Author: Franz Malten Buemann

The first ecommerce sale was made in 1994 … and can you guess what it was?
It was a Sting CD.
Dan Kohn, a 21-year-old who ran a website called NetMarket, sold Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales CD to a friend who purchased it with his credit card for $12.48 plus shipping costs. These exchanges are what we know as ecommerce today: Sales of services and goods made through the internet.

Ecommerce has come a long way since 1994, and it’s growing as more shoppers turn to devices and computers as the primary tools for discovering and buying new products.
Let’s take a deeper look at what ecommerce is and the growth trends around it, as well as some basic getting started tips.

Guide to Ecommerce
In this section, we’ll review the many benefits of ecommerce, major ecommerce trends, types of ecommerce, and sales tax. 
Benefits of Ecommerce
Ecommerce is not a trend, and it isn’t going away any time soon. Why? Selling goods and services on the internet highly benefits both the seller and the buyer.

Benefits to the buyer:

Convenience
Quicker and easier transactions
Informed purchasing decisions
Easier price and product comparisons
Improved delivery process
Targeted communication

Benefits to the seller:

Lower overhead costs due to the elimination of brick and mortar locations
The ability to sell goods around-the-clock (versus traditional store hours)
Ability to reach customers beyond geographical location
More control over the selling process and tracking, especially if there’s one portal that handles point-of-sale (POS)
Greater visibility to potential customers via SEO
More control over personnel costs and inventory management

Ecommerce Trends
The biggest trend around ecommerce right now is growth — and that growth extends far and wide.
1. U.S. Ecommerce Growth
Ecommerce has seen tremendous growth within the U.S. in the last 10 years. In fact, data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows that in 2017, U.S. ecommerce sales grew faster than it had since 2011 and that it represented 49% of the growth in total retail sales. That growth trend isn’t slowing down, either. Statista data predicts that U.S. online retail sales of physical goods are projected to reach close to $476.5 billion in 2024.
2. Global Ecommerce Growth
Global ecommerce is rapidly growing, too. Emarketer trend data indicates that retail ecommerce sales may exceed $4.058 trillion by as soon as 2020. As more shoppers look for products across borders and from international marketplaces, an uptick in ecommerce sales is evident around the globe.
3. Ecommerce Growth by Category
ComScore data indicates there are a few particular industries seeing rapid change in regard to retail ecommerce growth. Jewelry and watches was at the top of the growth chart (as of 2016) with 39% growth, followed by furniture, appliances, and equipment (26%), and video games/accessories (24%).
Lastly, let’s review the three types of ecommerce. 

There are three classifications of ecommerce. The classification depends on who is selling to who.
1. Business to Business (B2B)
Goods and services are sold from one company to another. For example, HubSpot provides products to other companies that are looking to grow better.
2. Business to Consumer (B2C)
A business sells to a customer. This is one of the most common types of ecommerce. An example would be an online clothing store or the online segment of some popular brick and mortar business, like Walmart or Target.
3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
As you may have guessed — consumers sell directly to consumer via online marketplaces. Craigslist, Ebay, and Amazon are all examples of C2C ecommerce.
Sales Tax for Your Online Store
Now, you might be worried about how sales tax should be incorporated into your online sales. Let’s look at a state-by-state breakdown of sales tax. There are five states that do not currently collect sales tax: Delaware, Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, and Alaska.
Sales Tax by State

State
Tax Rate

Alabama
4.00%

Alaska
0.00%

Arizona
5.60%

Arkansas
6.50%

California
7.25%

Colorado
2.90%

Connecticut
6.35%

Delaware
0.00%

Florida
6.00%

Georgia
4.00%

Hawaii
4.00%

Idaho
6.00%

Illinois
6.25%

Indiana
7.00%

Iowa
6.00%

Kansas
6.50%

Kentucky
6.00%

Louisiana
5.00%

Maine
5.50%

Maryland
6.00%

Massachusetts
6.25%

Michigan
6.00%

Minnesota
6.875%

Mississippi
7.00%

Missouri
4.225%

Montana
0.00%

Nebraska
5.50%

Nevada
6.85%

New Hampshire
0.00%

New Jersey
6.625%

New Mexico
5.125%

New York
4.00%

North Carolina
4.75%

North Dakota
5.00%

Ohio
5.75%

Oklahoma
4.50%

Oregon
0.00%

Pennsylvania
6.00%

Rhode Island
7.00%

South Carolina
6.00%

South Dakota
4.50%

Tennessee
7.00%

Texas
6.25%

Utah
5.95%

Vermont
6.00%

Virginia
5.30%

Washington
6.50%

West Virginia
6.00%

Wisconsin
5.00%

Wyoming
4.00%

D.C.
5.75%

Source: Based on 2018 Data. Refer to State’s Department of Revenue for up-to-date rates.
Now that we’ve reviewed some ecommerce basics, let’s review the steps you should consider following if you’re looking to launch an online business. 

While you’re working through the steps above and establishing your online store, keep the following best practices for ecommerce marketing and websites in mind.

Ecommerce Marketing Best Practices
What do you need to know about marketing for an ecommerce business? Here are a few best practices that can help jumpstart your efforts.
1. Test social media ads.
With 1.18 billion daily active users, Facebook has a huge audience that can be tapped. Consider targeting your audience with social media posts and videos and experiment to see what works best and drives sales and revenue.
2. Collect email addresses and stay in touch.
Recent data shows that three-quarters of companies agree that email marketing offers “excellent” to “good” ROI. By collecting email addresses on-site and asking customers to opt-in to future communications from you, you can give visitors a reason to keep coming back to your ecommerce site again and again via offers, sales, VIP discounts, and more.
3. Use personalization to tailor offers/messaging.
Personalization is more important than ever for online shoppers. In fact, research shows 74% of online consumers get frustrated with websites when offers, ads, and promotions appear that have nothing to do with their interests.
Make sure you’re leveraging personalized product suggestions, personalizing your email marketing efforts, and generally striving to make each customer feel like you’re speaking only to him or her.
4. Gather feedback via surveys.
The best way to keep a finger on the pulse of what your audience wants is to ask them. Leverage online surveys to gather feedback on everything from product to your marketing efforts to customer service interactions.
5. Choose ecommerce software that helps you meet your needs and goals. 
You may be wondering how to make sure you choose the right ecommerce software for your specific business. Here are some tips. 
How to Choose the Best Ecommerce Software
When searching for the best ecommerce platform and software — such as an ecommerce website builder —to meet your needs, there are many factors to consider. Look for:

Themes and customization abilities: You should be able to customize ready-made themes that allow you to personalize and add company branding.

