9 Strategies to Help Cater Your Digital Marketing to the Youth Under-24 Generation Z

Millennials, millennials, millennials. Doesn’t the world just love talking about millennials? While companies were busy figuring out a way to market to millennials, little did they know that it wouldn’t be long before the generation’s time passed.

This year, Generation Z – those born between 1996 and 2010 – will make up 40 percent of all customers. The first generation born into a world of Internet, smartphones, social media, and technology, marketing to youth under 24 years of age is a different animal altogether than millennials.

Just like the world once bet to the whims of millennials, it’s time to hedge your investment elsewhere on the next generation. If you’re a brand marketing towards young adults and teenagers, this article will help you. Here are nine strategies to help connect with and win this developing consumer base.

Who is Generation Z?

If you’re going to market successfully to youth under-24, you need to understand their motivations. Here is some basic information to keep in the back of your head as you are planning campaigns. Should a campaign prove unsuccessful or if the content doesn’t resonate with this consumer demographic as expected, revisit the strategy of ‘understanding your customer’.

 More politically progressive than past generations.
 They are the most ethnically diverse generation in history.
 47 percent of them are ethnic minorities in North America.
 Less of them identify with traditional heterosexual sexuality.
 Less of them identify with traditional gender roles and norms.
 They believe in coexistence between religions, cultures, and opinions.
 They believe in inclusiveness and openness, rather than the exclusivity of product and luxury. This is an important digital marketing note to make.

Why is it important to keep content marketing on social media short?

The average attention span of a millennial was 12 seconds long. For Generation Z, it’s even shorter at 8 seconds. They don’t have time to waste and you don’t have time to lose. Get to your marketing message fast.

The short attention span has a large influence on youth preferring visuals over plain text. In the coming years, you will want to fine-tune your short-form writing skills and increase your use of memes, GIFs, and emojis. Look for brief content that’s easily processed and which gets you noticed for the right reasons.

Why do young consumers prefer interactive social media over static content?

Youth under-24 are plugged into social media better than anyone. It empowers them, gives them access to online communities, and promotes accountability through public-displayed reviews.

Youth on social media want user-generated content and interactive content like polls, quizzes, chats, and conversation. This is what you want to optimize for. Think of ways to include interactivity in your articles, images, and videos. You also want to focus on and encourage accumulating reviews, user-generated photos and videos, and references. Up your social marketing game.

Why is it more important to have a mobile-first digital marketing strategy?

The oldest members of Generation Z were born in 1996. They barely grew up with desktop computers. The vast majority of youth under-24 use smartphones and mobile devices to communicate and browse the Internet. Therefore your marketing should assume mobile content delivery rather than desktop.

Your website should be mobile-responsive and any sort of images or video you create should be done knowing that they are more than likely going to be consumed on a mobile device. Within content marketing, use shorter sentences, subheadings, bullet points, and make navigation easier.

Why do young people prefer influencers over polished celebrities?

Generation Z prefers ads that show real people rather than paid actors or celebrities. The Instagram influencer marketing trend isn’t by any accident. Youth under-24 want authenticity outside of corporate consumerism. They trust real people more than they do anything resembling a traditional business interest.

To appeal to youth under-24, consider how you can appear authentic. Your account should communicate something real and valuable. Furthermore, the digital marketing strategies chosen – such as influencers – should also exhibit a sense of realness.

What is the best social media marketing channel for youth under-24?

There is no right answer to what social media platform is best for reaching youth under 24. YouTube’s a natural answer because it’s something Generation Z grew up with. In fact, they’re most likely to use YouTube than they are Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Despite the favoritism towards YouTube, it’s important to complete research into where your audience most likely exists and to target there. Subsets of youths exist on every social media platform.

Young people under-24 are also more likely to see email as outdated, prefer customer chat messaging over email or phone, and demand personal, special interaction in exchange for loyalty and excitement.

What kind of marketing messages does Generation Z prefer?

Too many markets group in millennials and Generation Z. Though some similarities exist, Generation Z prefers to be communicated with a little differently. If you want to create accurate, meaningful marketing messages for youth under-24, here are the priorities this demographic carries.

 They are less likely to prioritize a work-life balance compared to their millennial counterparts.

 Generation Z is less likely to take risks than millennials, preferring stability, and security in employment and finances.

 Youth under-24 are more likely to care about their personal spending income and generally make smarter choices about how to spend it.

Why is the Internet important to digital marketing and doing good business in 2020?

Move as much of your customer service and services in general online, if you’re marketing to youths. This is where they live. The Internet is important because it’s convenience that’s free, simple, and straightforward.

To a youth under-24, they never lived in a world without an Internet connection – that’s a big statement. Brands who make it easy to interact with customers online will be the ones who win Generation Z’s attention. Social media should be open and accepting of customer service messages. An AI chatbox implemented into your web design is another smart move. Having a developed web presence with the objective of being attentive and responsive is the goal here.

What should my brand’s social statement be and how does this help my marketing?

More than millennials, youth under-24 are making decisions based on a brand’s impact on society. This could from environmental, cultural, social, or political perspectives. They don’t want to buy from companies that aren’t passionate about change in the world.

If you aren’t already connected to a charity organization, charity initiative, or haven’t made efforts to be eco-friendly, sustainable, or socially conscious, do so.

Generation Z is arguably smarter, more aware, and more astute in the observations than previous generations. They’ve seen 9/11 and terrorism, gun violence, racism towards minorities, discrimination towards sexual preferences and gender, and more. For better or for worse, they know how the world works. They’re not happy about it and want change. If you can show Generation Z you’re active and participating in change, that will mean a lot.

Where do we go from here?

Let’s be clear. The world is changing but it hasn’t changed yet. Very early on in this decade though, we will see a clear shift from millennials to youths under-24 in Generation Z. The work put in today is going to set you up for a prosperous future. If you’re already marketing to younger people, you’re already seeing this change.

Every generation – boomers, Generation X, millennials, and now Generation Z – have differentiated themselves from those who came before them. There’s a specific way to market towards each generation and the power that Generation Z holds in the marketplace will only grow from here. Cater to them and ready yourself for change. To stay relevant, competitive, and successful, it’s the only way forward for a youth-centric brand.