How Should Brands Approach Gen Z?

This is what the Khoros and Talkwalker customer engagement and social intelligence digital platforms tackled in a report released last month. Here are the lessons to be learned.

By exploiting data and insights from Khoros and Talkwalker technologies, this report focuses on the growing importance of Gen Z, that is, people born between 1997 and 2012, as a force for economic impact. How does it behave online and what is a successful customer experience? Elements of response.

1. A generation with significant economic power

The report points out that these digital natives represent purchasing power ranging from $29 billion to $143 billion per year. From this point of view, they exert a strong influence on brands and other generations.

2. The generation of emerging platforms

Their influence on the social media sphere is very important, since they are often this generation that, through their adoption, create emerging platforms.

The study emphasizes the importance of sharing their opinions with a larger audience and connecting with other people. For brands, the strategy is obviously to ensure a presence on these new applications. We will obviously remember the TikTok application for videos or Clubhouse for audio.

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3. The rise of “buy now, pay later”

The pandemic has changed the way consumers buy, and for Gen Z, convenience and accessibility are key. Online shopping experiences continue to grow, and new payment methods such as “buy now, pay later” (e.g., Afterpay) have gained popularity.

The analysis conducted by Khoros and Talkwalker found that the past three months make up for 36% of the total “buy now, pay later” conversation occurring within the past year. A consumer habit that is growing and that brands must therefore look to attract these potential new customers.

4. The environmental aspect at the top of the list of concerns

Gen Z cares? Brands should too! Gen Z is indeed a group with socio-political ideas, so it is important to understand the problems that are important to them in order to get them more interested, explains the report.

At the top of this group’s priorities is environmental sustainability, hence the rise of second-hand shopping. Half of them are a fan of it. A tendency to keep in mind for merchants, for example.

Today’s consumers expect brands to offer them personalized experiences throughout their shopping journey. This is especially true for Gen Z who shapes the way other generations engage with brands and spend their money. Social and digital engagement solutions are essential to identify topics of interest for the audience, and to create lasting relationships with customers.”, says Katherine Calvert, Chief Marketing Officer at Khoros.