Millennials vs. Gen Z: Why Marketers Need to Know the Difference

Posted On Jan 7, 2020 By admin With Comments Off

In recent years, there’s been a common misconception that Gen Z and millennials are basically the same.

When companies discuss contacting younger publics, many often lump Gen Z and millennials into the same group and create one campaign strategy that they guess adjusts both groups.

Sure, numerous millennials and Gen Zers are considered “young adults.” Not to mention, both generations are highly connected to technology and the internet. With these affinities in memory, it might seem effective and cost-efficient to run one campaign aimed at both generations, but is this really the right displace?

To investigate, I decided to start by giving purchasers weigh in on whether or not the same marketing programmes will engage both age groups.

In a Lucid poll, I expected 350 people to say to me if, “The same marketing tricks that cause millennials too work on Gen Z, ” was a true-life or incorrect statement.

If you think buyers — the people who are being marketed to by brands — would sway one way or another, you’ll be slightly surprised by the results below 😛 TAGEND

Lucid poll data for

Data Source: Lucid Software

Although 56% of those polled conceive the two contemporaries could be marketed to the same way, nearly half disagreed.

As a marketer who specializes in audience growth, I sway with the 44% of people who think that the same tricks won’t work on both groups — at least not forever.

But is either group of consumers right about their perceptions? To find out, I dove deeper into the cold, hard facts that researchers have discovered about the generational similarities and differences.

Yes, in 2019, marketing to both contemporaries as if they’re the same demographic might influence those digest on the cusp of each age group to buy your makes. However, organizing experiment shows that Gen Z and millennials are more different than we think.

Aside from what I’ve learned as a marketer, I are also welcome to speak on this topic from a personal standpoint. As the millennial sibling of a Gen-Z sister, I’ve seen the differences between our two age group first hand.

While my sister, assume in 2001, is always posting on her Finsta and TikTok profiles, I’m still sharing early-2 000 s memes on Facebook. And, while she’s just starting college, I’m budgeting to pay off my student lends. The index of divergences continues and will simply proliferate as we are to achieve different milestones in our lives.

I’m not the only marketer, or millennial, who’s noticed the two generations’ vast gaps. In fact, a number of market research studies, including this recent report, have identified dozens of its most important differences between the two generations.

In this blog upright, I’ll go over some of the biggest research-backed differences between millennials and Gen Z, while seldom weighing the raw data agains the behavior every-day purchasers see the two generations. I’ll then explain why each nuance is important to know as you initiate safaruss for each audience.

When you think about the generational inconsistencies on the largest possible scale, the oldest millennials are close to 40, might be settled down, and could be attaining large buys like vehicles or homes. The youngest members of Gen Z are in second tier, might love children’s supports, and won’t be immediately constructing obtaining decisions any time soon.

Aside from the self-evident age differences above, here are six more influences that determine these two generations fundamentally different.

6 Points That Differentiate Millennials and Gen Z

1. They have differing attitudes about technology and money.

Understanding the period an age group grows up in can help you identify generational commonalities like reasons, spend or saving wonts, or sting items that they all share.

Two things that differentiated each generation’s childhood era included engineering and their own economies 😛 TAGEND

Technology

The most obvious difference between the periods each generation was raised in is the presence of technology. Millennials grew up employing DVD musicians, monstrous personal computers, cell phones with minuscule screens, and dial-up internet. At that time, we imagined these technologies were groundbreaking.

Now, most children and teens within Gen Z providing access to iPads, smartphones, endless Wi-Fi, or streaming services that position our prized DVD players to shame. Many members of this generation might have also grow up in households with early smart home technology.

While millennials watched innovation begin, Gen Z was immersed in it from day one.

But although Gen Z never had to know a period where they didn’t have a cool gadget to solve basic problems, the impact of technology, the internet, and social media has still taken a fee on the group.

Research shows that Gen Z deals with much more body portrait, mental health, and cyberbullying problems than any other age group has in the past. Professionals have also called Gen Z the loneliest generation despite all of their digital connectivity options.

Economy

Millennials and Gen Z also have differing attitudes around money. While they both are worried about their finances and invest in things that can improve their vocations — like higher education.

Both contemporaries are known for improving on fiscal wonts of past contemporaries, nonetheless, millennials threw their money into buying more products or services that will give them a positive ordeal, while Gen Z is more focused on savings and practical products.

