Gen Z and Gender Identity: Toss Out the Stereotypes
Gen Z wants gender inclusion, and brands that conduct customer persona research may uncover a larger market with these younger buyers. In a week when a lot of the news covered a tragic fire caused by a so-called gender reveal party, it’s sort of ironic to realize that today’s babies may not grow up to view gender the same way their parents do at all. Of course, babies get an assigned sex at birth. At the same time, Gen Z has already disrupted ideas about gender that their Baby Boomer, Millennial, and Gen X parents and grandparents just took for granted. The sex assigned at birth may or may not describe how individuals will grow up to view themselves. And the way that people view themselves obviously influences the sorts of products they buy and even which businesses they choose to purchase those products from. Find out what marketers need to understand about changing perceptions of gender. This will help inform customer persona research, product development, and all aspects of marketing. How Gen Z Attitudes About Gender Have Changed According to Pew Research, Gen-Z generally refers to people born after 1996. That means that some are young adults but many are still children. Right now, most surveys of this generation include people who are at least 13 years old. It’s possible that younger children will eventually form their own generation. Even so, Gen-Z will likely influence the attitudes of those that come after them. Most importantly, Pew also found that members of Gen Z tend to have very different attitudes about gender norms than their parents and grandparents. For some examples, Gen Z members tend to have: A comfort with gender-neutral pronouns: They’re most likely to know people who prefer gender-neutral pronouns for themselves. These younger people feel comfortable referring to an individual as “they” to avoid using “he” or “she.” A preference for more than two gender options: They tend to believe that gender options on forms or surveys should include selections besides the traditional male or female. Leaving these out may skew results of marketing surveys and other data gathering. In the worst case, leaving out other gender options can even offend some respondents. A desire for inclusion and diversity: Gen Z generally feels that society should act more accepting to people who don’t define themselves in traditional roles. Since consumers tend to patronize companies they identify with, accepting changing gender definitions and promoting inclusion can help attract this market. In Bigeye’s national research study, Gender: Beyond The Binary, we found that 50% of Gen Z respondents believe that gender is a spectrum, not a binary. Marketers must understand the shifting views toward traditional gender roles to cater to younger audiences’ changing needs. An Audience Analysis Agency Perspective on the Positive Side of Disrupting Gender Norms According to The Robin Report, a magazine for retail, fashion, and beauty executives, failing to account for changing gender norms can mean losing out on billions of dollars that Gen-Z and younger Millennials spend on retail goods. Some changes may prove quite simple. These are some suggestions to help target audience demographics of Gen-Z better: Consider gender-neutral packaging: Sure, young women have been purchasing “boyfriend” jeans for decades, but young men may also prefer to purchase a certain brand’s clothes and beauty products if they didn’t appear targeted solely to women. Consider using diverse models and maintaining authenticity by resisting the urge to dramatically Photoshop images. Consider genderless products: Well-established luxury brands have introduced genderless fashion and even coed fashion shows. As an example, Abercrombie introduced a children’s line of genderless clothes, which appealed to progressive parents. Also, Victoria’s Secret made news by hiring a transgender model. Don’t overlook the other genders: For instance, many cosmetics companies targeted their marketing to women. At the same time, one survey found that over half of men admitted to using at least one cosmetic product during 2018. These products included concealers and foundations. By embracing gender diversity, beauty companies can tap a huge market. How an Audience Targeting Agency Can Welcome Gen Z Consumers If today’s brands want to grow by engaging an audience of younger people, they should stop limiting their potential by restricting themselves to traditional notions of gender. An audience insights agency may help businesses uncover some surprising news about a product’s potential market. And really, if a company just has to bend some gender rules to attract an audience, then that surprising news is really good news. Interested in learning more about the attitudes and perceptions about gender? Download Bigeye’s national research report Gender: Beyond The Binary.
