A diverse group of teenagers hugging each other, street style, gen z audience engagement

Why engaging with Gen Z needs authenticity

The influence of Generation Z (Gen Z) is growing. And the key to Gen Z audience engagement is authenticity.

Members of Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — are now entering or preparing to enter the workforce. And their impact on companies has caused quite a stir.

They are bringing their unique ideas and way of doing things to the workplace. These include ideas that are universal to Gen Z or are unique to certain subareas of Gen Z culture.

It’s not new for different generations — like Gen X and Millennials — to influence the way companies do business. The real question is, will Gen Z’s arrival be a good or a bad thing? Will embracing the Gen Z approach lead to a more successful outcome or will it lead to disaster? But mostly importantly, how should brands engage with this group?

What is Gen Z’s impact?

Before we start answering our question about Gen Z audience engagement, let’s start with an introduction. I’m 18 years old and have been working since I was 14. I was a social media manager for Standard Beagle and then a manager at a local Austin, Texas ice cream store. I am Gen Z.

Gen Z culture: Finding the ‘unseriousness’

What exactly is Gen Z culture? Is it teenagers doing 30 second dances in their mansions in LA? Is it making fast-cut edits of literally anything ever to exist? Is it quoting random Internet soundbites religiously? Or is it even calling politicians BRAT?

Yes. All of it, and so much more.

Gen Z culture is finding the “unseriousness” in everything, because what else can we do when we live in a world full of so much negativity?

Gen Z culture is also all about doing it together. As a generation, we are so connected to each other that whether we all agree or disagree, we have the ability to reach each other and create a dialogue on a massive, extensive stage.

We create a context and a narrative together in a way that no other generation has been able to. In large part, this is thanks to the Internet. (There is also the astrological fact that we all have Neptune in Aquarius, but that’s for a different article.)

How culture affects Gen Z audience engagement

Now that we have some grasp on Gen Z culture, how does this apply to marketing and Gen Z audience engagement?

The new marketers

Gen Z makes up approximately 30 percent of the world’s population. They are currently making the jump into the workforce. Right now, nearly half of Gen Z is employed, and about 30 percent are still in school. It’s predicted that Gen Z will make up 30 percent of the entire U.S. workforce by 2030. That means Gen Z members will hold 50 million jobs in the next six years. 

Based on these statistics, Gen Z is on track to dominate the consumer market and will likely take on more roles as marketers. However, older generations are resistant to their new ways of working and demands for work environments. Gen Z workers value honesty from employers and are not afraid to walk away if they feel standards aren’t being met. This mindset has led to the entire generation being labeled as lazy (which is far from the truth). 

As more and more Gen Z members enter the workforce, I predict hires into marketing roles will change because Gen Z members will understand how to engage with an audience of people their own age. This switch is necessary for companies to make if they want to stay on top of the market as Gen Z grows in consumer dominance (with Generation Alpha not far behind). 

The new buyers

Companies are also changing who they market to. Gen Z is the largest generation in history. And their spending power is strong. Companies are targeting Gen Z because they have more spending power than any other generation at the same age. In fact, by 2030, Gen Z’s spending power is expected to grow to $12 (T) trillion.

But there’s a problem. Gen Z is a target demographic, but many companies don’t understand Gen Z audience engagement or how to (and how not to) market to them. Traditional sales and marketing tactics don’t work. Gen Z bucks all the trends. They are tech savvy, value-driven, and authenticity is important.

Why don’t companies understand how to market to Gen Z? Well, in part, other generations don’t understand what motivates Gen Z, what gives them purpose, or what the culture is. They also don’t now how to connect with them. 

This lack of understanding is evident in hiring practices. Newsweek reports that at least 75 percent of hiring managers report unsatisfactory performance from at least some of their hires from this generation. And one in six hiring managers said they would be hesitant to hire Gen Z members in the future.

Finding the way to engage with Gen Z

Where do you engage with Gen Z? The Internet is the space in which Gen Z exists — primarily on social media. While social media has been around for over 20 years, it has become a space dominated by Gen Z. Research shows Gen Z is more likely to stream video, music and play video games as regular daily activities.

In recent years, brands have been using social media to market themselves and their products to wider audiences. This use of social media in marketing has replaced other, now dated, means of marketing, like physical flyers and billboards. Social media enables brands to reach larger audiences quickly, with minimal expense.

