Youth-Centered Marketing: A 2023 Ruling Business Force

With over 4.26 billion people using social media worldwide, I bet you won’t encounter an individual that hasn’t at least heard of the various communicative platforms by now.

Whether you are a silent observer or an active user, social media is no longer considered a trend or an option, but a necessity. These internet-based forms of communication allow their users to communicate, learn, create web content, and boost digital marketing strategies.

For example, Facebook has addictive interactive features that allow a person to keep tags on everyone and everything going on around them and advertise goods, organically or through paid ads. YouTube was a life-saver growing up (and still is)! The video-sharing service provides quick and easy-to-digest content of anything and everything. Users get to visually connect and engage with their audiences, which ultimately humanities them in the eyes of consumers.

With other hundreds of platforms out there like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, Reddit, and LinkedIn, you are bound to find the space that meets and satisfies your needs.

As a consumer, this is all great and dandy. But business owners are in for a challenge.

When it comes to preparing the future for the upcoming generation, youth-centered marketing is getting all the hype it deserves. And guess what? It is actually more than sticking the word “lit” on a product description and calling it a day.

Youth-Centered Marketing: A 2023 Trend

Youth-centered marketing is any marketing directed toward young people, especially generation Z, which includes tweens, teenagers, and young adults. Now despite popular beliefs about them not being at their peak purchase power, Gen Z currently holds more than $143 billion in purchasing power. They are all tech-savvy and spend most of their time hopping from one platform to the other. They hold more power than we give them credit for.

How Does It Work Exactly?

To put it simply, it is all about connection and communication.

The interesting thing about youth is that they don’t like to feel that they are being sold a product, and thus refute traditional marketing ploys. They see right through posh designs and would rather connect with a brand that is transparent, honest, and authentic.

The key is to create digital content that reflects everything that we seek to attain in our interpersonal relationships. They want to connect with an authentic, humanized, vulnerable, and honest persona that resonates with their fears, ambitions, struggles, and mindset.

Keep in mind that amidst the gloom in the world, Gen Z is shaped with uncertainty and finds relief in togetherness, peace, connectivity, and being culturally relevant. Sprinkle a dash of humor into the mix and you will be able to build a strong base of consumer loyalty.

From bright aesthetics to a genuine mission, it is no longer enough to convince the masses how awesome a product is.

Take TikTok as an example. The platform provides users with the opportunity to produce short-form videos with interesting visuals. Its algorithm personalizes videos shown to users on their feeds according to their interaction activity with the videos. It is used for entertainment, advertisement, and even as a search engine. The content is real, relatable, and highly engaging; all the things that make it a force in the digital world right now.

The bottom line is, the rules of the game are continuously changing. Those who fail to keep up will find themselves watching from the sidelines, while those who strategically surfed the newest trends of digital marketing score and earn profit.

How is your 2023 marketing strategy looking so far? Did youth-centered marketing make the cut?

Tips to Consider

• Leverage social media to your advantage. This marketing strategy is not limited to a single platform or technique.
• Support a cause that you are interested in and would most appeal to young people.
• Listen, respect feedback, and be interactive with your audience. They love being heard.
• Collaborate with trusted social media influencers and showcase real reviews. This is a generation that thinks deeply about what they are putting their money into.
• Trade carefully with humor and wit. This generation is a force to be reckoned with and a savage when it comes to cancel culture.