What an Audience Analysis Agency Thinks About True Crime
What kind of people like true crime podcasts, documentaries, and articles? Learn how a brand personas agency views true crime fans. Everybody’s heard the old adage that says crime doesn’t pay, especially in the long run. Plenty of stories about the eventual fates of criminals prove the saying true in some sense. They often end up dead, in prison, or at least, disgraced. Still, that saying sure does not apply to a genre of crime stories called true crime. In fact, true crime podcasts, books, and documentaries have been attracting legions of fans and lots of revenue. Meanwhile, all kinds of businesses have jumped on the bandwagon. They want to know if they can use this fascination with factual accounts of newsworthy crimes to bolster their own audience, so they may seek the perspective of an audience analysis agency to find out more. An audience analysis agency perspective of true crime fans As an example of true crime popularity, according to Forbes, the “My Favorite Murder” podcast raked in over $15 million last year. That’s more than finance guru Dave Ramsey’s earnings of $10 million. Out of all podcasts, “My Favorite Murder” only ranked behind comedian Joe Rogan’s $30 million income. Besides the “My Favorite Murder” podcast and related content, true crime fans can find plenty of other podcasts, books, and even Netflix specials on the topic of real-life criminals and their victims. The public has had an appetite for true crime stories for years. Everybody knows about Jack the Ripper. Still, these tales of crime, suffering, and punishment have gained unprecedented traction in the last few decades. Obviously, this genre can attract a large audience. Still, before deciding if true crime stories provide a good opportunity to for business sponsorship, a brand personas agency would want to know more about the audience. Why do so many people like true crime stories? A social psychologist named Amanda Vicary also grew fascinated with true crime. In turn, she also gained an interest in the psychological appeal of these sometimes grizzly and disturbing stories. For one thing, she had presumed that this sort of thing would mostly appeal to men. After doing a little research, she found out that women made up the overwhelming majority of the audience. Even though she liked this genre, the large female majority of the audience surprised her. Dr. Vicary wanted to resolve this apparent paradox with a study that she eventually even published in a scientific journal. She discovered that, like herself, women’s interest generally centered upon the mental processes involved in these criminal acts. Perhaps surprisingly, women usually also preferred stories with female victims. It’s surprising because Vicary said research has found that women tend to fear becoming victims of crime more than men do. As she dug into the mystery, she found that reacting to that fear may have attracted the audience. She finally concluded that that these stories drew in women because they hoped to learn enough about these acts of violence or exploitation enough to figure out which steps they could take to either prevent or survive them. Dr. Vicary admitted that many women might experience this feeling subconsciously. Consciously or not, people may view true crime stories as a way to prepare and even to gain comfort, and this knowledge should factor into your audience analysis. How can understanding true crime fans help with audience marketing? Actually, it’s possible for marketers to learn a lot about true crime audiences during the audience analysis portion of their marketing research. Just from Dr. Vicary’s research, a brand personas agency would learn the likely gender of the majority. They would also understand that most of their audience doesn’t indulge in these alarming stories for a vicarious thrill. They don’t view the criminals as heroes either. Instead, they want to better understand crimes as a way to gain the information that they could use to protect themselves of feel comforted they would never get into the same position as the victim. The audience feels threatened on some level, and they view true crime as a sort of self-defense school. That’s not enough information for a completed set of buyer personas. Still, it’s a good start. To learn more, marketers would need to probe further into the audience for any particular kind of content they might either plan to produce or sponsor. Considering Dr. Vicary, a noted researcher and professor, enjoys these kinds of stories, it’s not wise to make assumptions about educational levels, income, or age. Why consider true crime content for audience marketing? Knowing even this much, this kind of audience might spark the interest of any businesses promoting home security, self-defense products, or almost anything related to preparing better defenses against the type of villains featured in true crime stories. These people already demonstrated a willingness to invest in informative content, so they’re probably also likely to invest in other solutions. Also, a majority of the audience appears eager to take control of their lives by educating themselves. Beyond security, they may also have an interest in businesses that help them learn new things, enjoy different experiences, or even gain more power. Businesses that promote courses or products related to health, business, self-improvement, careers, and even beauty may find an attentive market. All in all, true crime fans may provide a surprisingly receptive and open-minded market for all sorts of companies that can offer them value.