Domain name customization: Make sure you can get a custom domain name and URL (so you don’t have to include the platform’s name in your website URL).

Expert, 24/7 support: Take the time to explore the platform’s service in detail. If an emergency crops up down the road, you want to be sure you’ll have fast, reliable support at a moment’s notice.

Flexible payment options: Customers want to pay in a variety of ways today — from credit cards to digital wallets and beyond. Look for an ecommerce software solution that is flexible enough to support many different secure payment options.

Multiple language abilities: Your customers may be coming from all over the world, so you need to be able to speak their language. It’s a good idea to work with a tool that supports many different languages.

6. Keep best practices for your website in mind.
When you’re ready to build an inbound ecommerce website, there are a few best practices to keep in mind that will help you get results out of your time and effort.
Select and customize a mobile-friendly theme.
BrightEdge data shows that more than half (57%) of web traffic now comes from mobile devices like smartphones and tablets — which means it’s essential to use a mobile-friendly theme when building your ecommerce website.
On ecommerce platforms, you can browse a selection of free and premium themes (all of which are mobile-optimized) and find one that’s best suited for your needs. Plus: From there, you can customize the templated website theme. By adding your color scheme and branding elements (like your logo), you can make your ecommerce website look 100% custom-made.
Take a look at this Shopify template example:

Source
Optimize for the web.
Web optimization encompasses a wide range of strategies and tactics that help convert more site visitors into customers, but let’s focus on two in particular:

Write enticing product descriptions. Use persuasive copywriting triggers to make your product descriptions sell. That means tapping into psychological tactics like fear of missing out, reciprocity, exclusivity, and more — all of which encourage site visitors to buy (and to buy NOW).

Add beautiful product images. When it comes to marketing, visuals are extremely important — especially for online buyers who can’t see or touch products before making a purchase. Along with static product images, add context by incorporating images of models using the product and videos that give customers a 360-degree view.

Create a stellar customer experience.
Research indicates that customer experience will overtake price and product as the primary brand differentiator for sales by 2020. This means it’s important to focus on creating an impressive customer experience across all of your brand’s various touchpoints.
A few ideas to get you started:

Add a FAQ page. Answering frequently asked questions on your ecommerce website helps potential customers quickly and easily find the information they need to complete a purchase.

Reduce image sizes for quick load times. Survey data shows more than half of website visitors expect a page to load in less than two seconds. At more than three seconds, they leave the page (and aren’t likely to return.) Reduce the size of your on-site images so it loads quickly.

Leverage user-generated content. Including user-generated content (think customer reviews, images from social media, and testimonials) on your ecommerce site means adding elements of social proof — which can improve the overall buying experience for customers.

Next, let’s cover the ways in which you can work to increase your ecommerce sales. 

How to Increase Ecommerce Sales
Ecommerce sales in the U.S. alone gross $130 billion per quarter, which is nearly 10 percent of all retail sales (that number is increasing globally as well). That’s a lot of people looking for online products and services.
If you’re building an ecommerce business, you need to devise a strategy to increase sales and get a piece of that pie. You won’t have an ecommerce business without customers. So, consider this one of the most important sections in this article. Let’s cover a few ways that you can increase your ecommerce sales.
1. Hook prospects in the consideration stage.
If you only try to reach prospective buyers in their decision stage, you’re too late. Conversely, if you provide relevant content in the awareness stage and fail to follow-up, you risk them forgetting about you as they move along the buyer’s journey.
It’s also important to remember that people go through buying cycles and can move back and forth between stages before they commit to a product or service. Once you hook a prospect with your content keep them engaged and send them content that speaks to their present stage. Your goal should be to get on their short-list of potential purchases.
2. Use paid targeting to outrank your competitors.
There’s a reason why sites like Google Shopping are so lucrative — they work. Search engines return billions of results daily, and many of those results are for products and services just like yours. The problem is the competition. When done right, paid advertising can position your ecommerce store in front of the right audience and ahead of your competition.
3. Get (or give) some information before they leave your site.
Not everyone who visits your ecommerce store is ready to buy — engage them anyway. Think about reasons why someone would visit and bounce off a page (maybe they’re considering options or they find your product too expensive or they want to make a more informed decision).
Whatever the reason, your job is to provide them with something that will keep you top of mind as they continue their search. Ideally, you would gather some lead information but at a minimum provide them something useful that can assist them as they go about their search.
4. Invest in re-engaging shopping cart abandoners.
Shopping cart abandonment is inevitable but not irrevocable. Sometimes users just need a little nudge to get back to their cart either through remarketing or a simple email reminder. Before you reach out though, make sure to address some of the common reasons why prospects abandon their shopping carts in the first place.
5. Remember to integrate social.
Don’t underestimate the power of social media when it comes to online sales. Instagram reports that 60% of people find products on social, which makes sense with the integration of shoppable content. Meet your potential customers where they are and remove friction from the buying process by leading them seamlessly to a sale.

Examples of Inspiring Shopify Ecommerce Stores
Not sure what your ecommerce store should look like? Here are a few examples of inspiring stores to help get your creative wheels turning.
1. Tattly

Because Tattly offers a product that’s highly visual in nature, they’ve opted for a theme that’s photo-centric. This lets new visitors quickly get acquainted with the product offering and provides a few different paths for deeper product exploration, too.
2. Graydon Skincare

Graydon Skincare uses a website layout with a large rotating header image that helps communicate a feeling around the brand and product. The images feature different products sold by the brand, and the simple top navigation makes it easy for customers to quickly find what they’re looking for.
3. 18Waits

18Waits also uses large rotating photos on the home page of their ecommerce store — but they sometimes integrate them with promotional offers. This helps shoppers visualize themselves wearing the product, while also enticing them to check out a special sale going on, too. Overall, the theme they’ve used is fairly minimal, which puts all the focus on the photography.
4. Easy Tiger

Speaking of minimal … Easy Tiger takes minimal design to the extreme. With a clean white background and no distracting design elements, all the focus is on their products. The red text also pops from the screen, making it easy to read and consume.
5. BluKicks

BluKicks also uses an image-centric approach on their homepage with quick navigation to product types. The lifestyle-type images they spotlight here communicate a certain feeling to shoppers — and ups the beachy charm of their product.
The Future of Ecommerce
Sales tax is a hot topic in the news right now — and the Supreme Court may be making changes to the policies for ecommerce retailers. Be sure to stay up-to-date on the latest laws and regulations.
The future of ecommerce is a bright one, and with the right strategy and tools, launching an online business can be easier than you ever imagined. Tap into the audience of engaged online shoppers and get your piece of the growing ecommerce pie.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

