Email Marketing for Millennials and Gen Z has to be different: Here is why…

    Email Marketing, Millennials, Gen Z

    Reports suggest that millennials and Gen Z use emails and even prefer email interactions for marketing purposes, but they think different when it comes to accepting brands

    The global markets have diverse customers. On one side, there are millennials are growing up with different priorities, while Gen Z is in their teens. For an email marketer, it is crucial to understand that Gen Z is more interested in entrepreneurship than Millennials.

    Gen Z is hugely tech-savvy and is used to filtering information to narrow it down. They are also more likely to buy from their mobile phone than the millennials. Despite the scare stories of the ‘end of the email,’ multiple studies mention that over 85% of Gen Z use email over other communication channels. This number will only increase as they increasingly enter the workforce.

    Marketers face challenges with both generations. While both Millennials and Gen Z are different, there are certain traits that are same, and marketers will face common challenges. It is important to remember that both these generations use Adblocker. Experts believe that these customers may never see online ads as they block them. This is more common with millennials than Gen Z. They are also smart to catch click baits and understand spamming techniques.

    As far as privacy is concerned on emails, both the generations know that their Inbox space is theirs alone and are quick to hit the ‘unsubscribe’ buttons as soon as they feel spammed. Experts believe that a small option of selecting how often they want to hear can change the whole strategy of marketers. Since over 40% of both of the generations say that they are online ‘almost always,’ it makes is essentials to have mobile-friendly and convenient options.

    Both these generations also value privacy and will not appreciate if they are asked to share unnecessary personal information. Gen Z members are particularly cautious about giving out personal information.

    However, both these generations still use social media, making it a hugely popular channel for marketing communications. Social media is vital with both millennials and Gen Z, but email is not going away anytime soon.

    Experts believe that this is excellent news and email has significant advantages over the rest of the other channels for marketing communications. Email allows easy personalization of messages at a mass scale and gives the ability to reach at the right time to the right person with the right message. As CRMs also provide an option to segment email lists based on customer behavior, it gives a higher scope for visibility.

    When using email marketing for millennials or Gen Z, experts suggest emphasizing on the company’s ethical and environmental credentials. It has been noted that both these generations place massive importance on the environment. For Gen Z, it can be anything environment-related and, climate change engages millennials the most.

    Gen Z, in particular, expects marketing mails to be sincere and direct.  They do not want to be talked down and feel sold to in a pushy way. For Gen X, pushing loyalty programs have worked well, but   Gen Z and Millennials do not tend to be brand loyal.

    Both generations also trust peer reviews more than any other generations. Offering social proof like screenshots of Facebook reviews in the emails can help to get more emails opened.

    While there are some similarities and differences between Gen Z and Millennials, the key to marketing to both these generations is, to be honest, open, and ethical.