How your credit union can grab the attention of Gen Z
START paying attention to Generation Z’ers, STOP trying to penetrate the Millennial market, and CONTINUE your current Millennial MARKETING PLAN.
I do not want to talk about Millennials. Everyone is interested in targeting and messaging to Millennials. Yes, you should include them in your marketing plan. If you are not already Millennial focused, then you have already missed the boat-big time and you better call Saul! So, that is why I want to shine the light on Generation Z, the next population you should be focusing on NOW in order to stay competitive or even somewhat relevant in the future.
Often times, we get too caught up in getting our marketing “right” and overlook getting “better” or better yet “forward thinking”. By the time you figure out the perfect plan; you will have missed this big-crucial opportunity!
Generation Z Stats that you should care about: (sourced from CMO.com)
Consumers 19 or younger prefer other social networks like Snapchat, Secret, and Whisper. And about 25% of 13-17 years Gen Z’ers have left Facebook.
40% of all Consumers will be Generation Z’s!
Gen Z’ers use five consumption platforms: smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and tablets. Whereas, Millennials average three. Your online user experience and advertising needs to interact with all of these different consumption interfaces. I always get a little freaked out when I look at the maturity curve of where credit unions are with their online and mobile presence.
The Gen Z’ers attention span is about 8 seconds – Ok, ok… That sounds crazy to us Boomers and Gen X’ers, but judgement aside, you have less than 8 seconds to grab their attention or worse lose their trust.
72% of last year’s high school students wanted to open their own business. You have a developing SBA market on your hands! But, wait… Don’t try and sell SBA loans; you’ll lose trust immediately. They are extremely savvy. They do research up front, so why not make your credit union a resource to educate them (in short snip-its, remember the 8 second rule). Comparison widgets are always a hit and a good way to tag data for future marketing campaigns. You can/should nurture these relationships digitally over time.
They are do-gooders and want to make a difference in the world, so you need to care about that too, as a brand and as an employer. Gen Z’ers are not only your members now, but your future talent pool. 76% are concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet. This gives you the competitive edge over Big Banks!
79% Gen Z’ers experience emotional distress when kept away from their personal electronic devices. So make your UX/UI digital experience easy and content rich and you’ll win their trust. You need to give them what they expect; which is an easy accessible online research experience they can self-serve.
Gen Z’ers average 7.6 hours per day socializing with friends and family. This should help you manage and decide on your total marketing mix. You cannot rely on Facebook anymore… You need to use many different marketing platforms, which, does present data sharing and visualization issues. But, those issues can be addressed either internally or externally through a Business Intelligence team.