The value of visitor stitching
Harvesting data from visitors to your website has long been one of the most effective ways to understand your audience. It’s also an invaluable tool for calibrating your content to increase its relevance to your audience, and creating personalized marketing messages that can be delivered in a more targeted fashion. Yet because this is an evolving technology, gaps have remained that have limited the efficacy of data-rich insights. One of the most notable of these roadblocks is the “multiple device problem.” This describes a situation where a single user visits a website using multiple devices — for example, a phone, laptop, work computer, tablet etc. Because this traffic originates from a variety of sources, it presents a problem in terms of compiling a data-enhanced profile of site visitors. In other words, if you can’t recognize these disparate sources of traffic as coming from a single person, you can’t build an accurate and comprehensive user profile — you’ll have multiple profiles that only show part of the overall picture. Why visitor stitching is the solution Resolution of this problem requires that all devices connected to an individual user be integrated into a single, comprehensive profile. While conventional data analytics express multi-device traffic as coming from three different people on three separate visits, there is a technique that resolves this problem: Visitor stitching. Visitor stitching eliminates the need to manually integrate multi-device traffic (a time-consuming and expensive task) by providing an elegant real-time mapping solution. The technology works like this: Identifiers belonging to an individual (such as email addresses or social media user names) are recognized and then mapped in real time to multiple devices. This creates a new, comprehensive user profile that incorporates all of the data being held in separate, non-integrated user profiles. Now, instead of a distinct profile being generated for each user every time a new device is used, a single profile contains all the user data generated across every device. Why visitor stitching offers a critical competitive edge Data analysis is the key to understanding who your customers are and what motivates them. Fully leveraging data also offers a serious competitive edge, as personalized marketing and targeted offers lead to more conversions and greater consumer loyalty. Data from McKinsey shows that personalized approaches can generate revenue gains of 10 to 30-percent while creating enduring loyalty. Visitor stitching plays a key role in helping you take full advantage of the power of data. Without the ability to track users across multiple devices, you’re only seeing part of the picture. By creating a comprehensive profile that integrates all visitor data across every device through the process of visitor stitching, you can understand consumers on a deeper level and quickly anticipate their needs. The takeaway If you’re not getting the most out of your data analysis efforts, visitor stitching can play an essential role in helping you better understand your consumers. Once you have a clear-eyed grasp on who your audience is and what motivates them, you can deliver highly-relevant, personalized marketing that wins converts and creates more revenue. For more information on how to understand your target audience and effectively interpret your consumer data using visitor scripting, contact our team professionals today.
The marketer’s quick and dirty guide to Pokémon Go
Today, the Durham Bulls are opening up their iconic baseball field to avid Pokémon hunters hoping to catch the elusive pocket monsters that are taking over the world (and our lives). The Bulls will charge people just to walk in the door in hopes of finding small digital creatures lurking around the field, and anticipate a massive turnout not unlike actual game days. And no, there isn’t a game today – they are just capitalizing on Pokémon GO marketing. If you’re asking yourself why you should care, we’re about to tell you. Pokémon Go marketing: Pokémon GO is a Nintendo and Niantic Labs gaming collaboration that combines elements of augmented reality with the wildly popular Pokémon franchise. Using your smartphone’s camera, you can search for Pokémon in the real world as the game guides you to local hot spots, historic landmarks, and hidden gems in your city where the creatures are hiding. It’s not uncommon to see grown players and children alike scanning the world with their smartphones hoping to catch a glimmer of an unsuspecting monster. The app-based game has transformed people’s lunch breaks, dog walks, and errands forever. … And Pokémon GO marketing is about to transform your business. What if my business is already a pokéstop?: Niantic Labs has compiled a list of geo-based hangouts where Pokémon like to congregate or play based on user input. In the past, businesses could even submit themselves as a Pokéstop or Pokémon gym if they had a cool story or interesting space to share with the world. Due to the overwhelming popularity of Pokémon GO and the subsequent influx of submission requests as marketers and business owners realized the untapped potential of luring Pokémon (and potential customers … we mean hunters) to their location, Niantic Labs has temporarily suspended this capability. If you’re one of the lucky businesses that is already tagged as a Pokéstop, you may have noticed an uptick in foot traffic as players visit your store. Instead of turning away Pokémon players (we will admit, Pokémon hunters’ blank stares and distracted demeanor can make them somewhat hazardous – or at least annoying – to the rest of the world), invite them into your business with