However, as brands create content for social media they face a major challenge. Because Gen Z dominates social platforms, the culture on the platforms has changed, which makes it unfamiliar. Many brands are failing at Gen Z audience engagement because they don’t understand how the culture has changed.

This can lead to conflicts and interactions that negatively affect the brand’s image and success. We see this everyday on the Internet: a brand whose media team is run by Millennials and Gen Xers imitating the latest trends, trying to cater to a younger audience.

But the Internet moves way too fast for that to happen successfully. Often by the time a brand gets its hands on a trend, the trend has already vanished from the mainstream. 

There is a phenomenon that happens when a company produces a branded video of a trend in order to market a new product. It ends up generating comments from many people making fun of the brand for doing the trend late or complaining that the trend is ruined because a brand tried to jump on the bandwagon.

The backlash happens because so often when brands find trends, they take the fun out of it. The brand imitation feels hollow and empty, with no personality.

The entire reason we — Gen Z — do trends is to connect with others and share a connection.

Another thing happens when brands try to stay on top of trends. It looks like they are trying too hard. People complain the brand has no personality and that they are fake.

While trends are fun and a way to connect, trends are not the only way to connect with people. 

The best approach: Authenticity

So how does a brand avoid the backlash from trends? Stop trying.

Gen Z’s Internet is not something that can be controlled or learned. I can say with confidence as a Gen Zer that I learn new things about our online culture everyday. I know that brands want to find patterns and follow a formula to exploit and get the most engagement, but that just doesn’t work.

To stop trying also means that you have to stop trying to “market at” Gen Z. If I come across a sponsored TikTok while scrolling, I scroll past it faster. Why? I hate being sold or marketed to. I’m not alone.

I want to see content that has personality, something that I can interact with, something that I can relate to, laugh at or even hate. I follow several brands whose content I genuinely enjoy because it is not just trends from three months ago or clearly an old person (no offense) trying to be “just like me.” 

A report from McKinsey finds that at the root of Gen Z is the search for truth. Because they are pragmatic and realistic, their consumer habits differ strongly. They don’t buy brands to fit in and belong. Consumption is a means of self expression. Gen Zers want a different relationship with brands — one that is grounded in truth and authenticity.

Case study: How Duolingo approaches Gen Z audience engagement

A great case study for successful Gen Z audience engagement is Duolingo. Duolingo has become an Internet legend because of how successful the brand is at connecting with Gen Zers where they are online.

While some parents have criticized Duolingo’s tactics, the marketing works with Gen Z. Duolingo has built a following and fans by threatening to kill people for not doing their language lessons, to trying to date Dua Lipa, or even showing up at events doing crazy things (check out their TikTok).

Duolingo wasn’t directly trying to sell something to their viewer or trying to be trendy. They simply did something authentic and different.

How Nutter Butter wins with Gen Z

Another one of my favorite things to do is to watch the official Nutter Butter brand’s TikToks because they are the craziest things I’ve ever seen. I love them with all of my heart.

They are like nothing I’ve ever seen from a brand and why I currently want to spend all of my money on Nutter Butters.

While Duolingo has used Tik Tok to create buzz for themselves through publicity stunts that shock and entertain people, Nutter Butter has taken a different approach.

The Nutter Butter account has relayed on what is commonly referred to as “brain rot” — commonly described as meaningless popular nonsense. Their page consists of insane edits and a Nutter Butter taped onto a ken doll referred to as Adein by a disembodied chorus of voices. This Gen Z / Gen Alpha approach to marketing works by creating buzz. Whether you’re confused by it, scared by it or love it, you can’t look away and have to acknowledge it. 

The Nutter Butter marketing strategy works for Gen Z audience engagement because it is unique and truly cements itself in the depths of this generation’s chronically online brain rot. 

Nutter Butter has tapped into Gen Z’s fascination with the absurd. This brand isn’t trying to create a campaign based on trends or recreating memes. It’s completely unique and has created something that causes people to “freak out.”

It’s not trying to be something it’s not. It’s just creating fun, freaky content.

Conclusion: Approach Gen Z audience engagement through authenticity

So to answer our question, the best way to connect with Gen Z audiences is to be unique and authentic.

That’s why we use the Internet because it’s a place for us to share our authentic selves and find people who resonate with us. Which is why brands doing emotionless inauthentic trends will never find a successful strategy.

Don’t market to us. Interact with us and give us something to interact with.

The best way is to have Gen Z making your content because no one knows Gen Z better than us, and it gives us something to feel connected with.

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