Millennials in the U.S. built up their own business shortly after the Recession, which was concluded in late 2007. In 2019, despite monetary woes caused by the poor economy, rising dwelling expenses, and high unemployment levels, millennials still remain optimistic about their future and finances.

Meanwhile, Gen Z was born at the beginning of the economic downturn. As the oldest members of Gen Z has now entered adulthood, study shows that their past suffer of living in the Recession are conducting them to procreate more practical spending decisions .

If you’re marketing to these contemporaries, you’ll want to keep these attitudes about coin in mind.

For example, if you want millennials to buy your produce, you’ll want to focus on building a firebrand that offers a pleasant or entertaining client ordeal, as well as marketing produces or services that give instant gratification. If you’re marketing to Gen Z, you’ll want your safaruss to clearly demonstrate how or why your product will be valuable or practical to them in their daily lives.

2. Gen Z is more likely to meet portable acquires.

By now, you might know that both of these generations are heavily connected to the internet and social media, While millennials watched the internet develop, Gen Z has expended it since a very young age.

Each day, millennials devote around 7. 5 hours online while Gen Z surfs for nearly 10 hours.

Millennials and Gen Z too go online principally with mobile devices.

According to Think With Google, Gen Z especially wastes a great deal of time on the mobile Internet. Roughly 71% of Gen Z teens employment portable devices to watch videos, while 51% exploit portable for social media surfing.

Think with Google data on mobile usage of teens

Source: Think With Google

Gen Z’s mobile-first mindset also impacts how they shop. Members of the generation are twice as likely to make a mobile online purchase than millennials. However, millennials still do patronize a good deal on portable manoeuvres. In fact, 71% “says hes” do most of their online shopping with a portable invention.

When it comes to online content consumption, both millennials and Gen Z waste the majority of members of their epoch watching videos and visiting social media sites.

According to a recent study, millennials watch online videos for 2.4 hours a day while Gen Z norms 3.4 hours. Meanwhile, both contemporaries are thought to devote hours per day on social media.

While you might have already known that mobile optimization and video commerce are a key digital programmes in 2019, these stats serve as more evidence that it can help you zone in on young adult contemporaries. If you really want to attract attention from both Gen Z or millennials, you’ll want to create mobile videos, portable ecommerce locates, or other phone-based events that cater to them. You should also be sure to marketplace yourself on platforms that are already mobile, such as major social media apps.

3. Both deplete a lot of time on social media, but the stages they use are quite different.

To get an idea of how people perceived each generation’s social media habit, I invited the same group of 350 people noted in the Lucid poll above to weigh in on which radical they pictured depleted more era on social media. Here’s what they said 😛 TAGEND

Consumer Opinion Poll: Which generation logs on to social media the most? using Lucid data

Data Source: Lucid Software

The results of the poll above were fairly split between millennials and Gen Z. However, 27% of participants say both contemporaries are “always logged on.”

So, who’s actually the most tuned in to social media? Let’s see what studies on these groups reveal.

The World Economic Forum reports that millennials are logged on to social media for an average of two hours and 38 hours daily while Gen Z logs on for two hours and 55 times.

Aside from the time spent on social media per epoch, the stages each generation employs are also slightly different.

While my contemporary prospered on MySpace and Tumblr and now enjoys platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, Gen Z has zoned in on video-based pulpits like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and — more recently — TikTok.

A recent Business Insider survey that polled the oldest half of Gen Z found that participates expended Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat most often.

Although TikTok seemed less popular in the Business Insider survey, this one-year-old platform is worth noting as one of the fastest-growing social media apps due to booming global Gen Z useds .

Gen Z and millennials do got a few social scaffold likings in common. One, for example, is Instagram. While Instagram is older and well established than apps like TikTok or Snapchat, it’s likewise plucked in millennials and video-loving Gen Z members.

YouTube is also a social network that both generations are prominently working. While YouTube was launched when most millennials were children, Gen Z utilization of the pulpit has increased by 59% since 2018. The video stage is also the second-most used search engine and a scaffold where numerous in Gen Z and millennial generations go for product research.

4. Millennials attaches great importance to ads for a longer amount of epoch.

When it comes to content consumption, each generation’s habits align well with its median courtesy span.

While millennials will pay attention to material for 12 seconds, Gen Z will exclusively stay focused on it for eight seconds. Furthermore, Gen Z experiences immediate or short-form video content, like that of Snapchat or Instagram Stories, while millennials appraise long-form content, such as detailed videos or podcasts.

