Millennials and Gen Z: How to engage different generations with email marketing

"Mind the gap" is something to keep in mind not only on the London Underground but also when preparing email marketing campaigns for your multi-generational target audience. A vital rule of a good marketer is always to remember that the perception of a product by the market and potential customers can be different and depend on which generation they belong to.

In this article, we will talk about how to engage the generations of Millennials and Gen Z who are communicating with the brand using email marketing. Together, they now make up more than 53% of the world’s population. And their number is constantly growing because, over time, teenagers become young adults.

Understanding Millennials and Gen Z

To understand how to engage different generations with email marketing, let's remember who these generations are and how they differ:

• Millennials were born from 1981‒1996 (that is, these are people who are now 27‒42 years old);
• Generation Z representatives were born from 1997‒2011 (they are now 12‒26 years old).

Even though both categories are made up of young people, there are differences between them in their perceptions of life. What are the key differences between Millennials and Generation Z that you need to know?

Key characteristics and preferences of Millennials

Millennials are the generation whose oldest members came of age at the turn of the millennium. Hence, the name of the generation, which is sometimes also called Generation Y. Now, the Millennial generation is the largest segment of adults and, at the same time, the most significant part of the workforce.

Economic upheavals, rapid technological advances, and rising access to education have shaped Millennials' attitudes to life.

When you prepare your marketing activities for Millennials, you need to keep the following traits and preferences in mind:

1. They are more educated than previous generations, which means they are well-versed in many things and are confident in their knowledge.
2. This is the first generation in which men and women work on an equal footing and achieve success in all areas of business.
3. They care about their health and are willing to spend money on what they consider a healthy lifestyle—sports, proper nutrition, and fitness tracking technologies.
4. They make up the majority of consumers who value experiences, such as travel and entertainment, more than things.
5. They value communication and collaboration at work and try different job roles.

Key characteristics and preferences of Gen Z

If once the entire focus of marketing was directed at Millennials, time has gone by, and Zoomers are also becoming a significant portion of consumers. So, it's time for marketers to understand their preferences.

The most striking feature of Generation Z is that they are a generation that has been familiar with the Internet since childhood and cannot imagine their lives outside the network. And this is really the basis of all their features.

So, the important features of Gen Z that need to be considered are as follows:

1. High purchasing power—according to the Bloomberg report, these young people have a disposable income of $360 billion as a total across their generation.
2. Digital native generation, which from a young age do not part with smartphones and gadgets, sit on social networks, and prefer online shopping over in-store.
3. According to research from McKinsey, their main desire is to look for the truth through an independent search and verification of information on the network through reliable sources, so it is important to communicate with them with this fact in mind.

How to create engaging email content for Millennials

Email is one of the most effective ways for brands to engage Millennials. In fact, email influences the purchase decisions of 50.7% of millennial customers. Yet many marketers are starting to think email isn't as effective at reaching this younger generation.

Here's what the numbers say:

• 1 in 3 millennials check their email as soon as they wake up;
• 73% of millennials prefer communications from businesses to come via email;
• Millennials spend 6.4 hours per day scrolling through their email inbox (that's more than any other generation).

As you can see, email marketing is still a good communication channel for Millennials. They want to interact with brands that share their values, so they respond well to sincere, humorous, and socially conscious emails.

Here are some approaches to help you amplify your email marketing messages and engage Millennials.

Hyper personalization

In the case of Millennials, personalization isn't just about writing "Hello" and adding the recipient's name. Try to use all the data your marketing automation system allows you to collect. Gather information and use it to segment and create emails that take into account online behavior.

For example, you can use information about which pages of the website they have visited, which products they have previously purchased, and what time their email is usually checked. Millennials value their time, so they're happy to see that you've been tracking their activities and suggesting what interests them.

A good example of personalization is a personal discount on the first order. It would be even better if you could give a discount on precisely those products that the visitor studied on your site.

(Source: Email from BaubleBar)

Authentic and relatable tone of voice

Speak to this generation in their language. Move away from a too formal and strict tone, especially if you offer them products related to everyday life or sports activities. Choose a tone of voice to show that they are talking to real people from "their squad" who understand what they need.

See how, in this example, the brand communicates with basketball fans.