We know that growing a business can feel like a constant juggling act: from driving sales and managing a team, to prioritizing product roadmaps and keeping customers happy. Founders are often forced to step away from building their business and consider the numbers behind their day-to-day operations, in order to fundraise, which can be a serious distraction.
The good news is that the world of alternative financing is evolving by the day. Founders have a growing set of options for accessing capital which can give them time back to focus on higher-impact work. This aligns well with our mission at HubSpot, which is focused on helping companies grow in a way that doesn’t come at the expense of customer delight or that sacrifices the culture a team has worked so hard to build.
That’s why HubSpot Ventures is thrilled to announce our investment in Pipe, a company that is changing the way companies access capital and one that shares our mission to help companies grow on their terms.
Founders Harry Hurst, Josh Mangel and Zain Allarakhia started Pipe with the idea that recurring revenue streams are assets in and of themselves. Historically, there hasn’t been  a two-sided platform connecting companies that have monthly or quarterly recurring revenue with investors who could bid to purchase these revenues for their annual value, upfront.
Pipe integrates with a company’s banking, payment processing, and accounting systems to rate a business almost instantly, without disrupting any existing workflows or customer relationships. The product tracks revenue streams automatically, and once companies are approved, they have access to the Pipe Trading Platform to see real-time bids for their full annual value.
They’ve attracted buy side participants who are vetted institutional investors who bid to purchase monthly and quarterly paid recurring revenues at a small discount to their annual value, unlocking an entirely new asset class. What this means for companies is that founders can now access low-cost, non-dilutive financing conveniently without the drawbacks of traditional debt or the distraction of raising growth capital.
We were attracted to Pipe’s bold vision to be the go-to platform for companies seeking convenient, low-cost capital, as well as their unique positioning around using ecosystem partnerships to help drive their growth. The entire Pipe team is on a mission to change the game in how companies like HubSpot’s customers access capital, and HubSpot Ventures is honored to be part of their journey.
Learn more about Pipe here, and more about HubSpot Ventures here.

In times of crisis and uncertainty, new business acquisition slows down for most creative, marketing, and digital agencies. Offering a flexible, completely customizable newsletter is one great way to minimize churn and retain accounts when you need them most.
According to research from Uplers, 47% of agencies are experiencing a reduction in new business leads in the wake of COVID.
When acquiring new accounts becomes increasingly difficult, client retention becomes a paramount concern to agencies. The cost of getting a new agency account closed and won is about 4x greater than renewing a contract and keeping an existing client on board, as Proposify CEO Kyle Racki explains in this video on client retention strategies. 
Custom newsletters: Easier than ever for agencies
A custom newsletter, complete with your client’s own style and branding, is a great way to show how much you value their relationship and understand their unique needs. 
As a technology built by agency marketers for agency marketers, Campaign Monitor recognizes the importance of these kinds of special gestures and unique offerings. And we also understand the importance of knowing how to make email marketing templates quickly and at scale.
That’s why we’re excited to unveil our new branded templates tool within the Campaign Monitor platform. This new capability will make it easier than ever for agencies to treat their clients to captivating custom newsletters that look beautiful and get results.

Whether your shop serves just a handful of clients or a few hundred, the branded template tool simplifies the production process for your team. It guides you step by step through how to make email marketing templates that look great and fit perfectly into each client’s brand. You’ll be able to effortlessly apply themes, color schemes, logos, and more.
The flexibility of this feature gives you multiple options for improving your clients’ experience and results. If you usually use a hands-on approach where you handle most or all of their email marketing, the tool is intuitive for use by your own team. 
Alternatively; if you have more of a ‘self-serve’ model where clients do most of their own work and you operate in more of a support/advisory role, it’s easy to activate and make the functionality available for them. All clients have to do is enter their website URL: the tool does the work of identifying their logo and colors automatically!
Ready to get started? Sign up to check out the full power and capabilities of the new and improved branded template builder.
The power of custom newsletters for your agency
If you’re not already, there are several important reasons you should consider offering custom newsletter services and capabilities.

They’re good for business. One big advantage of newsletters for agencies is that they’re regular, recurring projects. Many organizations send (or at least, would like to send) newsletters on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. That means reliable, dependable billing hours for you and a constant way for you to keep accounts engaged and push your other services.

It’s easy to do, but will make you look like an absolute wizard to your clients. You can help your clients deliver gorgeous, highly-effective newsletters that look like they took an army of designers and developers untold days of toil and sweat to produce. What they don’t need to know is that pulling it together was a cinch for your team with email marketing software designed for agency use.

Custom newsletters keep you sticky. If you’re doing something special for a client that they love, it makes it hard for them to try and take that work in-house or elsewhere. This is huge for long-term client retention.

The value of branded content for your clients
Branded newsletters aren’t just great for your agency; they have big potential benefits for clients, too. 
A recent survey shows that 74.5% of marketers currently rely on branded content. It’s also worth noting that over two-thirds of marketers expect their clients to spend more on branded content in the future. Branded content makes customers feel a sense of familiarity. They’re more comfortable engaging, making branded emails better for ROI.
How about the world’s bigger brands? Are they turning to this strategy in their content? Take a look at how one of the biggest names in entertainment/media upped their approach to branded content in recent years.

Source: Numerator
Essential email newsletter key performance indicators
As with all email marketing, you should closely monitor KPI progress for your clients’ newsletters. This equips you with the data and evidence you need to prove your value and show how your customized newsletter templates are an indispensable service to them.
When it comes to newsletters, there are a few metrics that you’ll want to keep an especially close eye on in your reporting.
Click-through rate 
This is the bread-and-butter number for most email marketing, including newsletters. It explains how engaging subscribers find your newsletter templates—and the content within. For most brands, click-throughs are the first step to the most important metrics of all: conversions, sales, donations, and so on.
Open rate
Because of the unique nature of newsletters, you and your clients should consider open rates with a different perspective from how you might evaluate the open rates of promotional or transactional emails. Remember; the purpose of a newsletter isn’t just to convert but, to share the news. That means information, updates, entertainment—the kind of email content that builds relationships.
If the main goal of a given newsletter is to update subscribers about an important product change, or share holiday best wishes, or unveil a big announcement, all that information could well be contained right in the newsletter itself. In cases like this, open rate is the best indicator of whether users are getting the message.
Unsubscribe rate
Newsletters increase the frequency at which your clients are cropping up in subscribers’ inboxes. And once they’ve seen how effective your custom email templates are, they might ask you to design and send even more.
That’s good news for you and your clientele…to a point. There’s always a risk of too much of a good thing. Regular newsletters on top of your typical marketing emails and triggered messages can quickly go from charming to annoying and ratchet up the unsubscribe rate. If you see this figure ticking up, suggest letting up on the gas to your client so you don’t alienate too many customers.
Check out this guide for a more in-depth look at the most important email newsletter KPIs.
Test your way to killer newsletter performance
Once you’ve established a great custom newsletter program for your clients, it’s time to activate your killer marketer instinct. This is what will really make the difference between a generic newsletter experience and a custom one with your agency, driving up client retention.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to get started with some simple, high-impact tests. Thanks to their ongoing nature, newsletters make it especially easy to control for a variety of variables and gather enough data to determine clear winners. An email platform designed for agency use, like Campaign Monitor, makes it easy to set up tests and report results to clients.
Need some inspiration to get started? Try one of these invaluable email testing resources for agencies:

Business Not As Usual: 14 Email Marketing Tactics to Test Now
The Right Email Testing Tools to Optimize Every Campaign
How to A/B Test Your Email Campaigns With Campaign Monitor

Wrap up
Custom email templates are a small way to show a client you care, but they can have a big impact on client retention. The best email templates for agencies are those that are flexible and easy to adapt to any brand, so you spend less resources getting wrapped up in menial production. To recap:

When new accounts are hard to come by, it becomes that much more important to maintain your relationships and renew existing contracts.
Use Campaign Monitor’s branded templates to scale up newsletter customization with minimal incremental stress on your team and resources.
Newsletters are an especially great place to start with branded templates thanks to their value both to clients and your own agency.
Once started, don’t forget to carefully monitor your custom newsletter performance; especially with metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate.
Don’t get complacent, even if you find immediate success. There’s always room for improvement and growth—test to see what works and show clients you’re committed to non-stop optimization.

Branded templates are just one reason Campaign Monitor is the go-to email marketing technology for over 50,000 agencies around the world. Get powerful email technology designed by agencies, for agencies, and drive better performance not just for clients but your own brand. Learn more.
The post Create Killer Email Marketing for Your Clients With Custom Newsletters appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

On March 4, the Wall Street Journal ran an article on the front page above the fold titled “Google To Stop Ad Sales Based on Browsing.” The tagline was: “Citing privacy concerns, company says it won’t track individuals’ paths across multiple sites.” [link to article – subscription required]
The article discussed the end of technologies that allow cross-site tracking of internet users. And it’s not only Google. Apple, Mozilla, Brave, and Microsoft are on board as well. As a marketer, here are some considerations to keep in mind as these changes roll out over the next year.
Why should a marketing professional care about privacy?
Data is powerful. The information age has enabled the collection and processing of data in unprecedented ways at unprecedented scale. That’s why privacy considerations are a key part of a healthy society.
At Salesforce Pardot, we want to enable our customers to personalize prospect journeys in ways that are transparent and compliant. This looks like:

minimizing data collection
avoiding widespread tracking and profiling across unrelated internet properties
never aggregating data across our customer boundaries

Browser vendors recognize the power of data and that some actors have violated user privacy by aggregating too much data about individuals from too many sources. And they’ve often done it in ways that cross the line between the reasonable use and unreasonable abuse of personal data.
To prevent data abuse through large-scale aggregation — often in ways that are deliberately opaque — browser vendors are implementing privacy controls to prevent malicious tracking of users. These changes are important for marketing professionals to understand because they impact how we accomplish marketing automation and personalization.
What about tracking in marketing?
Marketing is about understanding a prospect’s needs. Salesforce Pardot enables effective marketing partly by tracking a prospect’s interactions with our customers’ websites and emails — but not across customer boundaries. For example:
Let’s say you plan to host a conference around your flagship product so that users can swap best practices and share solutions they built around your product. You may create one website for your company, another website for your product, and a third for your conference. Salesforce Pardot helps you coordinate your registrants’ experience across all three websites and your conference-related emails using tracking.

Your conference registrants expect personalized content as they prepare for and follow up from your conference. But changes to browser privacy controls intended to prevent abusive pro
filing of internet users will also change the way you personalize across your conference websites and emails.
How marketing personalization will change depends on how privacy-preserving technologies that are currently in development mature over the next year.
What do marketing professionals need to know about browser privacy?
There’s a lot going on in the browser privacy world. Here are a few activities worth paying attention to:

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the primary www governance body. It’s responsible for maintaining most of the technology standards that empower the web, including the technology behind web browsers. All of the major browser vendors participate in web governance via the W3C. Salesforce is an active member of the Consortium.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a project to develop privacy-respecting technologies for the web that provide alternatives to cross-site tracking. (Privacy Sandbox is technically a Chromium project, but Google is the primary driver.) Google is working closely with other browser vendors and the W3C to mature these technologies as they approach the end of third-party cookies next year.

Apple is working on numerous privacy initiatives that will apply to Safari, including Intelligent Tracking Prevention. These privacy initiatives will apply to all browsers that run on iOS.

Mozilla, maintainer of Firefox, is working to enhance user privacy to prevent cross-site tracking using a number of techniques described in their Enhanced Tracking Protection documentation. These technologies include cookie policies specifically designed to limit websites’ ability to track users across sites, plus other recently announced technologies such as State Partitioning.

What is Pardot doing?
We’ve previously written about first-party tracking in Pardot, which was rolled out in our Spring ’21 release. (Learn how to set it up in Pardot.) This is one way marketers can continue to personalize without third-party cookies.
This is not a way to track and profile individuals across the internet. That’s the kind of tracking that concerns the privacy community, and marketers don’t need it for their use case. Salesforce Pardot is also engaged in privacy conversations with the W3C and browser vendors so we can represent our customers’ needs and stay ahead of the latest changes in the browser privacy landscape.
Browser privacy is changing, and it will continue to evolve to prevent abusive tracking of www users. This trend is good for privacy, but it also makes it challenging for marketers to personalize across their websites. Salesforce Pardot is working with the browser vendors and the W3C to find ways to support marketing use cases and respect end-users’ wishes and privacy at the same time.
Stay tuned to this security, privacy, and technology series as we continue to provide the knowledge you need in a world of changing technology.
See how Salesforce Pardot is helping customers comply with evolving privacy regulations, then learn how to scale your consent and privacy management process.

