Steal These Tips To Reach Generation Z
If you are serious about taking your startup into the future, I’m sure you’ve already read the thousands of articles written about millennials.
But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I want to know if you are ready to take on the next generation that is just joining the workforce.
That’s right.
Generation Z is on the way up and not only are they beginning to enter the workforce but in the United States Gen Z makes up 25% of the population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
So what is Generation Z?
They are the cohort after the wildly crazed Millennials. These are children born roughly between 1996 and 2011 of Generation X, but most are born from Millennials. They were born with technology, grew up with technology and find friendships within technology.
Why does this matter to you?
If you are a company, startup, brand or anyone who is interested in bringing ideas into the future you will have to know what it takes to reach this generation, how to engage with them and how to give them what they crave.
Not sure how to do it?
Let me share with you 3 smart techniques for reaching Gen Z that you’ll see many smart marketers use in the coming months.
Smart Technique #1 — Find laser focused areas where you can build a community.
You’ve heard of Ambassador programs, right?
Turn them into Reps and you have high quality community right within your brand. Brand Reps and Ambassador programs have been around for a while but the concept really blew up with Instagram in 2015.
Throughout the last year, I’ve seen hundreds of ambassadors in dozens of different industries participate in brand ambassador or rep programs, skyrocket their online followings and fill the banks of the brands on top.
It’s one of the fastest ways to not only build a community to enhance your brand image and influence in your niche.
You might have seen images like this one in Instagram in the last few months.
Last year for International Handstand Day, I had reached out to our very first Ambassador (who we asked to help manage our Instagram account) to post about our search. Not only does this give the brand a very laser sharp target but it also gives that ambassador a boost being connected to a larger brand.
Finding honest ambassadors can help you widen your reach, humanize your brand to create trust, and increase your presence online.
Not all ambassadors need to have thousands of followers, even those that have less but highly engagable content are worth collaborating with.
Here’s how it works:
- Pick one segment of people you would like to reach. (I.e. Young females who are interested in singing karaoke🎤)
- Decide which of your products/service you would like to promote and for how long. (30 days of your 3D printed fidget spinners)
- Search Instagram & Youtube for those in your segment and reach out to include in the program.
- Conduct interviews for your own social media while ambassador creates their own content.
- All Ambassdors promote your products while you promote them.
Looking at an Ambassador program is not just a one way street. You can’t automatically expect someone to do something without any return. There are plenty of other ways you can provide even more value to them and I believe you can find some inspiring ways.
Here is an example of what I did with a little crafting fun and a minimal budget of only $80.
Send snail mail with little tokens of appreciation.
I re-purposed ambassador content which also attracted more ambassadors. 😎
I know what you’re thinking, oh that’s not that many views or comments.
I get it.
But this community building isn’t about views or comments. It’s all about bringing people together for one common cause. Much of the conversation happens in DM where people ask how they can become an ambassador too.
Not sharing that conversation, though, that’s sacred.
Smart Technique #2 — Lead from your heart.
With this upcoming generation, authenticity and transparency are two ideals that they value highly. Brands that are able to communicate with an open, unfiltered way tend to do better with young people.
If you are building a product or service, share how it’s made. Share why it’s made and why it matters.
This generation knows how to navigate the digital world and find out the truth behind the way things work. They are not naive.
They want to support causes that make a difference for good. For example, when I decided to make International Handstand Day a larger global celebration we had to find an underlying reason why handstands were awesome. When we came together, we realised that anyone can do a handstand it doesn’t matter what race you are, gender or even what species you were. Handstands don’t discriminate.
It only takes balance, strength & believe in oneself to do it. We came up with our slogan to balance diversity with strength to make the world a better place.
I would like to think that people caught on to our handstand idea because handstands are a lot of fun but I think the core message was what fueled the inspiration to get everyone around the globe to join.
Smart Technique #3 — Make sure mobile load times are faster than you can say burrito 🌯
My phone is one of my favourite tools for research. In the past week, I’ve sent google over 70 requests to search. My curiosity over runs any load time where I’ll usually send the site owner a message if it’s more than 7 seconds. But Gen Z uses their phones more than any other group we’ve seen.
Test your site on a variety of screens, and also pay attention to mobile load time. If I’m one of the oldest Millenials complaining about 7 seconds just imagine what it’s like for a teenager.
Wrapping Up, I promise.
Understanding the next generation is more important than ever before.They are also hugely influential and drive millions of dollars in indirect and direct purchases.
The tips I’ve shared in this post are already being used by some of the best marketers on the planet. Making them a part of your marketing and community building strategy will surely help you move your business forwards in the future.
What have you noticed about Generation Z and what are you doing right now to reach them?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
AND
If you’re at a startup who is trying to reach Gen Z, I would love to come in to meet with you and the growth team. I’m happy to brainstorm with you ideas, share my tools & give you all my secrets. ✨
