Millennials vs. Gen Z: What do their differences mean for marketers?

Source: Unsplash.

Young people are all starting their true life journey, and they have expectations, big dreams, goals and, unfortunately, sometimes they don't know how to find them.

Young age is a beautiful process, a discovery process, and faith jump to adulthood, all of us have passed through this face. But can we say that all young people are the same? Do they think or want the same things? Read this guide on PPC campaign strategy.

This is an often thought that happens among us, marketers, who put in the same box two of our most growing generations: Millenials and Gen Zers.

Yes, maybe we have had similar experiences where we can relate to them, but the times you live in define more the way you think, the things you want and how you consume. It goes from the tiniest aspect, from pop culture to politics, to economics that impacts the consuming behaviour of each generation. Find this complete guide on digital marketing funnel.

Compared to other generations, Millenials and Gen Zers did see the creation and rise of the internet, the digital era, which is something they both have in common. But trust us when we say they are not the same, and you should treat them both with their specific characteristics.

So let's find out the critical differences among these two generations and what we should know to market them effectively.

Millennials vs Gen Z

The Pew Research Center says that millennials were born between 1981 and 1996, while Generation Z was born between 1997 and 2012. This means that by 2019 most millennials are between 22 and 38 years old while Zers are between six to 21.

Let's dive deep into the fundamental differences between these two generations, taking aside these apparent differences.

Source: Unsplash.

Differences between Millenials and Gen Zers

Their relationship with money and technology

If you understand all the socio-economic aspects of your target audience, it is easier to identify their motivations, pain points and spending habits.

Technology and economics are critical factors for childhood, so let's see how they affect these generations.

Money

While Millenials tend to spend their money building their professional persona, higher education, webinars or courses, Gen Zers care more about savings and practical products.

In the US, millennials faced some troubles after the recession, which ended in 2009. This event resulted in a poor economy, rising home costs, and a high unemployment level. Nevertheless, millennials are still optimistic about their finances and future.

On the other spectrum, Gen Zers were born at the end of the economic downturn. The oldest Gen Zers tend to save more money and make practical financial decisions.

When marketing to these generations, keep in mind that these are people a little bit more worried about their economy because in either case, they are starting to build their income or have been saving it for a long time.

If your target is millennials, make sure that your business offers a pleasant and entertaining experience, also market products that provide instant gratification. For gen z, make sure to focus that your product will have too much value in their daily life.

Technology

Dealing with technology plays a different role for both generations. On one side, millennials can be said to have seen all the evolution of the internet since its inception. The only novelties were the Pinball or minesweeper games offered by Windows, to the transition from VHS cassettes to DVD CDs. Little by little, they saw how technology was evolving, and each new addition was groundbreaking for them. 

In the case of the GEN z, we can say that they were almost born with an iPad in hand. This generation did not live a life without access to Wi-Fi. Therefore their relationship with the internet and technology is much closer. And with this narrow relationship, issues that took root thanks to social networks often come: cyberbullying, body shaming and mental health. These generations tend to call more attention to these issues of bullying, anxiety and depression, today. It seems a new pandemic in which all ages suffer from these mental health problems. 

We can say that this generation is from the "empathy revolution," where everyone seeks to respect anyone regardless of their differences.

Source: YouTube.

Gen Z tends to purchase more with their phones.

According to a Hubspot Blog, millennials spend up to 7.5 hours online while Gen Z people surf for 10 hours daily. Their preferred device to surf the world wide web is their phones. Indeed, a Think With Google article shows that almost 71% of gen z users use their mobiles to watch videos, while 51% use them to check their social media.

In terms of social media consumption, we can say that both generations are even and spend most of their time watching videos and visiting social media.

As we said before, Gen Z was practically born with a tablet in hand. At the same time, millennials probably asked for one in their younger years, so we know that if we want to capture their attention, our websites must be mobile-friendly, and we must provide them with e-commerce. that is within reach of the palm. You could work with us, the leading digital marketing agency to assist you in digital marketing.

Which generation spends more time on social media?

The World Economic Forum shows that millennials are logged on social media for an average of 2 hours and 38 minutes. Still, the real winners of this contest are Gen Z, who spend two hours and 55 minutes a day, not a huge difference, we must say.

Nevertheless, it would help to focus on the social media they use the most.

On the side of millennials, they may have started with MySpace and Tumblr, but now that these are gone, they tend to use more Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter. On the side of the younger ones, their preferred social media are Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat, but don't forget the trendiest one, TikTok!

The common platform among these two? Instagram!

While Instagram may be older, their video and image format is something that both parties love.

In the case of YouTube, Gen Z users have increased by 59% since 2018, all this according to a HubSpot Blog. This is the second most used social media for product research, both in Millenials and Gen Z.

