When it comes to marketing on social, playing into your audience’s generational characteristics is the way to ensure you’re making the most out of your content. Each generation has different priorities and content preferences. We hear a lot about Gen Z and Millenials, but we’re omitting a key microgeneration of 30 million individuals.
Introducing Zillennials, the micro-generation between Gen Z and Millennials comprised of those of us (that’s right, me!) born between 1990 and 2000. One of the things people first notice about us is that we share characteristics from both of our sandwich generations. We are a hardworking group of individuals similar to Millennials. Still, we’re also much more likely to advocate for mental health resources and a better work-life balance, similar to Gen Z. Raised with Tamagotchis but infinitely more familiar with iPads, our unique characteristics can be the generation to make a marketing strategy if done right. So, what are the most important things to know about this micro-generation?
Socially and Environmentally Conscious
One of the key identifiers of Zillennials is that they’re an extremely environmentally and socially conscious group of individuals. Like Gen Z, Zillennials have a strong urge to protect the planet and its people. Therefore, we heavily gravitate toward brands that demonstrate strong environmentally and socially conscious efforts. These efforts may look like companies prioritizing DE&I efforts, creating sustainable products, or using sustainable means of production. Since these kinds of efforts are what we look for in brands, we’re skilled in identifying which brands genuinely practice making the world a better place.
So, how does that translate on social? We prioritize supporting brands that not only want to make a difference but actually do make a difference. A brand’s social platform that actively participates in this culture will make an effort to post educational content, be completely transparent, and engage in partnerships that benefit a mutual cause. Recently, we’ve seen L.L. Bean take the month of May off the grid to promote mental health.
Natively Tech Savvy
Watch out; we’ve come a long way from our elementary school typing classes. While we may not have grown up as the traditional iPad kid, we are still incredibly tech-savvy. Growing up in the booming digital age of the early to mid-2000s, we’re extremely familiar with every aspect of the digital space and want brands to be too. We expect brands to put a large part of their efforts into their digital presence and be just as tech-savvy as we are.
Brands executing this well frequently focus on influencer collaborations, influencer content, quickly jumping on new platforms, and mobile optimization for all of their content (this extends to website content, too!) they’re sharing online. We’re most likely to engage with brands that leverage content that most closely aligns with our technology use.
Resourceful
Throughout our lifetimes, we’ve faced economic uncertainty many times, and brands have too. Between the notorious 2008 recession and what we see currently, we’re no strangers to uncomfortable financial situations. However, we’re among the most resilient of generations, and past experiences have helped us prepare for making the most of challenging financial problems. We focus on brands promoting financial responsibility and value-driven messaging.
Brands that promote financial responsibility help us feel more comfortable and confident when buying products and services. For one, we love to look out for a dupe. While those Lulu Lemon Align leggings do look buttery soft, we’re not above getting the dupe (with ethically-sourced materials, of course). Value-driven messaging helps us feel assured that we’re getting the most bang for our buck, so we’re much more inclined to buy into a product or service. Brands that can use their platforms to communicate the value of what they want us to purchase help us feel confident in the purchase, especially when it’s clearly communicated to us how the product can meet our needs and address our financial needs.
Driven & Entrepreneurial
Much like Millennials, we Zillennials are exceptionally driven. Since we strongly desire independence, we often lean into a rather entrepreneurial mindset that accompanies a less traditional corporate career. Many Zillennials and Gen Z are small business owners, and fellow Zillennials love supporting those pursuing this career path. Aside from supporting traditional small businesses, we also appreciate when larger e-commerce companies highlight things such as small, women, black-owned, and so on businesses. This allows us to satisfy both our entrepreneurial-loving mindset and contribute to our socially conscious philosophy.
Being driven, independent, and ambitious people is just who we are. Thankfully, we get this from our older millennial brothers and sisters. The idea that we *need* what a brand offers doesn’t resonate well with us; we want to see how it can elevate what we already have. Brands that capitalize on inspirational content have learned the best way to win us over. This is best shown on socials by pushing actionable tips and strategies, sharing success stories, and allowing users to set goals. By sharing content that resonates with our drive, we automatically feel inclined to trust the brand inherently and, therefore, their services and products. This will establish a strong connection between the brand and the consumer.
All in all, the Zillennial micro-generation is one to pay attention to. With the 30 million of us looking to break into our hard-earned corporate piggy bank, understanding the characteristics of Zillennial’s preferences is critical to developing a successful marketing strategy. Fully understanding and aligning a brand’s strategy with the aspirations of this tech-savvy, driven, environmentally and socially conscious, and resourceful group of individuals is a great way to expand your brand’s marketing efforts across all social platforms.
From a Zillennial POV, we know how to do this right. Send us a message if you want your brand’s content to do the same.
