When it comes to running your wedding business, you’re always finding new, creative ways to attract new customers. You’ve studied up on how to use social media, you’ve mastered the art of writing blog posts related to your industry, and when it comes to old-fashioned word of mouth marketing, you always provide past customers with the right incentives. Whether you’re a wedding dress designer or a consultant who gives financial wedding advice to newlyweds with graduate debt, you’re usually an expert when it comes to getting customers. But lately, you’ve been challenged by a specific group: Gen Z brides.
Brides belonging to this group–well, they’re hard to attract. They don’t trust traditional advertising, and they’re independent-minded enough that they don’t simply follow wedding market trends. It’s hard to know what they want. Luckily, we’ve compiled some strategies you can use to get Gen Z’s attention–and here’s how.
1 Personalize everything
One of the greatest challenges when it comes to marketing to Gen Zers is getting their attention. After all, this generation grew up with constant distractions, with an iPhone in one hand and an iPad in the other. They know what it looks like when they watch a Youtube advertisement that has nothing to do with them, and they’re going to resent it. If you want their attention, you need to know your audience through and through–and curate your content accordingly.
Create a specific buyer persona for your Gen Z customers. In fact, create more than one, considering that they’re the largest, most diverse group of media users. Some of your customers are going to look a lot like the generations that came before them, but also remember to create personas with different religions, sexualities, genders, and races. Then, you can personalize all of your content, from your advertisements to your blog posts to the newsletters you send out.
2 Make your mission their mission
In part because of their diversity, and also because of many of their progressive values, this generation tends to be very ethically minded. They’ll fight about what they’re passionate about politically, and they were even doing this as teens, so now that they’re getting married and have a chance to show off their values to a large group, they’ll do it.
For example, if you’re a florist, think of ways to make your industry greener. Design decorations for tables that guests can take home with them, and include plants that don’t use as much water. And when you do this, blog about it, Tweet about it, spread the word. Additionally, ask your Gen Z clients what they wish you were doing differently. For example, considering that Gen Z teens are twice as likely as other people to identify as LGBT, it’s a smart idea to make this a large part of your clientele, and blog about the importance of their rights.
3 Make your site mobile-friendly
It’s no surprise, of course, that Gen Zers are always on their phones. Sometimes, this has unfortunate results, like making them America’s loneliest generation. Luckily, the clients you’re meeting with are some of the non-lonely ones, considering that they’re getting married–but you can still reach them by finding them on their phones. If you have a website, optimize it for mobile, so that forms are easy to fill out and it isn’t hard to read content (no pinching to zoom in and out, please).
Additionally, think about making your website mobile-first. This will improve SEO, especially in the long-term, because Google is changing their algorithms so that mobile-based sites will show up first in any search.
4 Engage on social media
Finally, for the very same reason that Gen Zers spend so much time on their phones, they spend a lot of time on social media. That’s why you want to engage with them there. It’s the best place to reach them, and by connecting with influencers on Instagram and using clever campaigns on Snapchat, you’ll get their attention. Don’t forget to create a social media calendar, and reply immediately to Tweets and messages directed to you. Especially during wedding season, this makes a huge difference.
Instagram, especially, is a great place to build your brand. After all, 78 percent of Gen Z students use this social media platform daily. Use all the right hashtags, and you’ll be well on your way to success.
These are some of the best strategies you can use to attract Gen Z brides to your wedding business. What other strategies do you think will work for attracting this generation and others?