This means that those ad or selling to millennials can get away with slightly longer or more in-depth content while those market to Gen Z will want to get their value proposition out as quickly and seamlessly as possible in their campaigns.

As I’ve mentioned above, most of today’s social and online scaffolds are becoming more video-driven. This mirrors the fact that video habit is growing instantly amongst both contemporaries.

Regardless of whether you’re creating long-form content for millennials or short-form times for Gen Z, you’ll want to embrace mobile-optimized video when promoting your symbol to either audience.

Branded Content

When it comes to learning about symbols or makes on social media, each contemporary also has its own unique likings. For lesson, Gen Z prefers to learn about concoctions through social media-based videos and influencer marketing, while millennials will respond to a variety of promotional approaches including more traditional online ads, social media marketing , and labelled podcasts.

Additionally, a recent sketch shows that 87% of Gen Z promotes ads or marketing material that depicts actual beings discussing produces. When it comes to millennials, only 37% prefer to see parties discussing concoctions in ads or selling content.

Aside from espousing video and portable optimization, if you’re marketing to Gen Z, you’ll also want to focus on content that feels more informative and less like an ad. This generation take an active role in scorned traditional promote tactics. For precedent, 84% of Gen Z will skip video ads as quickly as possible while 65% of them have downloaded some type of ad-blocker on their portable machines or computers.

5. Both generations acquisition less than past contemporaries.

A common delusion about millennials and Gen Z is that both contemporaries are financially illiterate. Because this seems to be a hot topic online and throughout pop culture, I conducted one more Lucid poll, querying the same group noted above to choose which generation they recalled devoted more coin on products.

The Lucid poll below demonstrates this myth and sensing as many participants said that they felt both generation waste a great deal of money 😛 TAGEND

Consumers way on perceived millennial and gen z purchasing habits with Lucid software poll

Data Source: Lucid Software

Additional in the survey, 36% of beings said millennials depleted “the worlds largest” on makes, while the same percentage said both generations invest a lot of money. However, less than 20% pointed to Gen Z.

According to various studies, both contemporaries actually devote less than past generations while the oldest Gen Z members are focused on responsible spending.

Most of Gen Z doesn’t even have buying power more. But investigate from multiple sources, including Vice, Insider, and Adobe say that Gen Z aims to spend money pragmatically as compared to other generations. Some analysts indicate that Gen Z’s saving approach is routed in budgeting tasks that the generation learned from the U.S. Recession.

When it comes to the Gen Z members who are old sufficient to conclude acquires, research had indicated that they do little online patronize than millennials. A recent study from Ernst& Young noted that 74% of millennials and exclusively 49% of Gen Z buy commodities online more than formerly a month.

But, while Gen Z buys less online, they expect more computed assistance from a label when they move acquires. The same E& Y study found that 80% of Gen Z quality free transmission. The study too found that 74% of Gen Z appraises symbols that hand out deductions or certificates over other businesses.

While millennials are slightly less frugal than Gen Z, the idea that the older generation is more foolish is also a huge misconception. While numerous millennials buy their fair share of makes, they too earn more yearly than most older generations, are the most instructed age group, and are notably optimistic about their own future.

6. They have different career incitements.

One thing that both contemporaries have in common is that they have placed importance on investing in school or skills training.

While older contemporaries could afford both homes and education, millennials find housing out of business reach and have mainly focused on paying high costs of tuition.

Despite increasing educational costs, the trend of investing in education isn’t expected to change for either contemporary. While 10% of Gen Z teens are saving for college, millennial mothers are putting more into their children’s college stores than past generations.

Looking at each generation’s work attires can give you a sneak peek into what their finances and daily reasons might be in the future.

While both Millennials and Gen Z are driven by higher education and occupation raise, they still have a few slight differences that you might want to know about, extremely if you’re a marketer in academic or B2B fields.

In 2019, many millennials are working or are enrolled in higher education. By 2030, 75% of the labour force will be made up of millennials.

But, although most of Gen Z are to be found in academy, “its also” awfully career-minded.

When it comes to looking for jobs, Gen Z adults are more financially caused than the millennial generation. In fact, 65% of Gen Z works value salary over other activity benefits. Those in the age group also say they’ll invest in skill training if it mean they obligate more coin.

