Targeting the correct age groups and social groupings is key when it comes to customer acquisition. College students used to occupy a very narrow age range, but the average age of college students has continued to trend upward over the last ten years. College students who fall into Gen Z are the most ideal group to market to in many situations, particularly since these students can be anywhere from age 17-26.
While it might have been common practice to target younger college students for college-based client acquisition ten years ago, appealing to both ends of the Gen Z spectrum is critical when advertising and offering outreach about your brand. You also need to take the time to use tools that will verify student status so that you can be certain that you are reaching out to the right age group with your efforts.
Why You Should Target a Gen Z Customer Base
1. Gen Z Uses Social Media
MORE THAN ANY OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC, Gen Z can be counted upon to use social media to help spread the word about your brand. They are comfortable and fluent in the language and the means of using this tool to tell others about what they like and don’t like. Your Gen Z client base will essentially help market your products for free, as they offer mini-influencer posts that will provide word-of-mouth advertising to all their friends and family.
2. Gen Z Loves to Try New Things
Gen Z buys 80% more new products than other generations. This means that they are always willing to engage with new products and that they often come to the table with an open mind. Being able to get your product out to consumers and making sure that they actually try it out is a big hurdle and one that can be hard to overcome without the right targeted advertising. Gen Z is a great target market because of its willingness to become a fan of something new.
3. Gen Z Wants to Use Things Right Away
One of the other benefits of targeting Gen Z is that they are usually willing to get on board and try something within the first week that it is on the market. Getting older targeted audiences to jump on board without advertising to them for a few weeks can be much harder. A Gen Z audience is likelier to see an ad once or twice and buy it. This makes your marketing dollars go further and helps get the word out to other people in the same demographic.
The other benefit of Gen Z’s willingness to buy a product or a service right away is that you are much more likely to create a groundswell effect that will encourage other demographics to want to try out your products and services too. All roads can lead back to Gen Z in this model, and their willingness to advertise what they like all over social media will keep the ball rolling without you having to pay for lots of different kinds of ad campaigns.
Targeting a Gen Z Customer Base is a Great Idea for a Variety of Markets
No matter what kinds of goods, products, and services you are marketing to Gen Z, you will reap the benefits of targeting this very accessible and invested target market. Gen Z is happy to try new things and just as happy to say nice things about their favorite new products and services after they choose them. You will be missing out on one of the best demographics to market to if you do not take the time to target this age group for your marketing campaigns.