Generation Z refers to young adults, teens, and tweens born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the 2010s. In the United States, this generation currently has about $360 billion in disposable income, and more than 7 million Gen Zers are in the workforce.
As more Gen Zers reach adulthood and enter the labor pool, their combined income will increase. Clearly, Gen Z is already a significant economic force and will continue to impact retailing for years. By 2030, Gen Z will account for at least 10% of overall spending in the United States.
The Gen Z Profile
Gen Z differs from other demographic groups in several ways. The first is that Gen Zers like to develop their perception of a brand through research and experience. They are less interested in what the brand has to say about itself.
Generation Z grew up in the recession of 2008, and many came to adulthood during the COVID-19 pandemic. They tend to be savers and investors. About 25% own stocks, many of them through mobile apps.
Personal values drive their purchases and what they believe a product or service is worth. Sustainable and authentic brands are most effective in winning this group’s loyalty. On the other hand, if they don’t like an enterprise’s morals, Gen Zers may boycott the company, despite its quality of service or product.
Gen Zers want to be involved in product design and provide feedback. Indeed, 40% say they provide feedback often.
Personalization is essential to this demographic, and 76.58% of Gen Zers will share personal information with a brand to receive a more personalized experience.
These contemporaries also think about shopping differently than older consumers do. Previous generations may think, “I want cereal, so I’ll go to the grocery store,” or “I want jeans, so I’ll go to a clothing store.” Instead, according to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Gen Z members shop for all sorts of things across all kinds of formats. They may be on Facebook, see an ad, and start shopping. Or they may receive a text and shop. Then, they might go to the grocery store or the clothing store.
Gen Zers expect immediate responses to their inquiries, and 76% believe that a brand’s responsiveness indicates its authenticity.
Their shopping habits and profile create an excellent opportunity for smaller brands that can personalize their products and services and contribute positively to society.
Relationship With Phones
Gen Zers have a different relationship with their mobile phones than other generations. According to a McKinsey report, they shop more on their phones than previous generations do. They also view their phone differently: For them, the phone isn’t a new, exciting object to use; it’s simply a tool they’ve always had.
This age group spends an average of five hours a day online using their phones. About a quarter of them spend more than 10 hours daily on their phones. Almost one-third would feel lost if they were away from their phone for 30 minutes or less. Nearly three-fourths use their smartphones for texting and chatting. Most of Generation Z gets their news from apps.
Gen Z members first learn about products or services by phone, either through the brand’s apps or social media. They lobby for ease of making purchases through their phones, especially integrating payment methods. Their preferred communication method varies by the type of transaction. Two-thirds of them prefer text messaging rather than emails when responding to quick questions and during e-commerce transactions, according to a Mitto 2022 study. SMS is also the preferred channel for pay-by-link payments.
Gen Zers have short attention spans for ads, and many will avoid online ads at all costs. Almost half of them have installed ad-blocking technology on their phones, saying the ads slow their phone and interrupt them.
Text Marketing and Gen Z
Omnichannel messaging is clearly vital to Gen Zers who use apps, social media, SMS, and many other channels. Creating a coherent brand story across all channels is critical to gaining this generation’s trust.
Marketing to Generation Z is most effective when done in short, digestible chunks. Because of Gen Z’s emphasis on values, brands must quickly articulate what their brand stands for and how it can improve their lives.
Text marketing is one of the most effective ways to market to Gen Z. For one thing, they read their texts — and they do so quickly. The Mitto study found that 44% of Gen Zers look at texts within one minute of receiving a notification, which is a much faster rate than any previous generation.
Gen Zers also frequently use text messaging when conversing with their friends; conversational messaging is familiar to them. Conversational messaging on SMS helps build a relationship with the customer and makes the brand feel authentic. It also allows for interaction with the customer, which promotes brand loyalty. Conversational messaging also allows Gen Zers to provide product feedback, which is important to them.
Text marketing is also a way to personalize the message. Personalization is a crucial factor in gaining the loyalty of Generation Z customers. Indeed, about two-thirds of Gen Z shoppers will buy a product if they can personalize it.
Effective SMS Campaigns
Effective SMS campaigns for Gen Zers will include several elements. These campaigns should talk about the brand’s values; provide incentives, such as discounts or personalized product recommendations; engage the customer in two-way communication, including asking for their feedback; have short messages the customer can read and digest in fewer than eight seconds; use conversational messaging; and present the same value messages in texts as in other channels.
Importance of Technology in Text Marketing
Delivering effective SMS campaigns that coincide with brand messaging across other channels requires an omnichannel strategy and an omnichannel software solution.
An omnichannel messaging platform allows brands to tell their brand stories to their Gen Z customers through text, social media, apps, chatbots, and retail stores — essentially, all the places these customers shop.
An omnichannel platform helps automate the communication process and provides analytics to help the brand hone its messages and delivery. It can also help brands leverage data to create personalized experiences that will appeal to this demographic. An omnichannel platform, such as the one Mitto has created, can also save the company money by automatically routing messages to the best channel based on the type of message and its priority.
The mission of platforms like Mitto is to ensure businesses of all sizes have the tools to market their brands effectively to Gen Z. Formed in 2013, Mitto wants every brand to be able to communicate effectively and develop excellent long-term relationships with all its customers, including Gen Zers. Mitto also wants each brand to be able to evolve its strategy with each new generation. Gen Z differs from previous generations in several ways, including values, savings, shopping habits, and communication. If Gen Z has taught brands one thing, it’s that they must meet customers where they are, not where they wish them to be. Mitto’s omnichannel resources can help brands reach out to Gen Zers where they are and be agile enough to pivot as needed to reach future generations.