Source: YouTube.

Millennials engage more with Ads.

Attention is like gold for marketers, and this aspect is scarce in the case of these young generations. Millennials tend to focus only 12 seconds while Gen Z focuses only for 8 seconds, a brief attention span, we might say. Because of this, social media like Snapchat, Instagram Stories and even TikTok tend to be tiny bits of video content, so these users engage. 

This means that if your primary target is Millenials, you can get away with slightly longer videos than those who market for Gen Z, which wants to get their value proposition as quickly as possible.

Remember that video content is better than writing. Video usage is increasing quickly for users of both generations.

Now, if you sell branded content, Gen z likes to learn about products

If you are selling branded products, Millenials and Gen Z tend to like more videos with people trying or testing products than branded videos. 37% of millennials have said that they prefer to see people discussing in ads, while they start to reject traditional advertising tactics.

According to an A. List article, 82% of Gen Z skip video ads while 65% have downloaded ad blockers on their devices.

Both generations spend less than past generations.

Many studies suggest that these two generations spend less than the older ones while older Gen Zers are focused on saving their money.

Speaking of which, most Gen Z people don't even have buying power yet. Regardless of this, research from Vice, Insider and Adobe says that Gen Z people spend money pragmatically compared to older generations.

When we talk about Gen Z people who are old enough to purchase their products, studies show that they buy less in online shops than millennials. Ernst & Ypimh showed that 74% of millennials and 49% of Gen z buy products online more than once a month.

They care about studies.

Millennials and Gen Z want to invest their money in school or learn new skills.

While older generations could afford homes and education, these young guys have it harder to cost both, so they need more knowledge to earn more.

Although education is more expensive, this hasn't stopped them from investing in their knowledge. While teens Gen Z are saving for college, older Millenials save money for their children's college.

Although these generations are passionate about high education, there are some aspects you'd like to know as a B2B marketer.

It is expected that by 2030 75% of the workforce will be millennials. On the other hand, young adults from gen z are more financially motivated than millennials to get a job. Indeed, these young guys tend to value more salary than job perks. Gen Z says they are willing to spend more on studies to make them more prosperous.

In conclusion, we can say that these generations are hard workers.

So, to make your marketing strategy, you have to know that these guys are driven to make and save money. Because of this, you have to create campaigns that let them know your product will be worth all their money. This means they care more about the value than the trendiness of your product.

Source: YouTube.

How to Market to Each Generation

Although both generations share similar aspects, we can define a type of strategy for each one and establish one that works for both. So let's take a look!

Marketing Campaign for Millennials

Millennials tend to be on the most popular social media networks and are open to consuming different types of multimedia content, and it goes from podcasts to videos. Other good attributes are that they are more educated than older generations, spend more time researching their products and are old enough to make purchasing decisions.

With them, you can use different marketing content formats because they are up to trying a new product that will help them in their daily lives.

Thanks to its slight attention spam, you can extend your content a bit more, but remember to be engaging from the beginning, or they will swipe up from your ad.

The best type of campaigns for them are:

• How to tutorials (For solving daily problems)
• Facebook 
• YouTube
• Instagram

Source: YouTube.

Marketing Campaign for Gen Z

If you want Gen Zers t buy your products, you want to make quick contents that go right to the explanation and how your product will benefit them.

Remember that video content is the most effective, so use it to show how your products will help them with their daily activities. 

To successfully persuade Gen Z to buy your product, you'll want to make content that quickly cuts to the chase and explains why your product will provide value to them.

The best types of campaigns for them are:

• Influencer Marketing
• Short-form video format
• Mobile Optimized content
• YouTube
• TikTok
• Snapchat

The marketing campaign for both

In case you want to cover both generations in your campaign, the first thing you have to do is define their ages. For that, based on a margin between 20 and 34 years, when both are of working age.

When selling products to young adults, you should know that the greater the chances they have of buying your products, even so, young people could choose to gather to buy them.

Remember that both are consumers of social networks, therefore do not spend your budget on traditional propaganda such as TV or radio, social networks will be your main channel.

Get them on those platforms that are common to both, these are Instagram and YouTube.

What does their difference mean for marketers?

Despite being similar generations, they will never be the same. This is where the importance of knowing our audience well lies, since the historical events that each one goes through will define how to behave with the market.

The younger generations are the predominant market, and it is our task as marketers to understand them to satisfy their needs as customers.

Times change and the ways of selling our products also, so adapting and overcoming will keep us relevant for future generations.

If you want to learn more about marketing campaigns or advice with your business, contact us at CodeDesign.

Until the following article, see you!

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