Gen Z also applies for jobs more aggressively than past contemporaries. Merely 10% of the contemporary starts their job search after college while most Gen Z students begin scouting out chore options between freshman and sophomore year.

So, what does this mean for your marketing approach? Both of these contemporaries are hard workers, highly educated, and might make more than past generations.

However, Gen Z is more driven to make and save money. This means that to persuade Gen Z, you might need to make additional time to brainstorm campaigns that show how your product will help them and why it is worth their coin. Odds are, they will be more sold by the practicality of a product than the “trendiness” of it.

How to Market to Each Generation

Yes, both contemporaries have a lot of things in common.

And while there are opportunities to market to both generations at once, it might be more beneficial to brainstorm imaginative expeditions that zone in on one generation or the other. To help you develop a strategy that additions courtesy from the suitable audience, here are a few takeaways related to each generation 😛 TAGEND

Marketing Campaign for Millennials

By now, you might be most familiar with marketing to millennials. Luckily, they’re likewise a great generation to market to. They’re on the biggest social media networks today and prefer to consume multiple different vogues of multimedia content, from videos to podcasts. They’re also old-time sufficient to start acquiring decisions, more educated than previous generations, and waste considerable sums of time in the research stage before buying a product.

Essentially, many different formats of marketing material will be participating millennials because they are regularly looking to be pulled by a new commodity that will help them in their daily lives.

Because millennials have a somewhat longer attention span than Gen Z, you can also get a bit more creative by testing out longer-form content like longer commerce videos or branded podcasts.

The best types of marketing expeditions will inform millennials about how your produce can make their lives easier or how it can solve their day-to-day difficulties. Focusing your approach on social media or online programmes like Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, where numerous adults go to research commodities can also be beneficial to your strategy,

Marketing Campaign for Gen Z

To successfully coax Gen Z to buy your commodity, you’ll want to clear content that quickly gashes to the chase and explains why your product will provide value to them.

As mentioned above, Gen Z cherishes to use video better understand makes and likewise devotes the majority of members of their online era on their mobile phones. So be sure to leverage short-form video formatting and mobile-optimized content in your campaigns.

You’ll also want to zone in on the niche social media programmes that they routinely use, such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok on Snapchat. If you’re not on one of these programmes, but still want to gain brand awareness there, consider sponsor an influencer who knows the audience and form content that discusses your product.

Marketing Campaign for Gen Z and Millennials

If you utterly can’t budget pinpointed campaigns for millennials and Gen Z, but know you want to market to young adults, concentrating on the cusp of both contemporaries by creating a campaign for 18 to 34 -year-olds. This will allow you to zone in on young and slightly older adults that can actually perform purchasing decisions.

While a campaign with this age target might be slightly more favorable to millennials, who are between 23 and 38, there’s still a chance you could grab attention from older teens who will soon be able to shape more purchases if they can’t already.

Despite the differences between these two generations, there is still two big-hearted similarities: both adoration social media and instant gratification. Be ensured that your safarus clearly explains why your product will be valuable to the age group you’re pitching it too, and leveraging the social media structures that the age group you’re targeting has in common.

For example, if you’re focused on promoting your commodity to beings in the 18 to 34 stray, you’ll want to be on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, because most members of this age group are using all three of them on a regular basis.

If you can create a campaign that leveragings key social networks accordingly while highlighting why your product is so instantly gratifying and useful, you might attract interest from both groups fairly quickly.

Tips for Knowing Your Audience

As you cause safaruss around a specific audience or age group, it’s important to do burrowing to learn what motivates this group of people, what their purchasing dress are, where they deplete the most time, and what they’re looking for in a produce. Here got a few tips-off that can help you in this research 😛 TAGEND

Identify specific demographics: Try not are far too specific or very wide-reaching. Pick an gathering you can learn a great deal about immediately that well was in line with your product and start researching that demographic.

Learn about their work and education backgrounds: This will give you insight on what motivates them and how much they’re able to spend on a product.

Find out which social pulpits they use: Once you do this, you can research each programme and leveraging it appropriately during your safarus.

Consider writing a buyer persona: A customer personality is a fictional character that has a very similar lifestyle to your ideology buyer. Having a persona in knowledge can help you immediately should be considered campaigns and approaches that they’ll lock most with. It’s too a handy place to organize all of your detailed research findings into one simple arrange.

Want to learn more about Gen Z or millennials specifically? Check out this blog post on marketing to Gen Z or this portion on millennial marketing.