"Gen Z broke the marketing funnel" ...but wasn't it already broken?

My team and I just read a fascinating article about Gen Z — their consumer habits, expectations for company connection, and definition of brand loyalty.

Rather than follow a typical (funnel-like) path from awareness to interest to consideration to purchase, youth culture is "grappling with the fact that their primary marketplace — social media — is also their entertainment centre, social hub, learning platform, and news source, making shopping a medley of influences and mindsets."

This leads to the conclusion: "consumption today is an infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community and loyalty."

There are some fascinating and thought provoking data points within, so if this sounds interesting to you, I recommend reading the whole thing:

READ THE WHOLE THING HERE

We work with brands selling culture and community, not products.

Often, the individuals and organizations we work with value loyalty and ambassadorship more than a single purchase or project. Their growth comes more from word of mouth than from cold leads via ad spend. It takes longer, and more effort, to nurture a longterm fan than to get them to impulse buy a cute sweater. So, in our corner of the marketing world, we've been talking about treating the funnel as a flywheel for a while.

The flywheel model not only accounts for, but intentionally plans for, this word-of-mouth phenomenon, putting growth at the center of an ongoing experience of attraction, engagement, and delight.

It needs to keep spinning to keep growing.

So, how does all of this translate for those selling services or folks in nonprofit marketing?

I personally believe brands that have been prioritizing inspiration and community are ahead of the game with Gen Z. To this generation:

• Values matter
• Social proof/reputation matters
• Brand-building/experiential content matters

Good news is, these are all concepts my team has been working on with our clients for years now.

So, it becomes a matter of prioritization. If Gen Z is an essential piece of your growth puzzle, perhaps you should lean further into brand, community and world-building content in your social strategy. Invest more heavily in storytelling, placemaking, user-generated content campaigns... (and the platforms they show up on - yes, I'm talking about TikTok, sorryyyyy.)

We should be investing in some of this creative no matter what, so perhaps now is a great time to check in with yourself.

Writing from my own infinite loop,

Amy Jacobus, Amy Jacobus Marketing

PS: I'm always eager to geek out about marketing things with you. Wanna chat about the funnel, flywheel, loop, whatever we're calling it? Looking for help revising your own strategy? Sign up for a quick "Right Fit" call with our team to see if it's a good time to work together.

Article informed by Vogue Business , Archrival and HubSpot