Generation Z is avoiding websites, and email - they consume media almost entirely through social media. Engaging Gen Z requires a great deal of content and patient marketing. Sophisticated journeys are required with a heavy balance of paid and organic social media.
When it comes to engaging your youngest supporters, consider ditching the “hub and spoke” model to simply focus on the spokes.
According to this research piece by industry expert Derrick Feldmann the youngest audiences may not be satisfied by a visit to the main website. Gen Z (13 to 25 year olds) is also far less likely to share their email address and mobile phone.
Why? Gen Z gets information directly from social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. They have little interest in corporate websites and less interest in sharing contact information.
This means we must focus on two areas to capture the attention of our youngest supporters…
Creating a massive amount of social media content that keeps viewers engaged
Enabling conversions that start in social media …or that exist entirely in social media
This does not mean passively hoping young audiences proactively seek out content. If the goal is obtaining email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information, we should build journey-based campaigns with a heavy focus on social media, building calls to action that help us gather targeted data points. Even then, once the information is gathered, avoid spamming this audience. Rather, use information to build even more relevant multichannel, journey-based campaigns.
And if our efforts at capturing email fail, you can use advanced tactics like retargeting to enable richer social media-specific journeys that speak to supporters on the channels where they reside.
Do you have the content to support the massive need associated with engaging younger audiences? Is your marketing strategy sophisticated enough to connect with supporters absent a valid email address? Head to firstname.co to learn how we’re working with our nonprofit partners to address some of these challenges.