Capture the tomorrow customer, today
Captivating your market is difficult and time-consuming. Keeping them engaged and loyal is an ongoing process and commitment throughout each season to ensure they stay with you, trust you and continue to share their positive experience with you with their peers. However, focusing on those customers you have right now, and ensuring they stay with you is only part of the marketing picture in business, and we must be constantly connecting and reaching out to the next generation of potential consumers in order to keep our business moving.
We often think of these potential consumers as ‘tomorrow customers’. They may not be in need of your product or service right away, but they will be in the near, or far future. This means we need to be preparing them now, and becoming part of their peripheral mindset so when they do need us, and become ‘today customers’ our brand is at the forefront of their mind as one to trust and part money with.
In fact, the tomorrow customer is often the most important customer. They are ready to learn, ready to experience different brands and open to new opportunities. There for us to capture and enable us to present our beliefs, visions, products and services to become their brand of choice.
So, who is the biggest tomorrow customer out there right now? Generation Z.
Gen Z are those currently around 6 to 24 years old. Yes, many of them are of course way, way off considering their options in terms of commercial or corporate preferred brands, but they have a spending power unrivalled by any other generation right now, and the capability to make or break brands with their choices. They really are an economic force to be reckoned with so now really is the time to connect and cultivate a relationship with this high-value group of consumers.
So, what key things do you need to be aware of to target the tastes of this tomorrow customer target?
A strong and clear moral compass
Of course, a big issue and concern among the Gen Z group is the planet and the need to be taking solid and actionable changes to our everyday lives and business practices to help the planet now. This isn’t just about big targets for the future. This is about the here and now. What is your business doing RIGHT NOW that makes instant and positive impacts on the planet? However, a strong moral compass isn’t just about pleasing the planet. It’s about standing by all of your beliefs, and being clear on what they are. Do you have a strong affiliation with a charity or support a local community? Great! But WHY do you do it? Gen Zers want to feel like their beliefs really do align with the brands they communicate and engage with. It’s not enough to just support causes and shout about it. You need to be telling them why you feel so strongly, why others should also feel this way, and what you’re doing to make a difference. Honesty and openness alongside strong morals enable those consumers to seek you out, discover more and support you in your role as well as satisfy their craving for brands with big beliefs and dreams that match their own.
Privacy Pioneers
Millennials are still able to remember a life without phones, computers and tablets. They remember a childhood that was tech-free, so whilst they are definitely tech-savvy, they are still a little behind compared to those in Generation Z. These guys have grown up with technology all around them in the home from the moment they were born. This means they are incredibly knowledgeable and confident in their use of technology and its capabilities; as well as its pitfalls. And so, when they engage with other users and brands online, they are extremely aware and cautious of their privacy. They tend to understand how and why their data is collected and used and are very switched-on in how to keep as much data under wraps as possible; maybe covering their webcams or locking down the privacy settings of their social media. This can make it difficult for brands to create a hyper-personalised experience but we must respect this request and enable our consumers to share as much or as little as they desire with us to enable us to create a loyal and positive relationship.
Loyalty Remains Strong
Like many generations before them, the next generation of consumers loves to stay loyal to a brand they like. However, they do demand that loyalty back too! This is now a two-way street and Generation Z want to see brands not only providing the high-quality product and service they desire, but also reflecting their beliefs and their personalities consistently, time and time again, well into the future. If you keep working on that moral compass, keep showcasing your brand personality and reflecting their passion right back at them, they are with you for life! And, if you really drive social impact, they will love you even more.
So, if you want to capture the hearts, minds and wallets of Generation Z, you need to start focusing on these measures right now. As mentioned, they may not be on your radar right now ready to part with their cash, but they should definitely be on your radar ready to embed in their minds as a brand they like and remember when the time comes.
Be open
Be the change
Respect and Reward
Reflect Personality
Make a difference
Become the brand of choice.
