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What Makes Gen Z Different from Millennials?

What Makes Gen Z Different from Millennials?

Gen Z is the newest generation of shoppers. Born after 1995, Gen Z will account for 40% of all shoppers by 2020. The oldest members of Gen Z are recent college graduates and new entrants to the workforce. While most aren’t entirely independent yet, they do have money to spend. Forbes reported at the beginning of this year, Gen Z is responsible for up to $143 billion in sales.

[Tweet “Gen Z expects to be able to research everything and get results instantly.”]

It’s important for business owners and retailers to understand this key demographic. Gen Z isn’t just young Millennials – in fact, in many meaningful ways, they’re quite different. While some Millennials are digital natives, Gen Z grew up with the tech world as we know it today. Their expectations have been shaped by a lifetime of social media and online shopping. This impacts their customer behaviors in three ways:

1 -Mobile First: The Gen Z shopper is much more likely to engage with your brand via their smartphone than any other device. A brand’s social media presence is more important to Gen Z than their website, especially for discovery and research.

2 – Different Messaging Channels: Jim Ninivaggi of Brainshark points out that Gen Z has grown up on Youtube, Netflix, and Reddit. Short videos – 1-3 minutes in length – are the preferred content form. Gen Z isn’t going to Facebook to connect with their peers: they’re relying on Snapchat, Instagram, and native apps.

3 – Research: Gen Z expects to be able to research everything and get results instantly. They’re also more likely to use voice search than their Millennial counterparts. Gen Z is also heavily influenced by reviews and other forms of User Generated Content – things like unboxing videos and peer tutorials are very influential.

As a business owner, the first thing you want to know is what percentage of your current customer base is or is influenced by Gen Z.  93% of families with Gen Z members report that they have moderate to significant influence on family purchasing decisions – bear in mind that the parents of Gen Z may be Millennials or Gen X; Gen Zers who live with their grandparents may be living with Gen X or Baby Boomers. Your digital data is the best source for this information.  Once you have that information, you can assess how important it is to tailor your marketing to appeal to Gen Z: it may be that you need to do so immediately, or you may have a few years to ease into trying to connect with the next generation of shoppers.

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Creative Director/Senior Designer

Tom DiGrazia

With over a decade and a half of professional design experience, Tom brings his knowledge of design principles and focus on user experience to every aspect of his contribution to TTG. Paying special attention to each client’s brand, personalized needs and individual interests, he strives to create compelling concepts utilizing intuitive and highly-refined design solutions. In addition to traditional and digital design work and oversight at TTG, Tom also boasts a wide portfolio of web development projects with the company, allowing him to stretch his CSS and HTML skills across multiple platforms and disciplines. He feels that being a designer in the digital landscape of websites, eCommerce solutions, email marketing platforms and social media, it is important to understand the code that goes into these areas as it assists his ability to tailor designs specifically targeted to achieve the best end result and further builds understanding and communication with backend development teams.

In his off hours, Tom is an avid pop culture enthusiast, staying up to date on the latest shows, films, comics and games. He can also typically be found taking part in a whole host of artistic activities that help him further stretch his creative legs. Regardless of the activity, Tom is always accompanied by his dog, Eli, and his cat, Tib.

Specialties:
Design, Photography, Illustration, Digital Imagery Manipulation, Wesbite Development

Platforms/Tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, HTML/CSS, Wordpress

Analyst/Strategist

Courtney Dumont

As Senior Marketing Strategist & Analyst at Technology Therapy Group, Courtney is energized by the ability to flex both her left and right brain daily. Courtney discovered her passion for Marketing at Bryant University, where she spearheaded research on students’ perceptions of Social Media Marketing for her Honors Capstone Project. After graduating Bryant in 2012, she joined the Technology Therapy team, where she’s honed her skills in social media, search and social advertising, email marketing, SEO, and more.

Since joining the team, Courtney has created digital marketing strategies and managed campaigns for clients across the country, ranging from plastic surgery centers, to jewelry stores, to construction companies. With a cohesive, cross-channel approach and a focus on data-driven decision making, she has increased their leads by up to 217%. But Courtney doesn’t leave her zeal for social media at the office; she also runs a local foodie Instagram account with her husband to document their meals across Rhode Island and beyond. Check them out: @hoppilyfed.

Specialties:
Marketing Strategy, Data Analysis, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Social Media

Platforms/Tools:
Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Facebook Creator Studio, Instagram, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Emma Mail, Google Data Studio, WordPress, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Microsoft Office