The Good Marketing Guide 2019

20 | The Good Marketing Guide Remember that succinctness pays (unlike this subtitle) Remember being shocked to hear that the millennial attention span averaged 12 seconds? Well, it gets worse. The attention span of GenZ is currently just 8 seconds (less time than it takes to read this sentence out loud). This means it’s important to get to the point with your content — and know what you want to say, and say it quickly. Savvy brands use memes, emojis, and GIFs to communicate ideas in a very simple, accessible, and easy-to-digest way. You can also achieve brevity by using the new phrases and acronyms that are popular with GenZ — but be careful. Using language just to engage with an audience might raise questions about your authenticity. Be adaptable In content creation, it’s important to listen to data — to figure out what content is working well and not so well, and then adapt accordingly. Not only is GenZ quick to disengage with a brand if it makes a content misstep, it’s also a demographic with the propensity to change its mind — flipping easily (and sometimes arbitrarily) between what’s cool and what’s not. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in. Machine learning tools like Acrolinx can capture your brand and audience guidelines and then read, rate, and assess your content for how well it aligns to them. And it does it at scale. Tools like this can also help you predict how your content will perform before you publish it. So, your brand can be one step ahead of this fast-moving, fast- changing audience. Great techspectations: meeting the content needs of Generation Z By Christopher P Willis, CMO for Acrolinx It’s a statistic that’s likely to make many of us feel old. 2018 marked the first year that all 18-year olds were born after the turn of the Millennium. Many call ‘Generation Z’ (or GenZ) the most researched demographic yet. And for marketers, this detailed insight means brands can customize their content and campaigns for this audience more than ever before. According to research by Pearson, GenZ, a group of mobile-first digital natives, diverges significantly from the previous generation. Members of GenZ use more social media, spend more time with multimedia content, and are more likely to share content through social channels. They’re also easier and cheaper to reach than Millennials and are fast outpacing them in earning power. But there are significant challenges when it comes to engaging with this new generation — a group that’s characterised by short attention spans, an inherent distrust of big brands, a nose for clichés, and a firm grasp of how the marketing industry works. Indeed, GenZ demands greater transparency, accountability, and personal validation from all of their brand experiences. So, how can organisations meet the needs of this new, easy-to-reach but hard-to-persuade audience? Use more interactive, online content We know that members of GenZ are empowered, active, and discerning social media users — communicating freely, sharing insights, and carefully reviewing the brands they buy from. And, while they still interact with content that millennials enjoy, like articles, memes, and videos, GenZ wants and expects more from their online brand interactions. Since they’re looking for more engaging and interactive content, brands are beginning to use more tools like polls and quizzes and user- generated content. Many also rely on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to provide richer, more immersive experiences. They’re also becoming better at responding to consumers with replies to comments and chats. And peer reviews matter too. This new demographic won’t even consider buying something without feedback and reviews to guide their choices. Without enough reference points, reviews, photos, and videos, GenZ will easily reject or overlook a product. Prioritise authenticity Research from CNBC shows that authenticity is one of the most important values for GenZ, with “67 percent agreeing that ‘being true to their values and beliefs makes a person cool.’” The rise of influencers on platforms like Instagram also points to the need for authentic and personalised content — as GenZ reports wanting to see real people using products and interacting with brands, rather than traditional ads. It’s important, then, that companies not only communicate what they do but also tell consumers why they do it. They need to communicate their brand ethos — and do it transparently. This doesn’t just mean having a robust corporate social responsibility (CSR), or supporting a charitable cause. Indeed, if a company comes out in support of a cause that seems unrelated to, or at odds with, their own mission and brand, it can have an unintended result — damaging its brand reputation with a discerning and savvy GenZ audience. Marketing Technology