When Instagram Reels first launched, many users treated it like TikTok 2.0. They posted their videos on TikTok first, then reuploaded that same content to Reels. Now, Instagram is saying, “Hey, stop that.”
On its creators’ account, the company announced it would be on the lookout for recycled content and stop recommending it to users on the Reels tab.

I mean, they’ve got a point. Some videos lose their quality when they’re reuploaded and become blurry, which can dissuade viewers. With this new approach, brands can provide fresh content that generates more engagement, and Instagram can improve its Reels adoption rate.
So, now that you’re tasked with making Instagram Reels, get inspired by these examples below.
1. People’s Revolt

What better way to make your first Reels than by introducing your followers to your team? In this video, People’s Revolt does three things right. First, they use a viral sound in their video, which can help them reach more users.
That sound also includes a call-to-action to business owners and encourages them to engage with the post. Given that the company offers digital marketing and PR services, it’s a great way to connect with their target audience.
They also keep the video simple. No fancy props or design – just the sound, the team, and the copy. It’s really all you need for a good Reels video.
2. Sassy Woof

If you want another way to introduce followers to your team, take a page out of the ‘90s TV show playbook, like “Full House” and “Family Matters.” That’s what this brand did.
Sassy Woof introduced its staff (which included one furry boss) with the Full House theme song playing in the background – it’s the pawfect approach (don’t look at me, they started with the puns first).
3. Anima Iris

For your next Reels video, consider pulling the curtain back and showing your followers behind-the-scenes content. In this example, luxury purse brand Anima Iris gives followers a peek into the product shots for an upcoming campaign.
Consumers want brands to be more authentic, and content like this does can humanize your brand and help build a stronger connection with your audience.
It’s also an effective strategy leading up to a launch, as it builds anticipation and excitement within your following.
4. Glamnetic

Who said you need fancy lighting and equipment for product marketing?
In this video, Glamnetic uses a simple setup to market its makeup corrector pen, the latest product launch from the brand.
One benefit of using Instagram Reels is the music embed feature. As long as it’s available in Instagram’s library — which most songs are — you can use any song you want in your video. It doesn’t constitute an official advertisement, so you are not restricted by copyright laws.
5. Jumz.Accessories

Yes, this is an example of the recycled content that Instagram will now make less discoverable. You can clearly see the TikTok watermark, but that aside, this is a great example of the type of content brands should be embracing.
It’s product marketing but it’s a little more subtle. In this video titled “How to Style Our Mini Handbags,” a model styles the handbags with different outfits, showcasing the product’s versatility.
It’s unclear whether the video is produced by a Jumz team member or an influencer, but what we do know is that it checks off all the boxes for a good Reels video.
6. Apple

If your team doesn’t have the resources or time to dedicate to brainstorm Reels content, consider outsourcing it.
In this instance, Apple commissioned creative studio Incite Design to make a how-to video using the iPhone 12. The end result is a quick tutorial of two Apple products that highlights the phone’s slo-mo effect, a key product feature.
7. MissionRecruit

When in doubt, share some tips and tricks with your audience. They add value to your audience and present another opportunity to gain some credibility.
MissionRecruit executed this well with this video, which gives women three ways to dress for their next interview. As an employment recruitment firm, this type of content is in perfect alignment with the brand.
The best part? The Reels video also doubles as user-generated content (UGC), as they featured pictures from influencers.
8. Netflix

When it comes to social media, Netflix doesn’t take itself too seriously.
They’ve succeeded in tapping into what viewers want and how they want it. Their Reels content is no different.
This hilarious skit is meant to show the point of view (POV) of a plant looking at someone crying over a show on Netflix. It’s so simple but if the comments under the post are any indication, Netflix hit the nail right on the head.
Just as sounds go viral on short-form video platforms, so do special effects like this one. When the opportunity strikes, join in on the fun.
9. Skillshare

The time limit for a Reels video is 30 seconds. It’s also just the right length for a teaser video to create anticipation ahead of a new launch.
To promote a new course, Skillshare posted a snippet of the course where Kelis, recording artist and chef bringing all the boys to the yard, gives a tip on mixing flavors.
It’s a cooking show, so they could have just created a montage of what the course will cover. Instead, they took an interesting tidbit from the course and used that to attract viewers.
Another important detail to note here is the use of captions. Accessibility should always be top of mind when creating any content. Beyond their importance for deaf or hard-of-hearing people, non-native English speakers can also benefit from captioned videos. And let’s not forget those who regularly watch videos on mute or may be watching your Reels in a loud environment.
Captions broaden your video’s reach, so there’s never a reason not to use it.
10. Adobe

Creativity is a core tenet of Adobe’s brand identity. So their Reels, and most of their social media content, celebrate their users’ creativity.
This is another great example of user-generated content. For it to work, the UGC has to match your brand and audience.
In this video, the artist takes a trip back in time and shows how Adobe Photoshop has evolved over the years. One might look at this video and think, “What’s the point?”
Well, not every piece of content you make is meant to lead to a direct sale. Sometimes, a sale isn’t the goal. Sometimes, the goal is to build brand awareness, foster a community, or create stronger messaging. In this case, Adobe is already a household name, so these posts may inspire and celebrate, rather than promote.
11. HubSpot

I love a numbered list. I know exactly what I’m getting and there’s no surprise.
And from a marketer’s standpoint, this type of content is easily repurposed. Let’s say you had a listicle with this information. Well, now you can use that same information to create a 30-second Reels video.
You can also use this format to direct traffic to your blog post by introducing a few items from the list and inviting your followers to read the full list on your website.
There are so many ways to play with Instagram Reels. Try some sounds and effects and see what resonates with your audience. Once you get in a groove, you’ll see how easy it is to make short and effective video content.

Gen Z has the fastest-growing buying power of any generation — but it’s still one of the most misunderstood and challenging age groups to market to.
While previous generations can be generally be persuaded to buy products through brand loyalty, fear of missing out, or high-budget ads from major companies, Gen-Z’s relatively modest spending habits and craving for authenticity has turned some traditional marketing tactics upside down.
Gen Z’s budget-consciousness became even more apparent during 2020 and the global pandemic. As physical stores closed, brands struggled to keep up with online sales demand, and as members of the young-adult workforce worried about job security, brands had to take even more steps to market to the age group.
Not only did marketing content have to establish that products were essential, worth purchasing, or readily available to Gen Z audiences, but brands also needed to prove that they were relatable, trustworthy, and shared values with them.
Because creating engaging content for Gen Z was no easy feat in 2020, Fanbytes — an influencer talent agency — began to host Gen Z TikTok influencers in a U.K.-based home where they lived full-time, created content, and collaborated during the 2020 lockdowns. This home was named, “Bytehouse.”

