world without technology playing a major role in their lives.
The commonly agreed-upon birth year is 1996 for the oldest members of Gen Z, whereas some people assert that the generation doesn’t start until 2000. Though their dates might be different depending on who you ask, they do have a few things in common.
Gen Z has never known a world without the internet. Most of them grew up playing games on websites or even playing online with their friends or strangers. They’ve always known the internet as a means of connecting with others. They use it for everything, from transactions to catching up with family members. Not every member of Gen Z lives online, but social media is a great place to start if you want to reach a majority of them.
Social media campaigns are essential in any sort of content marketing, but with more and more people – not just Gen Z – spending time on these platforms, you shouldn’t overlook them. On average, most Americans check their mobile devices for notifications at least 144 times throughout the day, meaning most people prefer communicating online or through text rather than in person. That statistic is exactly why you need to change your content marketing strategy of old if you plan to gain Gen Z clients and customers.
With society transitioning away from television and toward streaming sites, Gen Z might be your most important target.
Content Marketing That Works for Gen Z
The purpose of content marketing is to generate sales. Generating sales comes from knowing the pain point of your target audience and eliminating that problem for them through your product or service. As such, if you want to target Gen Z, you have to know where they hang out and what forms of content matter to them.
Because Gen Z’s top three apps – Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube – are all video-based and push short videos more than anything else, it’s safe to assume you’ll need to incorporate video into your content plan.
1. Relatability
People connect with content they find relatable. Millennials are in the workforce now, and many have been for some time, but Gen Z has only just started to graduate high school and college, and many of them are still teenagers. While Millennials have been adults for years now, members of the Gen Z cohort are busy growing up and experiencing life for the first time.
Your content creator will have to be someone who understands Gen Z personally and consumes so much content online that they have a good sense of Gen Z humor and their common frustrations. This marketer doesn’t need to be part of Gen Z themselves – anyone can market to Gen Z as long as they understand them. If any generation finds your content relatable, they may take another look at what you can offer them.
2. Creativity
The “same old” formula that’s been done before won’t work on Gen Z. Trends fly into the spotlight in an instant and fade into obscurity just as fast. If you notice a popular trend, jump on the bandwagon before it falls out of style. You don’t want to have all cookie-cutter content that comes from trends, though. Sometimes you have to make things up for yourself.
You need a very creative mind to work with Gen Z. Their sense of humor is always evolving and your content creator needs to be right there, riding the wave with them. Think of something new and innovative that will capture the attention of the generations you want to find on social media. Lean toward something educational or enticing to capture your audience’s attention from the start – then follow through with powerful media or copy that can keep them hooked.
At the same time, you need to prioritize authenticity in your content. Gen Z knows when something is inauthentic and made up just for likes and views, and if they sense that someone is “trying too hard,” their content might be dubbed cringe – and then it’ll be funny for all the wrong reasons.
3. Accessibility
Gen Z comprises a diverse crop of individuals, so inclusion and accessibility matter to them. And they should also matter to your company. Show them that you stand for them, whether they have a different identity or a challenging disability.
You can commit to accessibility by adding alt text to images in your blog posts or on your website. Alt text simply lets screen readers know what a picture depicts, which can help visually impaired people feel included and acknowledged on social media.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing might appreciate captions on your video posts. Many services generate captions automatically now, but these auto-generated captions may not catch everything depending on how a speaker talks. After you publish a video, whether it’s short-form or long-form, you should always go back and transcribe it so those who may not be able to listen to it have less trouble navigating your content and finding out why your brand is essential.
4. Funny
Each generation tends to have a different idea of what they call funny. Many Millennials grew up with memes like rage comics and pictures of animals with top text and bottom text, but Gen Z has experienced a lot of darkness in the world from a young age. Understandably, their humor is a bit darker and more sarcastic.
Many members of Gen Z try to deal with their trauma – whether certain events or collective trauma that the whole generation knows – in the form of humor. Through the use of humor, viewers can learn more about serious events happening around the world. With the mindset that nothing in the future is certain or guaranteed, Gen Z’s way of coping with difficult situations just tends to be to inject some humor into them.
You have to tread a thin line when trying to emulate Gen Z humor – you don’t want to say anything insensitive, which could hurt people. Try to keep to harmless jokes and sarcasm, and you always have the option of saying something wild that could turn into a viral meme.
5. Short
Platforms that previously didn’t care about video are now pushing short videos more than ever, thanks to the rise of TikTok as a leading social media platform. The increase of short-form content and the growth of the internet, in general, have given way to shorter attention spans as each generation emerges.
Members of Gen Z who spend much of their time online are exposed to short TikTok videos, Instagram Reels and Stories, and YouTube Shorts, all of which are typically around a minute or less. Make sure to take advantage of these forms of content so you can grab Gen Z’s attention right away.
Gen Z’s Trends Will Change Over Time
As with any generation, Gen Z will change as they get older. Still, the generation is defined by a cultural revolution of memes and humor. They tend to take care of themselves more than young people of the past, and they’re warier of scams online since they’ve grown up on the internet. As such, they may be more cynical toward your brand.
Show them you care about them by interacting with them and producing content they like. Then, Gen Z consumers may start to think that your company actually “gets” them and understands their struggles. That’s when they’ll turn to you to solve their pain points and help them through their struggles.
