Are Young Audiences all the Same? The Marketing Tips to Attract Millennials and Gen Z
Are all young people the same? What is the definition of “young people” for the enterprise? With the constant change of consumer behavior and technology trends, what marketers need to understand is how to accurately use marketing strategies on young people.
Why do we need to know the difference between Gen Y and Gen Z?
Gen Y, or Millennials, refers to the generation born between 1981 and 1996, which is between 24 to 39 years old this year in 2020. Gen Z refers to those born between 1997 and 2012 and aged 8 to 23 this year.
The youngest Millennials have entered the workplace and gradually got their financial independence, and therefore young people become the main target for sales. However, when companies are focusing on younger audiences, they usually classify 18 to 35-year-old as the same type of “young people” and use the same marketing methods to promote their brands.
Gen Y and Gen Z have different upbringing environments that shape their different consumption viewpoints, content preferences, or platforms for receiving information. Therefore, today we will segment young people into two generations and compare their differences from various aspects, and summarize the key marketing tips for these two groups.
Compare from different aspects
- Technological point of view
In Taiwan, Gen Y grew up watching dial-up networks replaced by broadband network and wifi; from videotapes, MP3, CD/DVD to streaming services; from keyboard phones to smartphones, among other major changes. That being said, Gen Y has been through the growth and advancement of technology. They can both make good use of existing technology and adapt to the new and rapidly-changing technologies.
Generation Z, on the other hand, owns the most advanced technology since they were born. It is not uncommon to see kids playing smartphones or iPads in their cradles and rely on wifi. Technology products have been an essential part of their daily lives since they were kids, and that also influence their consumption and social life.
2. Consumer behavior and brand choices
Both Gen Y and Gen Z are heavy mobile phone and social media users. However, Gen Y spends an average of 7.5 hours a day on the Internet, while Gen Z spends nearly 10 hours, of which 71% of Gen Z watch videos on mobile phones and 51% use social media.
Therefore, Gen Z’s way of consumption is deeply influenced by Internet habits. The proportion of Gen Y young people who use mobile phones to shop online has reached 71%, Gen Z young people’s mobile shopping are yet twice as high as those of Gen Y.
In terms of economic capability, the consumption capability of Gen Z is relatively limited than Gen Y. Therefore, Gen Z prefers brands that provide discounts or additional services. 74% of Gen Z prefer brands that offer free shipping, discount coupons, or other discounts. When brands are doing marketing, they also need to spend more time convincing Gen Z why it’s worth paying for this product.
3. Advertising and marketing content preferences
(1) Young people love audiovisual content and mobile-first content
Both generations love online audiovisual content. Gen Y spends an average of 2.4 hours a day watching videos, while Gen Z spends an average of 3.5 hours. This is why mobile-first content has always been the top priority for enterprises, including mobile shopping (Mobile Commerce), videos viewed on mobile phones, social media content, and mobile-friendly marketing campaigns.
(2) Detailed marketing content for Gen Y; brief and accurate product information for the Gen Z
Gen Y spends an average of 12 seconds watching each marketing content or ads, while Gen Z spends an average of 8 seconds to focus on them.
In addition, Gen Y is willing to spend more time reviewing in-depth marketing content, therefore, more detailed instructions or audio-visual content are preferred. At the same time, whether it is ordinary online advertising or social marketing can both attract Gen Y.
On the contrary, Gen Z likes to quickly and clearly see the focus of products or activities, such as posts and short videos on social media. The recent rise of TikTok is particularly popular with Gen Z, with 41% of users between 16 and 24 years old. In addition, marketing through influencers is also one of the strategies that Gen Z prefers to know the products. It’s worth noting that, for Gen Z, try to provide “useful” information instead of overtly-commercial advertisements, since about 84% of Gen Z will immediately turn off the ads or use ad-blocking plug-ins as soon as they see an ad popping out.
Read more: The Last Chance to Ace in Digital Transformation
4. The characteristics of the millennials: love new things and love sharing
Gen Y has experienced the rapid change of the Internet and technology, and therefore can adapt to the rapidly changing environment, which reflects two important characteristics: they like to try new things, and they also like to share their feedback. These two characteristics have contributed to the rapid rise of the “sharing economy”. For example, brands such as Airbnb, Uber, and other common “member-get-member” rules for users to share and get discounts.
Gen Y likes to share. Relatively speaking, they tend to trust the comment of brands on the Internet and they used to do research before purchase. Therefore, the brand image on the Internet is also worth focusing on.
Read More: [Member-Get-Member] Your Customers, Your Super Marketers
5. Social media habits
From the “2019 Taiwan Internet Report” released by the Taiwan Internet Information Center, the most used social media in Taiwan is Facebook, which is 98.8% usage rate. Most users are mainly office workers aged 25–34, followed by the middle-generation group of 35–44 years old and the group of 18–24 years old.
The second most used social media is Instagram, which has a usage rate of 38.8%. The age group is obviously lower, with mainly young generations aged 12 to 34; the usage rate of users aged 12 to 14 is as high as 65.2%. In addition, users of PTT, an online discussion board, and Dcard, an online forum for university students are also obviously used by the younger generation. PTT users are mainly 20–40 years old, and Dcard users are mainly 15–30 years old.
When conducting social marketing, companies need to make good use of data. Start with knowing the percentage and source of target audiences on different social platforms, in order to more accurately reach the most target consumers.
Read more: Measurement & Report — Analyze your Customers in all Directions
Conclusion: The key of millennials and Gen Z marketing
1. Millennials (Gen Y):
- Pay more attention to ads.
- Mobile-friendly content.
- High adaptability towards various marketing strategies (you can try more, such as longer videos or content.)
- Willing to try new products and share them.
- Spend time to collect product information and online reviews before purchasing.
- Focus on the content about how the product can help consumers and solve their problems.
- Social platforms focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
2. Gen Z:
- Used to shop on their phones, and thus the mobile-friendly experience is important.
- Marketing content must get to the points, showing the consumers that the product is valuable to them.
- Focus on “Short Video Marketing” and “Mobile-friendly Marketing.”
- Provide more additional services (such as free shipping) or discounts.
- Make good use of influencer marketing (such as influencers on social media or Youtuber).
- Social platforms can focus on TikTok, SnapChat or Instagram, etc.
WEBA helps enterprises to digitize and fast-react to the tasks during the pandemic with our various solutions. To know more about the case studies, feel free to visit WEBA website and request a demo! Also, stay tuned to WEBA International where we share updates about WEBA, marketing solutions and case studies!
