Authenticity rules for Gen Z

Last week, AiMCO hosted a Gen Z Influencer & Creator panel at the Youth Marketing Australia Conference in Sydney to discuss the latest trends in social media and how digital creators and influencer marketing are connecting brands with today’s youth market.

Sharyn Smith, CEO and Founder, The Influence Group led the discussion that included Katie Palmer-Rose, MD at Social Soup and Ben Stavert, Director of Content at Hello Social along with the internationally recognised creator Chris Burt-Allan.

The panel discussed how the digital world and social media have shaped how Gen Z communicate, along with their attitudes and expectations. Given all this, it’s not surprising that Gen Z value and expect authenticity from brands. They are more likely to buy from brands that contribute to social causes and ones that reflect their own values.

Ben Stavert has provided a great overview with his top 5 take-aways for marketers that he shared during the session:

1) Gen Z calls for a more authentic, relatable and unpolished delivery of marketing and advertising content. They are signalling rejection of traditional digital and broadcast ad formats, but show a high propensity to accept and consume branded content.

2) "Creators" are the exciting next horizon of influencer marketing - a group of creative individuals in various sub-cultures - masters of their craft - who have grown audiences at scale and speed with authentic storytelling, spurred by the explosion of TikTok.

3) The creator economy is more than just a shift in content type and tone, but also distribution. Consider how creators can be the backbone of your own content strategy for reaching younger audiences - not just a badging exercise to reach creators' pre-existing audiences.

4) If communicating with Gen Z is a key part of driving your business outcomes, use a creator as a translator to bring your brand authentically to this unique audience.

5) Brand safety and brand fit are still hugely important - creators are your digital brand ambassadors - make sure the alignment is right.