As Millennials and Generation Z start becoming the leading consumers, their habits are going to change the way that businesses market, promote and sell their products.
#1. Here is all you need to know about Millennials
Millennials are defined as anyone born between 1977 and 1994.
Currently, millennials are expected to have a buying power of $200 billion by 2017 and a lifetime buying power of $10 trillion. Yes, trillion.
This should definitely make Millennials one of your go-to target markets, especially if you want your brand to still be in existence in the coming years.
Many brands make the mistake of signing up to Facebook and Instagram and thinking that is all that is needed to reach millennials, but this is just not true.
Millennials are all about the connection, and unless you can connect with Millennials on a more personal level, chances are you are not going to win over their affection.
Millennials favour companies that stand for a social cause and give back to the community in some way. They also prefer to do business with companies that are ethical and have philosophies that resonate with their own.
Millennials are also extremely tech savvy and 80 percent of millennials have reported that they use their smartphones while watching TV. Many Millennials also use their smartphones while shopping, in order to find reviews of products and compare prices.
While Millennials may be glued to their phones, they are extremely brand loyal and statistics show that 70 percent of them will come back to a brand that they love
#2. Generation Z
Generation Z is defined as anyone born between 1995 and 2012. Even though this generational group is still relatively young, they already have immense buying power.
In just a few short years, Gen Z is going to be where Millennials are now, which means that brands really need to start paying attention to what this generation is all about.
This is especially true seeing that by 2020, Gen Z is going to make up nearly 40 percent of all consumers.
Just like Millennials, Gen Z are extremely tech savvy and most of them have never even known a world with no internet. Research is also already showing that Gen Z’s have a very short attention span of just 8 seconds( and for that I will write a bit more later).
#3. The Motives and Drives of Millennials Vs. Generation Z
Millennials are looking for brands that make a connection and resonate with their philosophy in some way, but Gen Z put an even greater emphasis on humanitarian causes. So they both are driven from the desire to bond, to form community and relationships, to create sustainability and well being. To be part of a TRIBE.
60 percent of Generation Z want to impact or change the world and currently, 26 percent of them volunteer. Another 76 percent of them are concerned about the environment and humanity at large.
All of these statistics are significantly higher than Millennials who don’t seem to be as concerned with the state of the world. In fact, only 39 percent of Millennials state that they want to impact or change the world.
Both Millennials and Gen Z are also big into the idea of entrepreneurship, which means that innovative brands and companies that go against the corporate structure are likely to stand out.
This should already be starting to give you some ideas on how to make your marketing more effective to Millennials and Gen Z’s, but let’s continue to look at this more….
#4. The Creative Business Storytelling for Millennials Vs. Generation Z
Web Video, Film and Tv Series are the most desired medium for both generations.
Both Millennials and Gen Z are big on spending money on experiences rather than things.
Storytelling which puts Both Millennials and Gen Z as hero of the story, with plots which are rebellious, outrages and against the status quo will always be interesting for Both Millennials and Gen Z.
Stories which exploit clashes of values like social injustice vs justice, freedom vs slavery, corruption vs lawful, environmental sustainability vs environmental destruction will be always engaging and will hook the attention of both generations.
Stories for companies which promote well being, green economies and organic and cruelty free practices will win the hearts and minds of Gen Z.
#5. The death of the AD
Gen Z and Millennials are also big against ads and prefer more of an indirect marketing approach. In fact over 61 percent of Millennials have some type of ad blocking software and are less likely to trust gimmicky ads or sales tactics.
The death of the AD creates a huge opportunity for those who master the art of creative business storytelling where customers connect with the brand in healthy relationship with open dialogue and honest and authentic conversation.
#6. ENTERTAIN THEM
If you want to be a driving force for Millennials and Gen Z, your brand has to communicate its message while entertaining.
If you want to be a driving force for Millennials and Gen Z, your brand has to become a media providing Millennials and Gen Z with creative valuable content, targeting their pains, fears, desires and dreams.
If you do this there won't be any issue with the overrated attention span etc. The real problem is not the shorten attention span of Both Millennials and Gen Z but their hunger for interesting and constantly changing content.
Novelty—the presence of new sensory data—is critical if you want to attract and maintain attention over a long period of time. One of the reasons people can focus on playing games or surfing the Internet for hours at a time is novelty—every new viral video, blog post, Facebook update, Twitter post, and news report reengages our ability to pay attention
#7. What Is Attention?
Have attention by creating desire and tension—you’re ready!
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter of desire.
Norepinephrine is the neurotransmitter of tension.
Together they add up to attention. If you want someone’s undivided, fully engaged attention, you have to provide these two neurotransmitters. These two chemicals work together—you need them both to be coursing through the crocodile brain of the target. But each has a different triggering mechanism.
To give a dopamine kick and create desire, offer a reward.
To give a norepinephrine kick and create tension, take something away and bring high stakes for loss/win situation.
Conclusion
Your content has to be storified and dramatized in order to grab attention, hold interest, create desire and pay off with meaningful and emotional experience which to inspire, provoke and motivate both of generations to act.
Both of these generations are becoming huge super players and will be driving a lot of decisions on how brands and products are marketed and sold.
Your brand has to stand for a bigger social cause, even if this is just being more environmentally friendly or conscious in some way.
You have to make your content visual and accessible on platforms beyond just Facebook- think Vine, YouTube and Instagram.
You have to think outside the box and sell the experience not just the product.You have to ditch the cheesy sales tactics and instead offer value and quality that aims to build a trusting relationship.You have to appeal to the entrepreneurial spirit and use this as a philosophy for your brand in whatever way fits.
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