(Source: Milled)

Social proof and user-generated content

Offer social proof: Millennials need to know that other people who are as close as possible to them in age and status are using your product successfully and with pleasure. Reviews from your social media or on specialized sites and more complex stories also work well for Millennials.

One option for social proof could be user-generated content (UGC), which shows that your users are leaving you reviews, actively using your products, and how much other people love your brand. User-generated content is authentic and feels much more natural than ads.

For example, in its social media and email marketing, GoPro is actively using the UGC strategy. They regularly launch challenges and share the content that customers send in. The videos that users shoot with their devices perfectly demonstrate all the capabilities of the cameras.

(Source: Milled)

Create visually stunning email templates

Millennials perceive visual content as an important part of the message. They respond to emails with images (as detailed as possible for products) and videos. Thanks to such content, they are involved in communication with the brand.

You can use videos, infographics, GIFs, popular memes, and any visuals in your emails. Consider using relevant emojis, as they will add some personality.

You can also create your own high-quality visual content to show respect to your followers and grab their attention. To make things easier, use tools that make your marketing team's job easier, like Stripo's ready-made email templates.

(Source: Milled)

How to create engaging email content for Gen Z

Now, let's move on to Generation Z, who literally live in the flow of content but, at the same time, continue to use email to interact with brands actively.

Here are some data on how Zoomers feel about email marketing:

• 58% of Gen Zers check their inboxes multiple times a day;
• over 30% of Gen Zers are ready to receive brands' emails multiple times per week, while 27.5% of them are OK if brands send emails every day;
• the average Gen Zer only receives 20 emails a day max, so you will have less contention when using email to market to this demographic.

Zoomers need to receive eye-catching emails with interactive content reflecting the user experience and integrating social media. And yes, they are only ready to spend a little bit of time studying your emails. Therefore, the main tips for email marketing for Generation Z will be as follows.

Bite-sized and interactive content

One of the characteristics of Generation Z is a brief attention span. Given that they watch most online content on mobile devices, it becomes clear that long content is complex for them to read.

Bite-sized content is short emails written one subject for one email. Send them different emails when you want to announce a promotion, give them a selection of helpful resources, tell them about a new company milestone, or show off the latest user reviews.

Additionally:

• limit paragraphs to only 2 or 3 sentences;
• make sure your links are not too close together;
• use images and white space to break up text snippets.

It's important to remember that Gen Z is used to absorbing information on the fly, so keep it small and clear while adding an interactive component.

One simple example of interactivity is a star rating. You will find more examples here.

Visual storytelling

Visual effects will help show off the product, tell your brand's story, and share values with Zoomers as quickly as possible. In fact, "visual information gets to the brain 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual."

You can use images to give your audience a glimpse of the people behind the name and logo. Therefore, avoid stock photos and use only real images related to your company.

Another way to use visual storytelling is to collect related products into several images.

(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)

User-generated content and influencers

It is also crucial for Generation Z to understand that people already use your services or products. They respond incredibly well to user reviews and influencer recommendations.

For Gen Zers, the usual way to make a purchase decision is to read or watch reviews, so be sure to collect this content for your emails. For example, you can include screenshots of Facebook reviews in your emails.

(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)

As for influencers, Zoomers are a generation for which the authority of famous people is essential—both big stars and local influencers they follow on TikTok. A recent report shows that 24% of Gen-Z women and 16% of men are guided by influencers regarding purchasing decisions.

Therefore, big brands use the images of celebrities in promotions—for example, here.

(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)

Gamified emails

Email gamification is one of the interactive ways to engage buzzers in communication through an exciting game, attract interest in your emails, and increase Open Rate and conversion. You can create AMP games, such as Spin the Wheel, collect a couple of pictures, and many other games using Stripo's editor functionality and ready-made game email templates.

Check out an example of the game we created for Valentine's Day, inviting subscribers to discover what kind of Cupid they are.

(Source: Email from Stripo)

Email marketing for different generations: Best practices

We’ve rounded up best practices for creating engaging emails that appeal to Millennials and Zoomers. We wrote a little about them above. Here, you will find specific tips and inspirational examples of how to use them in advertising campaigns.

Segment your email lists

We have already written that personalization is critical for these two generations. So, to demonstrate it, divide your email list into groups, and send your emails to each of them.

