Staying relevant with customers is a challenge all insurance companies face. This challenge is even more significant when focusing on relevance with a new generation. Gen Z is the next generation entering the market as customers and they require a new marketing and loyalty strategy. This generation makes up about 30 percent of the world’s population and $7 trillion or more in purchasing influence.

How is Gen Z Different?

The newest generation is drastically different from older generations. While some of the older generations are similar in their values and needs, marketing to Gen Z is an entirely different challenge—and opportunity.

The first consideration when choosing what products are best for Gen Z is that their family and home lives differ greatly from the generations before them. Where previous generations aimed for a white picket fence and a house full of children at a younger age, Gen Z has a broad range of goals, from a home with pets and no roommates to multi-career or working-parent households. Even Millennials tend to have more traditionally-focused families, but Gen Z is full of young people looking for a different path. Products offered to them should have multiple options because their generation prefers to have easy access to a variety of choices.

The next thing to consider is your style of marketing and delivering these products. Capitalizing on the following needs of Gen Z puts a company in a position where they could gain a customer for life, leading to long-time revenue and loyalty.

• Full Digital Experience – Gen Z wants to avoid using the phone unless necessary. Your digital experience should provide them with as many answers as possible, allow for online enrollment, easy digital access to policy information, and the ability to manage their account.
  
• Personalized Products – Gen Z wants many insurance products the other generations have, but they also want personalized products that are easy to use. Simplified issue products are typically a good fit for Gen Z because they don’t require extensive work on the part of the customer.
  
• Flexible and Personalized Marketing – Gen Z responds best to personalized marketing that is in front of them where they are, with clear messaging and easy calls to action. Marketing that performs best with Gen Z includes reminders that reach them while they are watching TV or browsing the web on their devices. If the offer is relevant and beneficial to them, a reminder can be the difference between them taking advantage of it or forgetting to act. Utilizing data to personalize their offers to determine which customers are most likely to buy your products—and what type of messaging and images work best for them—will help you get higher marketing campaign ROIs.

How to Speak to Gen Z

Speaking to Gen Z is different than talking to other generations. Language is critical to them, so the messaging must be right to earn their trust and get their business.

Insurance companies should remember that Gen Z tends to be more sensitive than other generations. Because of their passion for their causes, they are the generation with a reputation for being offended easily and for creating a “cancel culture.”

However, consider looking at this sensitivity from a different perspective. Because their generation is more open to diversity of all kinds, they believe words have the power to uplift or degrade.

Be Authentic

Building trust with Gen Z means being authentic. They want to work with companies that stand for something, but the company must take action on their values. Your brand, tone, and voice should be authentic and credible.

Companies should lean into their values and brand with Gen Z because the mission behind the brand is more important to Gen Z than any other generation. This is a generation that is passionate about causes, and they want to do business with companies that align with their causes.

Keep It Short

The shorter attention spans started with the Millennials, but Gen Z has grown up on technology and short-and-sweet social media posts. Their brief attention span means they respond best to short and straightforward copy that’s easy for them to take in and understand.

Be Transparent

Like being authentic, Gen Z wants to clearly see the brand and the offer without any hidden agenda or fine print. Offers should be clear and provide an opportunity for customers to get the answers they need easily. If they receive a short-and-sweet offer in the mail, they should be able to access a user-friendly website for answers to their questions and a simple way to sign up for the offer.

Being transparent with your brand and offer goes a long way in building loyalty with this generation.

Give Them Omnichannel Marketing Options

Gen Z loves their phones, but they also love getting a physical piece of mail. According to a report from Pitney Bowes and the CMO Council, 88% of Gen Z prefer a blend of digital and physical marketing. Just like previous generations found excitement when “You Got Mail” blared from their computers, Gen Z gets excitement from going to their mailbox and seeing what’s inside.

Because we get less mail than ever before and more email daily, going to the mailbox is an event that encourages more engagement and attention. However, they also want digital reminders and the ability to utilize digital platforms for all their account needs. Therefore, you want to ensure you are using an omnichannel strategy.

Building loyalty with the youngest generation in the market will not be easy, but it’s worth the effort. It costs five times as much to attract a new customer than it does to retain current customers. Earning Gen Z’s business now and retaining them long-term can mean increased revenue for decades to come.

FM Engage: Personalized Omnichannel Marketing That Converts

At FM Engage, our digital surround capabilities reach Gen Z—and other generations—where they are browsing the web and in their mailboxes or inboxes. We utilize omnichannel marketing for insurance companies to create deeper loyalty with their current customers while acquiring new customers to serve.