Marketing to the Next Generation with Emily Osburn and Ava Woolery // Cornerstone Hot Takes

Hey, GonzoBankers. Tony DeSanctis here with another hot topic. I’m very excited. I’m here with Emily and Ava to talk a little bit about generational marketing, specifically how to target the next generation.

For those of us old people who don’t know what Gen Z is all about and this TikTok-y thing and all that, we brought the big guns in here to help explain to us old folks what’s going on in that space.

So, Emily, Ron Shevlin just did a study recently showing that about 47% of accounts are opened at digital banks now. One of the other interesting things about that study was that the biggest disparity was in the marketing spend. Tell me a little bit about that. Where’s that marketing spend being allocated, and how is that different?

Yeah. One of the biggest, best examples of this would be Chime. I mean, they’re spending an exponential amount of money on social media marketing. Eighteen percent of their customer base has some interaction with them on social media.

And that’s literally following them?

Literally following them or interacting with them. That is way more than the big banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase. Far more than their customer base is. Even the spread as well. They have a wider spread over different social media. It’s not just one platform.

Absolutely. Okay, so for us old people, can you explain what a digital immigrant and a digital native are?

A digital native would be someone who we defined as born after 1989. Basically, all of their conscious lives have revolved around some form of the internet or social media.

A digital immigrant is someone who was born before 1989 and has had to adapt to the internet and social media. Typically, they don’t get it when it comes to social media.

Okay. I feel attacked, but okay. So what’s the mix? How many digital natives are out there?

Digital natives are actually 45% of the U.S. population now.

Holy cow.

Yeah. So it’s not some small demographic anymore. I mean, they’re growing fast and will soon surpass digital immigrants.

So how would I compare social media for your generation? Explain it to the olds like me. What’s the parallel for you, and how would we think about social media?

For us, social media is essentially what television was to your generation.

Okay.

That’s where we go for all of our entertainment.

So being limited to 30 minutes a day on television until I get my homework done, that’s what social media is today?

The same.

Ava, what is a finfluencer?

So first off, that’s going to be a financial influencer. A basic influencer is going to be an internet celebrity of sorts that people like to take advice from, see their shopping habits and what they’re doing, and they influence their audiences.

Now, a finfluencer is a financial influencer who’s going to be giving advice and providing commentary on the financial services industry and giving out their recommendations while collaborating with different brands that might want to work with them.

Sixty-two percent of individuals who follow a finfluencer have reported changing at least one of their financial behaviors as a result.

Okay. And do I find a finfluencer on Google or call 1-800-INFLUENCER?

No. You’ll find a finfluencer on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, even Facebook.

So explain Google versus TikTok for search.

Yeah. Something that’s come up that we’ve noticed in our own lives is that we prefer to use social media as an initial search engine instead of Google. We find that Google is heavily ridden with sponsored ads and SEO, whereas TikTok or Instagram, doing a quick little search, feels a lot more personal and engaging, and a little bit more authentic and candid.

We call this social search. A lot more millennials and Gen Zers are even picking where to eat through using social media, and we think this is going to be a trend that develops and influences the behavior of their financial habits.

Awesome. So what’s the biggest takeaway from this? How would you advise us old people to make sure we’re thinking about you folks and putting ourselves in the right position to market to your generation?

Your growth and new accounts are going to come from our generation, so it’s really important that you’re where we are, which is on social media, and you’re really prioritizing...

Facebook.

Not Facebook.

Not Facebook. Anywhere but Facebook.

So that’ll be another video we’ll do on which platforms are most successful.

Folks, there’s a lot going on in the social media space, and the younger generation has very different needs and demands. We’re probably going to spend more time talking about this.

There’s a great GonzoBanker article that Ava and Emily have put out. It should be out by the time this video is done. Definitely check it out. We’ve got a lot more work to do in this space because it’s really a big opportunity for us.

Until next time.