Born between 1996 and 2010 or aged between 5 to 22 years, generation Z is the first “digital native”. They are Young, bold, tech-savvy, socially-minded, and the creators of various trends on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and other social media platforms. Having grown up with digital devices, personal computers, smartphones, Wi-Fi, etc., they keep up a more significant share in a brand’s overall success than their millennial counterparts. Hence, brands that don’t ignore their power and can connect with them experience massive success, while the businesses that fail to grab their attention have to struggle a lot.
So how do you connect with this digital expert generation? What social sites do they prefer? What are their preferences? What makes them count on one brand but not another? What makes them stick to your business? How will you tailor your marketing strategies to connect with Gen Z?
Here are ten secrets to marketing to Gen Z on Instagram:
- Engage with Gen Zers through Instagram marketing:
An experimental study reveals the fact that Instagram has been the most preferred platform among Gen Zers. Other widespread platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc., are far less prevalent. It simply means that Instagram is the key platform that the brands can use to connect with this demographic effectively.
- Create entertaining and engaging posts:
The next strategy in your Gen Z marketing is to make sure you are entertaining and engaging enough to attract Gen Z’s uncanny knack of filtering content. With their short attention span, you have around 3-4 seconds to tell them why they should stick to you before they move on. And the best way to hold their interests is to entertain them. Consider creating quick and fun videos that can spotlight your brand in an entertaining, engaging, and easily digestible manner.
- Adapt to multiple posts per day approach:
A study has found that, on average, Gen Zers check Instagram 11 times a day. This demographic has an appetite to consume content continually, and a brand that can satisfy this appetite is most likely to triumph on Instagram marketing. Hence, brands should consider switching to the “multiple posts per day” approach from the “one post each day” strategy.
- Connect with your customers through comments and conversations:
Posting on social media is just the start of your marketing journey. Being active and responsive are the other significant steps that take you to your goal. Therefore, make sure to schedule posts for high visibility times so that most of your followers can connect and comment on them. But don’t miss replying to the comments. Even if the statement is harsh or negative, a response is essential to show that you care about your customers. Gen Zers check how actively and positively you reply to comments. The better you respond, the more likely they will connect with your brand.
- Build a community:
The key secret in your Gen Z marketing is to build a digital community. Generation Z is considered to be the loneliest generation. Hence, they love connecting with like-minded individuals. So, the brands that help them connect with authentic and intellectual individuals receive more success than those who don’t facilitate such connections. You can consider hosting webinars with real people or connect with mega-influencers who embody your brand’s values with their social media handles. It could be a reel creator, a thought-leader, a motivational speaker, an artist, an activist, or any such individual.
- Be transparent and realistic:
Being transparent and realistic in your Gen Z marketing strategy is integral. Gen Zers don’t hesitate to do their research, dive deep into a brand’s website, read reviews, scroll through social media feeds and read comments. They prefer realistic content to stylised ones that present an unattainable vision of life. Thus, you should consider posting content that is lifelike, energetic, and aimed at Gen Zers.
- Create influential IGTV Videos and Reels:
Video marketing is the heart and soul of your overall brand promotion campaign. It has been a massive success among Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z alike. Therefore, creating IGTV videos and reels will be the next big step in engaging Gen Z and driving traffic to your platform. While IGTV videos are highly successful in engaging Gen Z, creating short videos for reels should be your key Instagram marketing strategy. You can consider making varying lengths of how-to guides, tutorials, explainer videos, etc., post on your Instagram handles and share the same across the other popular platforms.
- Provide a mobile-friendly experience:
It is an open secret that Gen Zers prefer surfing social media sites with their cell phones over any other device. Thus, to engage this demographic successfully, you must consider implementing this generation Z marketing tactic. Make sure to provide responsive content that satisfies consumers’ mobile-first approach.
- Maintain a strong privacy and security policy:
Privacy and security have been a prime issue for social media users, especially generation Z, over the past few years. Therefore, brands aiming at this demographic should be transparent and reliable about collecting information from consumers and what they do with it. You can consider sending notifications to customers about maintaining their privacy. It is most likely the best way you can win over Generation Z.
- Measure your marketing performance constantly:
Invest in a genuine Instagram analytics platform to assess the performance of your marketing strategy. If you have data that provides insight into followers’ growth, content reach, engagement, marketing performance, and more, you can easily adjust accordingly.
Conclusion:
Generation Z has around $50 billion in buying power at present. And they are considered to be the key demographic for brands in the coming years. Therefore, brands must consider marketing to Gen Z. By following these ten little-known secrets, Instagram marketers can effectively craft a successful campaign that will engage this demographic. Remember producing “realistic” content resonates better with Gen-Zs than overly stylised content.