What the Heck is Bytehouse?
At the moment, Bytehouse — which BBC, The Guardian, and other news outlets referred to as a “TikTok house” — hosts influencers including KT Franklin, Lily-Rose, Sebbyjon, Monty Keates, and the duo Em and Loz. According to Fanbytes content manager Shelly Chadha, the group of influencers, known as the “Bytesquad”, have more than 10 million combined TikTok followers.
“Bytehouse was created in response to Gen Z consumer behavior, which has moved away from linear TV and towards social media,” Chadha explains. 
By housing Gen Z creators together, Chadha says, “We have ensured that the content is not only relatable and entertaining to young people but reflects their beliefs and behaviors. It was extremely important to us that … [the influencers] are almost mirror images and can help answer any questions regarding identity, sexuality, and race.”
While the Bytesquad churned out many non-branded TikTok videos, they also helped market products to Gen Z. For example, here’s a Bytesquad demo of products from the skincare brand Starface:

@bytesquadhq
a little night routine for u all ##fyp ##foryou
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Shortly after the success of Bytehouse, a U.S.-version, called “Hype House,” started housing YouTubers and TikTok influencers in Los Angeles. This house was also covered in publications like the New York Times and Cosmopolitan.
While influencer houses like these might seem more centered around entertainment than branding, these experiments have enabled content managers and agencies like Fanbytes to zone in on the Gen Z audience.
And while influencers might not be relevant to your marketing efforts now, you can still learn a great deal from the content they’re creating for the unique Gen-Z demographic.
Luckily, if you’re a marketer who can’t get top Gen-Z talent to make content for you, there are still plenty of ways your team can engage and reach this audience.
To help marketers in their quest to capture the Gen-Z audience, Chadha offered us a handful of great tips for creating engaging content for the age group.
How to Create Marketing Content for Gen Z
1. Remember: Gen Z and Millennials aren’t the same.
“One crucial mistake we see a lot of brands do is bundle up Gen Z and millennials into one category and create content that they believe will engage them simultaneously,” Chadha explains.
For example, “Despite both [millennials and Gen Z] looking for authenticity in the content they consume, Gen Z takes this to a whole new level and possesses unique consumer behavior,” Chadha says.
Additionally, because Gen Z was raised around revolutionary technology, like smartphones and IPads, “the content they choose to consume is always in line with the newest trends, whereas millennials may not be so picky,” Chadha explains. “It is compulsory for brands to be up-to-date with the newest innovations in the content they create if they want to win over Gen Z hearts.”
Lastly, since Gen Z grew up in times of recession, while millennials grew up in an economic boom, Gen Z tends “to not trust brands quite as readily as millennials do,” Chadha adds.
Chadha is not the only marketer to notice the key differences above. In a research-driven post, HubSpot dug into similar generational differences in spending, content consumption, and level of brand trust.
Ultimately, brands will need to leverage authentic, trustworthy, or entertaining content that demonstrates the value of a product to engage Gen Z. We’ll dive more into what this looks like with the following tips.
2. Pick the right platform.
One thing is certain about Gen Z. They love experimenting with the latest social and video creation apps.
But, if you’re marketing to young adults, it can be hard to determine which apps are just a trend, which have marketing potential, and which aren’t worth spending time on.
To ensure they’re telling brands and influencers to focus on the right platforms, Fanbytes does deep research and testing on viral apps before recommending them to clients.
“For each new app that comes to our attention, we create a strategy using members of our team by researching [the app’s] offerings. Not until we have completed thorough investigations into new platforms’ offerings will we advise which platforms are worth brands’ investments and which aren’t,” Chadha explains.
For example, two platforms Chadha’s team recently researched are Triller — a music video creation platform and Instagram Reels — a TikTok-like feature within the Instagram app.
Aside from spending time on Triller and Instagram Reels to learn how they work, as well as which influencers use them, “we look into the type of campaigns that can be run on these platforms and how other brands have used the platform,” Chadha explains.
“We also activate test campaigns with real brands ourselves to put our insights into action and see if the platform can really deliver,” Chadha adds.
Apps Fanbytes is Watching
TikTok
While TikTok saw astounding growth in its launch year, it received another burst in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world saw a huge rise in the rate at which we consume short-form content, with Tiktok becoming the most downloaded app in a single quarter at the start of 2020,” Chadha says.
“TikTok provided a form of escapism to so many people that needed to tune out to what was happening in the world whilst stuck indoors,” Chadha notes. “It also offered a constant feed of short-form content, from comedy to dance challenges and everything in between.”
“TikTok has continued to rise in its numbers and other apps have risen or diversified their offerings to follow suit,” Chadha adds.
But what makes TikTok rise above its competitors? Chadha explains:
“Instead of the polished aesthetics that platforms like Instagram perpetuate, TikTok values personality, originality, innovation, and fun. Consequently, TikTok offers all types of brands the opportunity to reach users in a way that they can’t do elsewhere.”
Additionally, because TikTok’s algorithms aim to match viewers with videos they’ll enjoy based on data from the viewer and video-specific engagements, “brands and creators can go viral from a great piece of content regardless of follower count,” Chadha says. “If a brand can understand the platform’s algorithm, the behavior of its users, and the trends, even if they only have 200 followers, they’re already 75% there.”
If you choose to market your brand on TikTok, Chadha says it’s important to define your “niche” and create attention-grabbing content around it.
While knowing you’ll want to market to Gen Z is a good start to finding your TikTok niche, it’s important to remember that there are many subgroups of young adults with different interests on the app. As you determine what your brand niche is, Chadha suggests asking yourself the following questions:

“What demographic do you want to drive traffic, sales, or clicks from?
What content should you be creating to target those users?
What influencers can you leverage to distribute the content?

