Weird Marketing – The Growth Of Gen Z Consumerism

The world is going through rapid changes as new marketing strategies are born and old ones evolve. As Gen Z consumerism is the fastest-growing generation of online consumers, marketers should adjust their marketing strategies to their needs despite how weird it may sound. Why do I emphasize the word weird?

Because catering to the needs of the next generation will probably generate unorthodox business strategies. Young adults and teens are raking in millions through live gaming streamers that are watching across the world.

Let’s find out together what these adaptations and changes mean for digital marketers.

Online Consumerism of Generation Z

In the 21st century, online consumerism has evolved into a rat race for attention. Why is this?

The simple answer has to do with customer behavior and its rapid change. We live in a mobile-first world, as customers get more connected and demanding. 

With Covid on the rise, some of the best-known, longest-surviving brands like GameStop have experienced a steady decline, all while significant momentum gathers for digitally-native, online-only brands.

If retailers want to grow, they have to adjust and optimize mobile-friendly sales channels.

How marketing caters to next-generation platforms

While digital marketing enjoyed its infancy 15 to 20 years ago, many of the methods used back then have become obsolete and outdated. Digital marketers have adjusted to build PR campaigns, SEM and SEO strategies, content development and lead generation. While these remain crucial and useful, let’s look at how they can be used on rapidly growing and beloved platforms like Twitch, TikTok, Facebook Live and StreamYard.

With the rise of these video streaming sites, sponsorships, advertising, and most importantly the attention of online retailers has shifted from older, more popular places like Youtube or Vimeo. This could make streaming the next big unexplored market for online businesses.

The Growth of Streaming Entertainment

There is a popular saying that content is kind! If that is true, the real question is this:

“What type of content is the king of kings?”

The content itself can be written, podcasted, video or video streaming. Of all these, the last one has gained the most popularity in the past couple of years. Platforms like Twitch are experiencing exponential growth year over year as content creators from different genres enter live streaming.

What might be the reason for this? Live streaming is indeed more favorable amongst younger audiences than written content. But the truth is streamers are in the game because of high-paying affiliate programs that give very generous payouts in comparison to many other platforms that have to stick with low-paying ads, money thresholds, and strict contracts that limit creative freedom.

The gaming industry has been making a killing at profiting from this. But it seems lately that there have been multiple new entrants into this sphere. Comedians, influencers, online personalities, life coaches, and many others have entered the playing field of streaming and online entertainment.

Combining traditional digital marketing knowledge with these new platforms can help support the growth of online businesses by adjusting to the needs of these platforms’ audiences.

Final Remarks

While video streaming platforms are not yet at the heart of Generation Z, they are the fastest-growing sites. This leaves an untapped opportunity for online marketers to evolve their skills and start building for young consumerism. As Generation Z matures and grows older, so will their ability to spend more money, leaving businesses with more opportunities to adapt to these changes.

Author Info:

Robert Kormoczi is a content distribution manager at SEON Technologies and an online entrepreneur focusing on helping the next generation of marketers.