Gen Z Statistics For Your Marketing Strategy

Gen Z Statistics For Your Marketing Strategy, Move over millennials, there’s a new demographic in town – Generation Z. They might be the youngest generation (anyone born after 1996), but they’re also the first generation to be born into a world powered by the internet and smartphones.

Knowing what makes Gen Z different from other generations and what’s the same about them can help you target your marketing efforts. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some stats about Gen Z and how you can use those stats to boost your marketing strategy.

Who Is Gen Z?

In the U.S., around 68 million people are part of Generation Z or around 21% of the country’s population. While some members of Gen Z were born when 9/11 happened and at the start of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, they were too young to have much memory of those events. They have, however, felt the aftereffects of those events, from higher security at airports to increased surveillance everywhere.

Compared to previous generations, Gen Z is more racially and ethnically diverse, the Pew Research Center points out. One-quarter of Gen Z are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian and 5% are mixed race. Along with being more diverse, members of Gen Z are also more likely to have been born to parents who immigrated to the U.S.

Gen Z is also on track to be one of the most educated generations ever. In 2017, 80% of Gen Z members between the ages of 18 and 20 had graduated from high school. More than half of 18 to 20-year-olds were enrolled in college, compared to 34% of millennials and 28% of Generation X at the same age.

What Does Gen Z Do?

If you go looking for Gen Z on Facebook, you’re not going to find much. It’s become a social media platform mostly used by the old. No teenager or twenty-something wants to hang out where their parents are.

The three most popular social media apps with Gen Z are TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. More than two-thirds of Gen Z say they use TikTok and 16% say they use it constantly. Around 60% of Gen Z teenagers are also on Instagram and Snapchat.

Gen Z also likes to hang out on YouTube. Pew Research Center also found that 95% of teens use YouTube and about 20% of them are on it constantly.

Perhaps due to the video lengths on TikTok or shortening attention spans, the majority of Gen Z prefer short video content over long-form content. Sixty-one percent said they preferred watching videos under one minute in length.

The takeaway here? If you want to reach Gen Z, make your videos short and sweet and put them on TikTok or YouTube.

How Does Gen Z Get Online?

The days of fighting over the family computer in the living room are done. Gen Z is more likely to get online using their smartphone. Smartphone ownership remains pretty constant regardless of family income. Pew Research Center again states that 93% of teens from households earning less than $30,000 annually have a smartphone, compared to 96% of teens from homes earning more than $75,000 annually.

The takeaway? Make your content mobile-ready to reach the widest swath of Gen Z.

Where Does Gen Z Shop?

Given how much time they spend on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms is it any surprise that Gen Z has embraced social shopping? Nearly three-quarters of Gen Z shoppers shop from their smartphone or tablet and 83% start shopping from their social media feeds.

Gen Z is a bit wary of brands and marketing though, and they crave authenticity (which explains the popularity of apps like BeReal). They’re more likely to respond to posts from influencers than to sponsored ads or celebrity posts.

The takeaway? If you want to reach Gen Z, connect with the people they trust,

What Does Gen Z Care About?

Compared to older generations, Gen Z tends to be more progressive and invested in social issues. Climate change is a big concern for this generation. Some Gen Zers take a darker view of the future of the planet than others. About half say they believe the future of humanity is doomed. Unlike previous generations, who might have been more apathetic, Gen Z is passionate about taking a stand and fighting for a better future.

Nearly one-third of Gen Z has taken action on climate change in the past year, with 45% saying they engaged with climate change action content on social media.

Gen Z’s activism and concern for climate change cross party lines. While more Gen Zers are Democrats than Republicans, younger members of the Republican party are more likely to say that climate change is an issue that needs to be acted upon.

Because they are concerned about climate change and their future, Gen Z is more likely to seek out brands that are sustainable or that take a public stance against climate change.

Gen Z is also more likely to be invested in social justice than in previous generations. Two-thirds of Gen Z believe that Black people are treated less fairly than white people in the U.S., compared to half of Gen X and Boomers. They are also more likely to support same-sex marriage, stating that it’s good for society, and to believe that gender options should go beyond “man” and “woman.”

The takeaway? To reach Gen Z, show them that you understand their concerns and that your brand aligns with what matters to them.

How to Reach Gen Z

Gen Z Statistics For Your Marketing Strategy, Gen Z craves authenticity and can smell a phony marketing scam a mile away. To connect with the youngest generation. Be prepared to show them that you get it and you take their concerns seriously.

Also, go where they are. If you’re posting on Facebook trying to connect with teens, your marketing efforts will come up dry. Use a format they prefer. Such as short-form videos.

And, although Gen Z cares about serious issues. Don’t be afraid to inject some fun and humor into your content – everyone needs a laugh now and then.

If you need assistance connecting your marketing efforts with Gen Z, reach out to a digital marketing agency that can help you craft a strategy that appeals to today’s teens and twentysomethings.