“Noting these things down is a great first step in your TikTok marketing journey and can make all the difference,” Chadha says.
While TikTok can be a helpful tool for brands trying to reach Gen Z, you should still consider testing other similar apps as well. Although TikTok’s had historic app growth, it’s still vulnerable to bans, regulations, and censorship in certain countries which could impact marketers.
If regulations impact your TikTok strategy, staying in the know of other apps, such as those mentioned below, could help you smoothly pivot your content strategy elsewhere if needed.
Instagram Reels
“Instagram’s new Reels feature offers brands a more diverse and varied range of content on the platform and we’ve seen quite a few brands take advantage of this,” says Chadha.
For example, this Reel from Louis Vuitton creates seamless transition content,”

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton)

While Instagram Reels could have a promising outlook based on the success of other Instagram features, Chadha says Fanbytes is “still questioning” whether this alternative “will ever quite reach TikTok’s potential.”
Although Reels might not be as viral as TikTok, marketers should still check it out — especially if they’ve already gained Gen Z Instagram audiences. While TikTok has taken over app stores, Instagram Reels still allows you to reach Instagram’s audience of more than 2 billion users.
Triller
Right now, Triller — a music video creation app — might be more relevant to music industry companies. However, it might be a good app to keep on your radar for Gen Z research, especially if TikTok continues to see ban concerns around the world. To show you some of the similarities, here’s a video that demonstrates how to make a Triller video:

“From our research, we have seen campaigns taking off on Triller due to its well-deserved reputation in the music industry. With investors like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, it’s no wonder musicians have jumped on the app to create music videos using Triller’s built-in AI video editing software.”
However, while Triller is seeing steady usage and campaign growth, Chadha notes that it still is more specific to brands and creators in the music industry, while TikTok is still more appropriate for brands with all sorts of niches.
“We believe that Triller is going to continue to grow after being downloaded 250 million times and reaching number one in the App Store in 50 different markets,” says Chadha. “However, we don’t see it as direct competition to TikTok as Triller will continue to cement itself in the music marketing world whilst TikTok has the potential to grow in all other areas.”
Catering your content to each platform.
Once you land on a platform, you’ll want to follow some of the tips noted above to determine which types of content will stand out and which opportunities you’ll have there.
For example, when ByteHouse launches branded content on TikTok, it’s short, entertaining, and to the point.

@bytesquadhq
a little get ready with us ##foryou ##fyp
♬ Elevator Music – Bohoman

Meanwhile, the group’s YouTube page features longer-form videos that take more time to give detailed information about a brand. Here’s an example where the group went to a restaurant called FUWA FUWA:

While ByteSquad offers quick information and attention-grabbing storylines on TikTok, they use YouTube to create more in-depth discussion around a brand.
3. Prioritize video and audio content.
“It is always advisable to go with a video approach in the content you’re creating. Gen Z rejects traditional advertising with their mobile-first mindset, spending an average of about 3.5 hours of internet videos a day,” Chadha explains.
Chadha’s words are backed by a handful of research studies. In one of the most recent from YouTube, Gen Z respondents polled said they couldn’t “live” without YouTube content. The study also revealed that many members of Gen Z rely on video research when determining if they should make a purchase.
When it comes to Bytehouse, influencers there focused primarily on creating short-form videos, primarily for Gen Z platforms like TikTok. At the moment, Bytesquad’s official TikTok account features hundreds of original videos targeted at Gen Z — many of which have more than 100 thousand views. The squad also creates videos for platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
Aside from video, Chadha says brands might also want to consider audio marketing as well. Examples of this could include creating podcast content and advertising on music streaming services that are popular to Gen Z.
“We also predict that audio marketing is going to be big in 2021. Audio within marketing enables personalized content and intimacy, which Gen Z loves,” Chadha says. “In a report by Pandora, the average daily audio streaming hours have increased by 32%. Digital audio now commands more listening time than traditional AM/FM radio, accounting for 53% of all daily audio consumption.”
4. Hook your audience quickly.
“[Gen Z marketing] content shouldn’t just be informative, it should also be fast,” Chadha advises. “Keep it snappy and to the point.”
Regardless of which content type you use, it’s key to remember that Gen Z only has an eight-second attention span. And, that span could be even shorter when surfing fast-paced social platforms with endless content.
To capture Gen Z’s attention, Chadha advises that marketing content has “to be super succinct and come with a great hook.”
Here’s an example of a TikTok the ByteSquad created with a great hook. In the video, one of the members entices mystery by walking up to her roommates and saying “Look what I got.” Because the video is shot from her point of view, you can’t see what type of product she’s holding but see her roommates’ jealous reactions. As the video continues, it’s revealed that everyone is jealous over the influencer’s bag of food from McDonalds.

@bytesquadhq
When maccies re opened😂
♬ original sound – ByteHouse

5. Embrace advertainment.
Once you hook your audience, you’ll want to keep them entertained while continuing to differentiate your content from dull product placements.
Chadha says one of the biggest challenges Gen Z marketers face is creating entertaining content that still interestingly highlights a product or brand.
“If the campaign is intrusive with brand logos plastered everywhere, the users will know they’re being advertised to and the content won’t appear organic,” Chadha explains.
Ultimately, Chadha says the “only way” marketers can be successful on TikTok or other prominent Gen Z platforms is by naturally balancing attention-grabbing content with brand information.
“This means adopting our ‘advertainment’ approach; entertainment first, product-second mentality,” Chadha advises. “By studying [a Gen Z platform] and making use of its tools, features, and trends … you can successfully win the hearts of its users.”
One example of how Fanbytes has helped brands reach Gen Z is a recent campaign they did with Idahoan Foods
When food content was on the rise during lockdowns, Idahoan Foods wanted to drive Gen-Z awareness to their instant mashed potato products.
Instead of launching traditional ads, Fanbytes created a custom TikTok sound, “leveraged influencers, and created a dance challenge to draw users in to connect with the brand,” Chadha explains.
The video below highlights one example of an advertainment video Idahoan Foods published on TikTok. In the short-clip, an influencer named Nico Bisesi compares the taste of Idahoan’s instant potatoes to that of a butter knife.

@idahoanfoods
It’s ##MagicMonday with @nico_bisesi ! How does he do it?! ##IdahoanMash
♬ original sound – Idahoan Foods

