Kate Box
Kate Box, Retail Director, Meta Australia
In today’s fast-paced world, Gen Z consumers are driving a shopping transformation guided by their values-driven decision-making framework. This tech-savvy group uses social platforms to shop and expects brands to embrace diversity and inspire trust both online and in-store. Marketers beware: Here’s how to adjust your strategy accordingly.
Personalize and entertain
For Gen Z shoppers, it is important that the ads they see are relevant and personal to their lived experience. In a recent Ipsos survey[1]just over half of all Gen Zers said they want to receive personalized recommendations from the brands and retailers they choose to connect with. Hence, there is a great reluctance to send them ads that have little or no relevance.
Gen Z consumers are also looking for an enhanced shopping experience with augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) elements that can be shared on social media. Almost half of this group want to get creative and create virtual products in collaboration with brands or social media creators and influencers, whether in person or online.[2]
Take Hyundai for example, the car brand tested the effects of adding augmented reality ads to their usual Facebook and Instagram video ads and found that the filter significantly improved brand metrics, resulting in a 12.5-point increase in the Default ad reminder contributed.
Prioritize authentic advertising content
Gen Z wants brands to foster an inclusive environment by emphasizing diversity in advertising[3]. Being trustworthy, authentic and informative are the most important attributes of content posted for Gen Z.
For these buyers, it is important that a brand shares the same values and beliefs as they do and that they express their personality and style. Brand marketing content should also be trustworthy, authentic, and transparent, as Gen Z will typically discover and evaluate brands and products based on these criteria.
Among other areas of passion, sustainability plays a huge role for Gen Z consumers in deciding which brands to support. For example, KitKat Australia promoted a new sustainability initiative in Australia with Facebook in-stream video ads, resulting in an incremental 7.7 score increase in awareness of its recyclable packaging.
Build trust through Creators
In order for brands to compete with this generation of socially conscious shoppers, creators play a crucial role. Half of Gen Z recipients (58 percent)[4] When asked about their relationships with brands, they felt more connected to brands that work with a more diverse group of creators. They also felt that brands that do this understand them better.
Kate Gildea, Enterprise Marketing & Data Director, Australia & New Zealand at Estée Lauder, notes that creators are an integral part of Estée Lauder’s marketing strategy and are endemic to the beauty industry. At any point in time, the company has numerous contracted creators leveraged across earned and paid media touchpoints. As a global brand, Estée Lauder can partner with local creators like @deborahsymondoneil to build credibility in local markets.
The value of the connection
Research also shows that half of Gen Z (55 percent)[5] consider it important that brands engage with them on social media and are almost twice as likely to find it important for a brand or retailer to acknowledge their social media posts about their shopping experience.
This need for connection, representation and engagement stems from Gen Z’s willingness to share their online shopping experiences with their friends and seek their advice when making purchasing decisions. They don’t want to give props to a brand or retailer on their social network if the brand engages in activities or behavior that reflects badly on them, assuming their recommendation is also an endorsement of that behavior.
Physical and virtual stores should complement each other
Stores remain an important part of the shopping journey as young shoppers constantly alternate between online and in-store touchpoints. Most Gen Z shoppers use online resources to do research before going to a store, while nearly two-thirds use online resources to do in-store research[6].
Sydney-based handmade lollipop company, Sticky, uses live stream and video capabilities on Facebook and Instagram to share its adorable candy-making process with its customers, ultimately leading to an influx of online shoppers and customers who are eager to visit their shop in -person. By bridging the two shopping experiences, Sticky has built a loyal customer base, many of them Gen Z.
In today’s world, customer priorities are constantly changing, and marketing must evolve to meet these new expectations. Consider incorporating one of these strategies into your next marketing campaign to reach more Gen Z consumers.
[1] Ipsos Retail Future of Shopping study (meta-commissioned online survey of 162 retail shoppers aged 18-24, AU, March 2022)
[2] Ipsos Retail Future of Shopping study (meta-commissioned online survey of 162 retail shoppers aged 18-24, AU, March 2022)
[3] Impact of Creator Marketing on Brand Building and Shopping’ study by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 250 people aged 18-24, weekly Facebook and/or Instagram users, YouTuber followers, AU, September 2021 ).
[4] Impact of Creator Marketing on Brand Building and Shopping’ study by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 250 people aged 18-24, weekly Facebook and/or Instagram users, YouTuber followers, AU, September 2021 ).
[5] Transformation of the in-store experience” study by HarrisX (Facebook-commissioned online survey of 205 retail shoppers aged 18-24 in Australia, September 2021
[6] HarrisX “Transformation of the in-store experience” study (Facebook-commissioned online survey of 205 retail shoppers aged 18-24, AU, September 2021)
