How Does Gen Z Interact With Modern Business Processes?

Gen Z is the generation born between 1997 and 2012. As such, some of them are 26 years old as of the time of this writing, with many younger. It’s fair to say that they’ve grown up in a different world to many of us, and even millennials. Now, online discourse and seamless device interactions are second nature to them, with many in Gen Z having no trouble operating modern devices.

Thanks to exposure to the internet, many of them are keenly socially conscious, care about the strange and developing world they’re growing up in, and are even starting to develop the new businesses of tomorrow. This begs the question – what practices does Gen Z support in the businesses they seek to use? What systems and modern business processes do they expect as standard? Moreover, what practices may be old-hat and should you avoid?

In this post, we’ll discuss a few methods of getting started in that approach. Without further ado, let’s consider:

Gen Z Sees Through Meme Advertising

Memes have heavily played into many renewed corporate marketing strategies, but unfortunately, there comes a time where trying to be as zany as you can betrays an authentic promotional intent. Sure, you can have fun and be silly, but Gen Z know when they’re being pandered to, and are much more likely to mock that than anything else. Remember, many in Gen Z have been raised with a depth of understanding regarding trends, memes, jokes, shared audio clips and more. Sometimes, being professional and steadfast in what you have to offer is enough. At the very least, try not to be patronizing.

Gen Z Care About Convenience, Design & Function

Gen Z has become accustomed to well-designed user interfaces offering smart UX integration. What matters is offering convenience and limiting friction in all measures you offer – because why should someone willing to give your company money have to fight with your systems? That might be as simple as being able to take credit card on file payments for regular purchases. This might also mean integration with other smartphone features like Face ID on iPhone for secure account logins. Keep your integrations simple, but make them familiar.

Gen Z Prefer Humanized Brands

It might seem as though Gen Z drown in irony at any chance they can, but really, they’re just as switched-on, capable, interested, and deserving of respect as any other generation. Try not to overly define the generational divide when appealing to them, Gen Z might have been born into a highly online world, but they’re not aliens. Being candid, showcasing your brand, humanizing it with a face, being proud of who you are, and engaging in your community can make a massive difference. You would be amazed at how often Gen Z can respond to that, especially in a market that assumes they’re all meme-speaking automatons who only repeat everything they see online.

With this advice, you’re sure to interact with Gen Z as healthily as they interact with you. Over time, that could make a fantastic difference.