Know Your Audience: Millennials and Gen Z Trends
When marketing and growing a business, it’s easy to think of ‘consumer trends’ as a general topic. However, different companies will experience different trends from their consumers because it all comes down to the target audience. In most cases, younger generations will be looking for different features than older generations.
Today, we want to focus on Millennials and Gen Z. If your target audience contains these two generations, you’re in the right place because we’ve compiled a list of their most intense desires. What do they look for in a business? What are their consumer habits? What will help a business to succeed (and what ensures failure)?
Millennials and Gen Z
Before heading into the trends, we should first clear up what these two terms mean because we’ve seen lots of confusion online. For example, we’ve seen people state that Millennials are born after the new millennium…but this is completely wrong.
- Millennials — Rather than being born in the 21st century, the term ‘Millennials’ describes those who reach their adulthood around this time. Although the birth years of this generation are hotly debated, it generally falls between the early 1980s and mid-1990s.
- Gen Z — On the other hand, Gen Z falls directly after the Millennial generation. Therefore, the birth years are between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. If we think about 2004 and 2005, they might only seem like yesterday to many of us, but those born in these years are now starting to make their own purchasing decisions — this will only grow in the years ahead.
While Millennials are now both sides of 30, Gen Z is generally either side of 20 which means that it’s a consumer base that’s extremely important. They have a different mindset to older generations, and we’re going to see this today with a list of important trends.
Consumer Habits and Trends
Sustainability
How could we start anywhere else? This is the word on the lips of both generations, and it has completely transformed the business world. Both generations are looking for
- Eco-friendly packaging
- Reduced pollution and emissions
- Zero waste
- No more unnecessary plastic
- Recycling
At first, it started with sustainability in the home. Now, it seems consumers are willing to pay more money for products that have been developed by ‘green’ brands. On the flip side, they’re actively avoiding brands that aren’t reducing their carbon footprint. In fact, they’re even steering clear of companies that work with suppliers and other businesses that aren’t making a conscious effort for the environment.
According to Nielsen, US consumers as a whole spent more money on sustainable FMCG products in 2018 than any other year. In just four years, the figure has increased from $107 billion to $129 billion. If the optimistic forecasts are reached, this will continue to rise before eventually hitting $150 billion in 2021.
Thanks to Pinterest, we can also see that searches for terms related to ‘sustainable’ have increased. For example, there was a 265% boost in searches for ‘sustainable living for beginners’ between 2018 and 2019. For this target audience, in particular, it’s been suggested that Gen Z and Millennials are TWICE as likely to make these types of searches than those over the age of 38.
Ultimately, it seems that the two generations in question want to take responsibility for change and really make a difference. From buying eco-friendly products to joining marches in the biggest nations’ capitals, this is a consumer habit right across the Western world and one that cannot be ignored for businesses.
In a recent Forbes article, they broke down the major trends and where consumers were concentrating their efforts. Within the luxury market, the environment took priority with 37%; this was followed up by animal care (27%) and ethical manufacturing (21%). Meanwhile, Millennials in other markets were asked a similar question and the results were almost identical. With 42%, the environment came out as the biggest priority with animal treatment just behind.
This is important knowledge when attempting to understand your audience, but it becomes even more important once you consider that the results for Boomers were completely different. Rather than animal treatment or the environment, the priority for Boomers was ethical manufacturing.
For those who only have a limited budget, this shows where you should be placing your efforts. When trying to get the attention of Millennials, being responsible for the sake of the environment should come first. As well as taking action in your own business, you could support charities and other causes attempting to slow the downward spiral we seem to have created for our planet.
Realism vs Idealism
In our next consumer habit, we’re finding that Gen Z, in particular, wants marketing campaigns that have a foundation in reality. They don’t care about idealized worlds and dream lifestyles that are unattainable; instead, they want to see the truth. After years of brands covering up the negatives and only showing the best sides of themselves, this is an important change.
A word you may have seen in this regard is ‘greenwashing’. Essentially, this is the act of pretending to do more than you’re actually doing to help the environment and go green. If you’re only meeting the minimum standards, don’t position yourself as a leader for sustainability because we’re in a world where everybody knows everything. Sooner or later, it will get out that you aren’t as responsible as you suggested, and your reputation will be hurt forever.
According to many, this trend is growing for both Gen Z and Millennials. They believe that customers and brands should be on the same level and that marketing campaigns should focus on telling the truth and being honest. Why is this the case? It could be because this generation believes that their purchasing decisions say something about them.
In a study in the Boston Consulting Group, around 50% of those aged between 18 and 24 believe that brands reflect their values; for those between 25 and 34, the same figure was 38%.
In summary, we believe you need to be straight with marketing, present your story honestly, and then stick by your story. With this target audience, they want to lead the way to a better environment, so it makes sense to allow them into your journey.
While on this note, we should say that this applies to companies from all industries. Often, businesses think they’re excused because of the space in which they operate…this is not the case. Although the focal point has been on things like food, it’s quickly spreading to clothing and fashion, cars, and more.
With Gen Z and Millennials seeing their purchases as a reflection of their values and beliefs, you have a real opportunity to appeal to this and gain their custom. Stand for a positive cause, introduce new values to the culture of your business, and reap the rewards.
Collaborations
We’ve focused on the two big trends in sustainability and realism in marketing, so let’s finish with three smaller ones. Firstly, Millennials seem to love collaborations between companies and therefore ‘Limited Edition’ products. If we look at the luxury market and handbags as an example, the most in-demand products right now are these rare one-offs. Over time, this has extended to sneakers, clothing, and other industries.
If you can team up with other companies and create a unique product, you might just increase your brand awareness this year.
Resale Value
Secondly, both Gen Z and Millennials now consider resale value before they make purchases. With Millennials, it’s thought that half of these consumers think long-term before spending money and this is an important transition. If you’re in the luxury market, you’ve probably noticed an upward trend in second-hand goods, and this is the reason why. If you can’t offer resale value with products, this may hold you back.
Influencers
Thirdly, these younger consumers are paying attention to what so-called ‘influencers’ are saying on social media. At first, influencers such as YouTubers were disregarded. Now, with the most influential having millions of subscribers, it’s impossible to ignore. If an influencer speaks negatively about your product, there’s potentially hundreds of thousands or millions of people who will steer clear of your brand.
On the other hand, brands who are teaming up with these influencers are enjoying fantastic results.
Conclusion
These are five of the biggest consumer habits; hopefully, you now see why brands are pushing towards eco-friendly packaging, green manufacturing, luxury with resale value, collaborations with other brands, real and honest marketing, and projects with influencers.
If you’re to win over this difficult crowd, you now know what you need to do. For those who make mistakes or choose not to pay attention to these consumer habits, they’re going to be left behind so keep this in mind!
Bonus! Marketing Tools:
2. Bilbi AI: Daily Marketing Campaign Insights
