Photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
By the end of 2021 it was revealed that Facebook (now Meta) was losing young users and teens with the departure pattern expected to accelerate. This piqued the interest of social media marketers and future-focused brands, but largely didn’t shift business as usual. It wasn’t until recent research from Pew (along with other compounding market signals) confirmed not only the departure from Facebook but teens' constant connectivity and engagement with newer channels like TikTok that we started seeing a sharp pick-up in brand activity around Gen Z marketing. The impact has sparked a broader concern around where younger audiences, and Gen Z in particular, are going to be reached and what channels will keep their attention.
Gen Z’s unique demographic and psychographic profile has already been forcing brands to rethink their positioning, messaging and purpose, but what is now just starting to be discussed is the sea change in digital behavior that they are driving and where brands can intersect it.
Social Moves from Entertainment to Core Utility
Arguably one of the biggest headlines of the year for marketers came in the form of the news that TikTok and Instagram were on their way to overtaking Google as the search engine of choice for Gen Zers. With reports saying that “Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers searching on TikTok and Instagram over Google Search and Maps,” many questioned why this would be. Adrienne Sheares, MA put this news to the test and did some surveying of her own. While the focus group learnings are directional, they validate the previous finding.
It isn’t surprising when you take a step back from expected behaviors - why would someone want to sift through links and scan (at least) a page of information to get an answer? TikTok gives clear visual answers presented by peers (who have a level of inherent trust) in a fun, fast and engaging way. As brands think about where they need to be and the evolving nature of content discoverability, social networks and content modeled after TikTok is a shift that will need to be made.
Communities as the New Demographics
With social and TikTok-ityzed content capturing an outsized share of attention these days, many brands are defaulting to building presences on these channels and running the same old pay-for-reach playbook for their ads. To connect with Gen Z, it’s not that simple.
A recent 2022 mid-year update report from Coefficient Capital found that nearly half of Gen Z and Millennials felt most like themselves ‘online’ vs. ‘offline’.
While this is just yet another data point among the many we’ve glossed over about this group, it is quietly profound and explains much about how these groups behave online. Recent studies looking into this group have found they essentially reject mainstream culture and no longer believe it exists. Accordingly, there are a multitude of subcultures being defined on these platforms every day. TikTok themselves have begun preaching along the same lines, declaring that “Subcultures are the new demographics.”
With all this in mind, marketers can’t just fire up the same models they perfected on channels like Facebook or display media. Brands will need to think more deeply about what value they provide specific audiences and if their brand can be additive in these communities vs. interruptive.
Creators Connecting with Consumers
Because identity and community can be fickle in social spaces, brands without a proper strategy are often ignored at best and forced out at worst. This is a big part of the reason we’re seeing major growth in the use of influencers and creators to reach younger audiences. Creator content, even sponsored, often does better on social media than typical branded ads because it is native to the platform(s) and inline with the style and approach consumers are used to versus forced into the feed. Despite this now common knowledge, influencers still feel like an underinvested opportunity for a lot of brands.
A new survey from AdAge and The Harris Poll found that “75% of respondents between ages 18 and 25 said recommendations from influencers impact their decision to make a purchase” (source). This suggests that influencer content has largely taken the place of ratings, reviews, and IRL peer recommendations for this audience. Brands looking to make an impact with this group need to significantly up their consideration of influencer marketing and cast a wide net for creators that resonate with the various communities they are looking to engage with. For brands looking to drive sales through social media, it is equally important to understand the broader sales ecosystem and ensure brand connectivity to influencer-directed retailer paths and Amazon lists.
Commerce and Convenience
Reaching this audience and being perceived positively is one side of the equation for brands, but driving business value and sales beyond influencer affiliate links continues to be top of mind. With the ability to sell directly to consumers through owned commerce platforms meeting the growing need for first party data, we’re seeing a lot of brands turn more toward social as a sales channel. Instead of creating awareness, consideration and conversion content separately, many see social commerce capabilities as an opportunity to achieve all three at once through a commerce-enabled piece of content.
Although enthusiasm for social commerce (in the U.S.) has been slowing a little this year, it is still growing. Not surprisingly, platforms like TikTok are driving behavior with younger audiences and accelerating investment from brands. The bigger advertisers are taking note and seeing value by combining social commerce efforts with brand awareness campaigns, retailer-provided social placements and livestream selling experiments. When this audience is ready to buy, brands need to ensure they are visible and that they allow for purchases or purchase intent actions (like saving a product for later) in the moment as they come across a piece of content.
New Frontiers
Much of what I’ve discussed so far has centered around social media and how differently Gen Z behaves there compared to other groups, but I have to mention the ‘M word’ before I wrap up. Metaverse activations and virtual gaming platforms are starting to catch on with brands looking to create Gen Z focused experiences.
Recently, Walmart made a significant splash launching their extensive Roblox presence. When a company this big invests this much it is a tacit endorsement of a channel’s importance. Many are waiting to see what the Metaverse becomes, but the leading brands driving mindshare with younger audiences are jumping in to explore the currently existing virtual world platforms. In fact, testing may be the point - Walmart’s experience has product experiences, games, live events, and virtual merchandise all as elements of the activation. Surely, all of this won’t work but by trying it all they can get ahead of learning what does and double down. Time will tell if the Metaverse becomes the next internet or not, but the best brands aren’t waiting to find out. Nike, for example, is already looking to Generation Alpha to set their course.
Shifting Perspective
To conclude, it’s worth acknowledging brands that are succeeding with Gen Z already. Morning Consult recently released their comprehensive report on Gen Z’s Favorite Brands for 2022.
Outside of social networks and tech giants, it may be surprising for some to see lots of mainstays - candies, beverages, convenience stores, apparel, etc. What these brands and others succeeding here are getting right goes beyond simply including Gen Z in their briefs (something all brands should be doing if they are not already). They are adapting to major shifts being driven by the new behaviors from this group with an emphasis on culture and social media. Their audience strategies, channel mixes, and commerce models all reflect a new reality that’s becoming more standard every day.
With seemingly everything changing, concern is an understandable response but I would advocate brands think about initial failures or uncertain early steps as key investments in the future. It’s better to begin building a relationship with your future core customer base by trying now than having to awkwardly force your presence into their digital worlds later on.
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