Use analytics data in email marketing automation systems to collect such data and select groups of subscribers based on it:

• who they are—use data about age, gender, and their physical location;
• what do they like;
• have they interacted with your brand in the past;
• how long have your emails been read, and how often are they opened;
• have they made purchases from emails?

Once you've segmented, you can send targeted messages to your subscribers. For example, you can send offers for men to men on your list, and women can receive offers for women. Please refer to our blog article to learn more about email list segmentation.

A/B test subject lines, CTAs, and content

Email marketing is a great platform for studying your audience and testing different approaches. There are many guidelines for preparing catchy headlines, strong calls to action, and email content formats. But the truth is that they all need to be tested specifically for your business and your target audience.

Therefore, use A/B testing for different content elements:

• try using emoticons, profit, or intrigue in subject lines;
• replace plain text emails with an attractive template with beautiful images;
• add a new format of interactive content—for example, a photo gallery or a rollover effect for different colors of one product;
• create a game;
• replace simple photos with GIF animations or infographics.

(Source: Email from Urban Outfitters)

Provide value and solve pain points

Every email that gets into the inbox of the younger generation should be of value to them.

We already wrote that Millennials and Zoomers practically never let go of their smartphones and constantly consume content. Therefore, they know how to turn off their attention when something does not interest them or does not become a solution to their current problem.

So, send them only messages that are of great value to them:

1. Avoid a chaotic sale of all goods or services. Offer only those that interest them.
2. Provide promotional offers with good discounts.
3. Offer information about important topics.
4. Tell interesting stories.

For example, a reminder about the Day of Friends and offering cute gifts, as the youth brand BaubleBar did, is really valuable.

(Source: Email from BaubleBar)

Emails with lots of advertising messages, where there is no communication with the audience but only direct sales, will not be considered valuable. These emails are repulsive to Millennials and Gen Zers because they seem to be spam and offend their intelligence.

Highlight brand values and corporate responsibility

Another important feature that cannot be ignored is the willingness of generations of Millennials and Generation Z to buy from those brands whose missions and values they believe in and share, even if they have higher prices.

This audience loves to feel involved in a significant cause—helping people or animals in need, saving the environment, and standing up for equality. In addition, it is crucial for them that the company have sustainable and ethical practices and attitudes toward staff.

(Source: Email from Gist)

Another moment in the values of the company, which is appreciated by the younger generations, is loyalty to one's own peculiarity token. For example, Vans offers customers the chance to design shoes.

(Source: Email from Vans)

So be sure to send emails about your brand values and the initiatives you're involved in. This way, you can connect with Millennials and Gen Zers more closely. And this will lead to more profit for your company.

Hone your brand's unique voice

To better convey the values we wrote about above, make sure your brand voice matches them in every message. Imagine that you are talking to your audience face to face. Have a consistent and transparent tone and vision, and you will win the hearts of the younger generation.

For example, look at how the Old Navy brand welcomes new subscribers to the family.

(Source: Email from Old Navy)

Encourage social sharing and referrals

When you combine marketing strategies for different channels, it has an additional effect and helps to increase conversions. For Millennials and Zoomers, social media is a channel where they spend a lot of time and share useful and interesting links and content with friends.

So, remind followers of your social media accounts and invite them to continue engaging with your brand there. For example, you can share your tweet or Instagram post or write about the fact that you have a challenge on TikTok. And add social media icons to the footer of your template.

(Source: Stripo pre-built module)

Ensure that your subscribers become your followers on social media and thus receive even more information about you.

Optimize for mobile browsing

Last, but not least, is email optimization for mobile devices. Let's consider this as a last reminder that Zoomers and Millennials study most online content on their phones, including emails. 59% of Millennials and 67% of Gen Zers read emails on their smartphones.

Therefore, if you do not optimize your messages for mobile devices, you are losing a large part of your audience, making your email marketing a weak part of the promotion.

To ensure your emails look as sharp as possible on smartphones, use customizable mobile-friendly templates across all devices, and always check your emails before sending them. For example, in Stripo, this can be done immediately on the preview tab.

Wrapping up

With the advent of each new generation of consumers, marketing strategies have changed, adjusting to their needs and behaviors. And rightly so. In the end, the world is also changing with them.

Applying the best email marketing practices covered in this article will help your brand attract a socially active, motivated group of young people, grow your business, and generate revenue.