Pokémon GO marketing tactics. Or even better, get in on the game. You can use an in-game “lure” to attract Pokémon creatures to your business for 30-minute windows. Go ahead and announce you’ll be having a Pokémon happy hour (lure included) or flash sale Pokémon frenzy and watch the gamers, and customers, roll in. The game’s popularity will only increase, so don’t be afraid to find creative ways to engage this new audience. Pokémon GO has given business owners a way to generate foot traffic at their brick and mortar establishments like no other geo-based or augmented reality program has done in the past. Niantic Labs has even alluded to future sponsorship and marketing opportunities inside the game so companies can leverage the Pokémon GO marketing potential. For now, bust out the chalkboard signs and Yelp reviews to let this alternate universe know you’re worth a visit. But what if there are no pokéstops in sight?: Don’t worry if you haven’t been identified as a Pokéstop yet. There are still plenty of opportunities to take advantage of this hyper-trend. Log on to your local MeetUp.com chapter or register an event with your local Chamber of Commerce for Pokémon GO enthusiasts to socialize. Although your space may not be a Pokémon hot spot, that doesn’t mean players won’t congregate together if you give them the opportunity to do so (after all, they may find a few Pokémon nearby anyway). And voila, suddenly you have a whole group of potential customers at your fingertips. Offering a discount to Pokémon players never hurt either. If your business doesn’t need a boost of traffic, simply sharing articles about the Pokémon trend, or local insights into where to find them, can engage users with your social media community in new and meaningful ways. Engagement is the key to conversion, purchases, and sharing, so don’t underestimate the potential of a good Pokémon article. Taking advantage of these types of social or pop culture trends gives marketers an opportunity to engage with customers who might not have noticed them otherwise. Trust us, they may not seem to be paying attention to the real world, but Pokémon GO players are highly engaged with other enthusiasts. Embracing the Pokémon GO marketing craze is a broad, viral platform to connect with prospective customers who are hungry to connect to get more of this new, exciting world. Aligning your business with the Pokémon trend gives you an instant boost of popularity – or at least curiosity – for players and passerbys alike. For ideas on how your business might benefit from a few pocket monsters, give your local Orlando marketing agency a call. We aren’t saying we’re obsessed or anything, but we know a thing or two about what attracts Pokémon fans to your place of business. Update! More than 6 months from when Pokemon Go was created (see above), let’s explore how quickly its popularity came to an end, despite how wildly obsessed people were, and why the phenomenon turned out to be just a fad. What is Pokemon Go? Pokémon GO is a Nintendo and Niantic Labs gaming collaboration that combines elements of augmented reality with the wildly popular Pokémon franchise. Using your smartphone’s camera, you can search for Pokémon in the real world as the game guides you to local hot spots, historic landmarks, and hidden gems in your city where the creatures are hiding. It’s not uncommon to see grown players and children alike scanning the world with their smartphones hoping to catch a glimmer of an unsuspecting monster. At its height, Pokémon GO had 45 million daily active users.The app-based game had literally transformed people’s lunch breaks, dog walks, and errands. … And Pokémon GO even started to transform businesses. Our advice when this game was at
The top three reasons Facebook advertising pays out
To advertise on Facebook, or not to advertise on Facebook…that is the million dollar digital marketing question. It’s a common refrain among small and large businesses alike – even though 1.23 billion people (and counting) are using the popular social media site. With such a massive audience pool to begin with, it’s guaranteed that a good percentage of your target audience will have a presence on Facebook (even if some are not regularly “active”). No matter what, the odds are certainly in your favor here. Still, it makes sense to wonder if spending a pretty penny on Facebook ads is really beneficial at creating engagement between your brand or company and your intended audience. As it turns out, Facebook advertising not only works for businesses, but is one of the most cost-effective means of generating brand awareness and targeting new leads. Here are 3 reasons why Facebook advertising pays dividends: 1. The ability to target specific markets One of the biggest advantages to Facebook marketing is the ability to specifically target your preferred audience. More traditional methods of targeting prospective customers based solely on simple demographics are inefficient compared to using more detailed psychographics to target consumers. With Facebook ads, you’re able to market directly to users – all based on their particular interests, age, gender, or online activity- at once. So if, say, you’re a ladies online clothing retailer, you can not only advertise to a specific gender, but also target those who shop online and have interest in fashion. You really can’t get more tailored than that, no pun intended. Why is this more effective for businesses? Because now your money isn’t being spent on ads going to an audience with no interest or intention of becoming a new customer; instead, targeted ads increase new business with potential customers as well as increase engagement with current customers. And the last thing a business wants to do is waste money. Speaking of money… 2. It’s cost-effective Not only are Facebook ads gaining as much, if not more, awareness for your business than TV and radio, but they have the lowest CMP, or “Cost per 1,000 impressions” in history: an average $0.25 per 1,000. That is 1% the cost of TV advertising. Moreover, the minimum cost to advertise on Facebook is $1 a day, yet it’s potentially more effective than traditional forms of advertising (due to optimized targeting). By doing the quick math, that’s only $30 a month – obviously, very little risk with incredibly high reward- rewards you can monitor thanks to Facebook’s Ad Manager. 