While the video clearly shows an Idahoan Foods product placement, viewers might be more intrigued by the oddness of the story. For example, rather than getting bored by a video ad, TikTok viewers might ask themselves, “Why did he eat that knife?” or “What will happen next?”
Chadha notes that Idahoan Foods’ overall TikTok strategy has resulted in more than 14 million TikTok video views, 211 pieces of user-generated content, and 3,700 added Idahoan Foods followers.
When determining why the tactic was so successful, Chandra believes it was due to the brand focusing more on the level of content entertainment and less on intrusive product placement.
“We didn’t plaster [Idahoan Foods] everywhere, but instead found a way to connect [Gen Z] users with the product through an entertaining concept,” Chadha says.
6. Embrace retargeting.
“Gen Z’s quick attention span also means that they will most likely scroll past any ads quickly,” Chadha adds.
Because Gen Z speeds past ads, brands that leverage advertising will likely need to show their promotions to Gen Z more than once.
“[Gen Z is] bombarded with ads hundreds of times a day and so one ad is not going to win them over,” Chadha explains. “Utilising retargeting helps you keep front of mind and enables users to feel that they know you.”
7. Leverage influencer marketing (and it doesn’t have to be TikTok!).
While you don’t need influencers to take advantage of all the tips on this list, they can still be quite beneficial when you have access to them.
“A great opportunity to generate a lasting and meaningful impression on Gen Z is through influencer marketing. Gen Z is a group who buy into people rather than brands and autonomy rather than big corporations,” Chadha explains. “So, building relationships with influencers who have built strong relationships with your target market is a good way to go.”
Through leveraging influencer marketing at Fanbytes, Chadha says the agency has received “astonishing results” for its brand clients.
“Let’s take ACCA, the leading international accounting body as an example,” Chadha adds. “They approached us as they were looking to change perceptions of accountancy from ‘dull, boring and exclusive’ to ‘exciting, impactful and relevant’ amongst Gen Z.”
“We selected some of our best influencers who are reliable voices in the TikTok community to head to an accountancy firm for a day and film ‘day in the life’ content for their fans.
In the video below, captioned with “Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable?”, Sherice Banton, a TikTok creator with more than 1.7 million followers, pretends to work alongside actual accountants. After seeing a few clips of her working in a seemingly normal office, one clip — which symbolizes lunchtime — shows her dancing alongside the accountants.

@shericebanton
Work time vs LUNCH TIME 😂 Relatable? 🤪 Such fun with ##ACCA Accountants at Flinder 😂🔥 ##Comedy ##ad
♬ original sound – bits

The video not only allowed viewers to get a glimpse into the world of accounting, but also made the topic of working in an office funny, entertaining, and relatable to anyone who watched. Chadha notes that this campaign drove more than 6.2 million video views, 182,000 TikTok “hearts,” and over a thousand comments.
Some of the best places to leverage influencer marketing could be on short-form video platforms, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok. This type of strategy can be especially helpful if you want to leverage a viral video platform but haven’t mastered the hottest content types, trends, or audience yet. Because influencers have built a following on a given platform, they’ll likely know what content works and how to implement information about your brand or product in those videos.
While Fanbytes works with macro-level TikTok influencers, smaller brands don’t have to toss this strategy aside if they can’t access a big name or don’t know if TikTok is right for them. While it might be more challenging to access major influencers, there are plenty of micro-level creators across social platforms with large follower-bases and strong expertise in many niches.
For example, if you sell fitness products, you might consider working with a creator who posts their workouts regularly, talks about the products they use, and has thousands of engaged followers or regular comments on their content. Similarly, if you sell clothing, you could look for creators known for posting regularly about fashion trends.
8. Let Gen Z create content for you.
“Marketers who are targeting Gen Z also have the opportunity to supercharge their campaigns by inspiring [audiences] to create content for their brand,” Chadha explains. “Gen Z loves to be creative and really experience a brand through content creation. If the concept [of your campaign] is on-trend, you might be able to build an army of fans creating content for you without having to lift a finger.”
“Take the #davidstesla trend for example. It began with a collaboration between G FUEL, an energy drink brand, and David Dobrik, a popular creator on Youtube and TikTok. The collaboration was created as a contest where David would give away a Tesla to the user who creates the best video and follows the G Fuel page.”
Since launching this campaign, G FUEL’s TikTok page has grown to more than 863 thousand followers and received more than 12 million likes.
Aside from the high-priced prize, Chadha explains the campaign went viral “because it puts the audience in control by giving them the opportunity to vote on the best videos via the amount of views, shares, and engagement on a video submission.”
“Secondly, it merges our concept of ‘advertainment’ seamlessly by hardly mentioning the product. Instead, the product is integrated subtly but is still required to follow the page to be considered,” Chadha adds.
Even if you don’t have access to a top influencer — or a free Tesla — user-generated content can still be beneficial for your brand.
For example, you could host a smaller-scale version of a giveaway that asks audiences to create content for a chance of winning one of your products. Or, you could offer to share the best user-generated videos on your site or social media channels, which might encourage people to create videos in hopes of gaining online awareness.
9. Study and embrace Gen Z trends.
“A generation that grew up with fast-paced technological developments and social media, [Gen Z is] extremely digitally savvy and used to adjusting to new technology. Because of this, trends on platforms such as TikTok move extremely fast and the content that’s popular on social media platforms one minute may be out the window the next,” Chadha says.
“Brands need to be all over social media … and constantly check in with the latest and greatest trends so that they are always a part of the conversation,” Chadha explains.
“Our number one piece of advice would be to be active on the platform you’re trying to dominate. This means not only as a marketer — but as an interested user,” Chadha advises.
“You may hear about viral TikTok trends but you will never know the power [a platform] possesses and the many types of content forms and trends it circulates every week unless you are spending at least 15 minutes a day on there,” Chadha explains.
Surfing through content on the platform you’re most interested in, “Will teach you how to master the platform and build a strong strategy so that you’re not leaving anything to chance,” according to Chadha.
10. Don’t be afraid to share your values.
“Unlike millennials, who care more about what a brand can do for them, Gen Z looks for authentic messages and what a brand stands for,” Chadha explains. Growing up with the likes of Greta Thunberg, Gen Z is a generation that stands up for what they believe in and they expect the brands they invest in to do the same.”
“The content Gen Z is interested in should speak to what they believe in and have messages communicated to them as a friend would, rather than an intrusive corporation,” Chadha adds. “Leave the flashy advertising behind and tap into the real and raw side of your brand. Think entertainment first, product second.”
Chadha explains that branded content “shouldn’t be limited to advertisements or product placements. … By creating content that provides insight into [brand] stances on socio-political issues and the story behind the brand,” companies could gain more trust, loyalty, and potentially conversions from Gen Z.
Should You Target Gen Z?
Now that you know how much effort you’ll need to put into targeting Gen Z, you might be asking yourself, “Should I target this generation?”
Well, if you market for a B2C brand, or a B2B brand with products that solve for all age groups in the workforce, you’ll either want to start planning or zone in on a Gen Z strategy. While they might not have full purchasing power yet, many of them have reached adulthood, are getting jobs, and starting to make their own purchasing decisions.
As this generation inches closer to becoming one of your marketing targets, it will be vital to do as much research on them as possible. You can get started by diving into our content on how Gen Z differs from other generations, spends money, and other need-to-know Gen Z data.