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Three Things You Need To Know About Marketing To Gen Z Women

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Girl Up

A new study suggests that marketing your brand to young women from Generation Z, (Gen Z) which includes ages 14 to 19, might require a fresh approach. This new generation of young women were born into a world of connectivity, which makes them brand savvy, socially conscious consumers who are immune to online influencers.

The study was published by Girl Up, the UN Foundation organization that I volunteer at, which works to empower young women worldwide. The findings are based on a survey of 3,500 young women aged 14 to 19 from the United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Spain, Mexico, and Colombia.

“We really wanted to share what Gen Z girls think, how they respond and how they want the world to respond to them. So, it very much was born out of this idea of sharing their message,” says Anna Blue, Co-Director of Girl Up.

The report also highlights comparisons to previous generations. Melissa Kliby, Co-Director of Girl Up says this feature of the study will help organizations to separate Gen Z from Millennials. “We hear partners and brands constantly say that they missed the mark on Millennials and they don't want to do that with Gen Z,” says Kilby.

I recently sat down with Girl Up Co-Directors, Blue and Kilby to discuss the report and uncover what the findings mean for businesses wanting to target the next generation of young women. Here they share three things that organizations need to know about marketing to Gen Z women.

  1. Social Impact Is The Key To Buying Power

One of the important takeaways from the survey is how strongly brand value is tied to social impact, for Generation Z women. For example, the survey finds that 65 percent of respondents expect brands to take a stand on social issues and more than half of respondents believe that social values influence their purchasing decisions.

“The brands that they're interested in and the perception of those brands all have to do with social values, which is unique to this generation. Connecting the environmental and sustainability impact of your brand with the social values of your product is very important to Gen Z,” says Anna Blue.

For Gen Z women, their purchasing power is a tool for activism. For example, 65 percent of respondents believe that it is important to buy brands that give back to the community and 72 percent think it's imperative to purchase brands that are environmentally friendly.

“I think purchasing as activism is a new-new concept. I think many generations certainly like supporting a company that does good, but Gen Z see this as very much inherent to who they are as activists,” says Melisa Kilby.

  1. Influencers Are Not As Influential As You Think

Brands often use the support of influential people to promote their product because it is believed that consumers will see influencers as trusted sources of information. “A lot of brands pay people a lot of money to be influencers on social media. This generation has kind of started to see through that a little bit. Only about 50 percent of them think that celebrities are a trusted source of information, because they understand that influencers are getting paid,” says Blue.

While influencer marketing may have been the standard approach for promoting your brand with Millennials, the report finds this only accounts for 22 percent of purchasing decisions with Gen Z consumers. However, family and friends influence 58 percent of product purchases. “I think this is because Gen Z has grown up with social media and so they just see it differently,” says Kilby.

  1. Authenticity Breeds Brand Loyalty

Given the limited impact influences have on Gen Z's purchasing decisions, it is no surprise that the report finds authenticity is key to building brand loyalty for Gen Z customers. This means that traditional advertising is simply not going to cut it. “They look at brands through a very different lens, and it is really important for marketing departments to understand that. This generation is coming at everything from a really unique perspective, because they place a huge amount of value on authenticity,” says Kilby.

Being clear about what your brand stands for is likely to pay off. For example, the survey finds that 54 percent of respondents will actively seek out and interact with brands that they like and trust on social media. “They have access to all of this information online. Even starting from a young age, they know how to process and decipher brands. Authenticity for them is a really big deal,” says Blue.

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