3. Tracking ROI and awareness With Facebook advertisements, it’s easy to monitor spending, performance, and, most importantly, ROI. You can track the number of impressions (including reach and frequency), activity (page likes, comments, shares, etc.), as well as CPC, Cost per Like, and Cost per Conversion. By easily tracking consumer engagement, you can test different ads, promotions, and posts, as well as A/B test unique targeting options to see what works best for your company. For instance, if you’re targeting prospective customers that aren’t relevant to your business, or if your ads have too broad a reach, then the corresponding page “likes” you acquire might be rendered useless – and in some cases, engagement will be minimal. On the flip side, Facebook advertising functionality has significantly advanced since it’s inception, and the targeting options have grown to become far more sophisticated. Advertisers are now able to target prospective customers based on particular interests, age, gender, or online activity – all in one fell swoop. So if, say, you’re a ladies online clothing retailer, you’d have the opportunity to both advertise to a specific gender, and target those who shop online and possess a vested interest in fashion. You really can’t get more tailored than that, puns intended. [quote]So it’s no longer a matter of if your company should advertise on Facebook, but rather, deciphering the most strategic game plan to maximize engagement once you’ve decided to promote your brand socially. [/quote] To use a term popularized by comedian Will Ferrell, with a little “strategery,” employing Facebook’s sophisticated advertising features will ensure that the rewards far outweigh the financial investment. Are you ready to hit the ground running by developing a well-executed Facebook advertising playbook for your brand? Contact our Florida marketing agency today to let us help you get a strategic jumpstart!
Understanding How Young People Use Technology Today
Sometimes, the rapid speed of technology makes me feel older than my years (and I’m not even that old!). Back in my day, we didn’t have tablets or smart phones – most people didn’t even have computers. We had to communicate to one another by dialing them on a home phone, and, if my parents couldn’t reach me because I wasn’t where I said I was going to be, then I would be in big trouble when I got home. But things have changed a lot since then, and parents have lots of ways to keep track of their children. Young people communicate through text messaging, preferring that method over email due to its convenience. They don’t even really have to learn handwriting – they’re practically born with keyboards in their hands. Even when dealing with a slightly older generation, some of the 20-somethings I know don’t even own televisions, since they get all of their media from the computer. Interesting to think about, isn’t it? These technologies that once were innovative and paved the future for us are now barely even relevant. That’s why, as someone who works within digital media, I find it important to keep up with the newest technology – to play with it, own it and learn how to use it. While TV is not dying anytime soon (how could it, with so many baby boomers who’ve grown up with televisions?), it’s important to take notice of the ways young people use, engage with and interact with technology. This is a new generation, full of young people who are “digital natives.” And, the disconnect is clear: while some marketers and advertisers have found ways to reach these people, lots of digital media initiatives still miss the mark. For instance, I go on YouTube all the time, but I couldn’t name a single YouTube celebrity without the help of our marketing interns. But they point me to Ray William Johnson and Daily Grace, both of whom are completely unrecognizable to parents, yet have millions of teen/young adult followers on the internet. Or, take the popularity of mobile gaming. Some people I know play games like Tetris or Bejeweled on their mobile devices, but young people take mobile gaming to a whole new level. Through role-playing games that contain a social component, they can interact with an entire new world where in-game currency can be exchanged for real-life currency. (And that DEFINITELY didn’t exist when I was a kid!) If you work for a brand and are aiming to ramp up your digital presence, it is essential to keep track of the newest gadgets, games and trends in technology. With an abundance of blogs like Gizmodo and TechCrunch, there’s no reason that marketers can’t be in touch with the ways that young people use tech. As you’re planning your digital strategy, I encourage marketers to look toward the future. With more technologies becoming widely available each day, it’s important to carefully plan your strategy to ensure that it’s reaching the audience where they are. Our Orlando marketing agency advises you to spend a little bit of time getting to know what’s new in technology, in order to help gap between digitally divided generations.