🙈🙉🙊 TMB #75: Gen Z's path to purchase defies logic

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In this issue: you will kneel to Sephora, you will kiss Sephora's feet, you will beg Sephora to help you advertise to Gen Z. 💄

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This week:

 A strong leap in conversion rates buoyed by the back-to-school crowd. For those of you buying yet again hundreds of dollars of gear for your kids, you have my respect. You make these charts look good and ecommerce managers happy. 

 Kids are the future - but they are also your future consumer. A new report from eMarketer shows nuance in how Gen Z shoppers actually arrive at purchase, and it's not what you expect. (We quote eMarketer in this newsletter a lot because the research there is a step above everybody else.)

 Some highlights: 

 Social media is huge for Gen Z, especially in the discovery phase... but physical stores and retail websites also influence their choices. Contrary to popular belief, retail isn't dead, it's just changing. I went to American Dream a few weeks ago and can attest that "going to the mall" is alive and well. There's something about being able to hold, try on, or physically examine products that no digital experience can provide. And this is reflected in the data:

We all know that TikTok and Instagram are the top platforms for Gen Z, while Facebook is passé. But how then do you drive Gen Z conversions? This report offers what sounds like a retrograde conundrum: after discovering a brand, Gen Z shoppers are apt to talk to friends and family and investigate the product in-store, more so than other generations. They also are less likely to look at your branded site, ask search engines, or check Amazon. 

So wait, you're telling me that the most digitally-native generation in human history is more reliant on human intuition and real-life experiences when making product decisions? Then how do we get them to convert on TikTok Shop ads? 

Here's the ugly truth: your shitty ads will not drive Gen Z conversions. They see right through it. They were born into advertising, you merely adopted it. Gen Z is destined for an overstimulating, overtargeted, over-invasive world of perpetual advertising from cradle to grave. They're numb.

You have to consider: are your conversion rates so high on Meta because the audience there is psychologically more susceptible to the cheap thumbstop and "buy now" tricks you shill upon them? 

While they accept the token of "awareness" from your advertising, they are not motivated to buy until they've done their own research. The "buy now" segment of Gen Z is a little larger than previous generations, but still a minority. For example, they might see your lipstick ad on TikTok and be interested. But you know they're still gonna go to Sephora and try out your tester before they even consider spending any (of their mom's) money. Even if it's the same tester that 10,000 other girls who saw your ad put on their lips... All's fair in love and "the consideration phase."  eMarketer is full of fantastic research like this. Check out the full report here. 

We have some UPCOMING Webinars you do not want to miss:

Northbeam + Meta: Introducing Northbeam Apex on September 26th @ 9:00AM PST. Register here.

BFCM Strategy Session with Bryan & Brayden on October 1st @ 12:00PM EST. Register here.

💄 Nobody makes better TikTok ads than Savannah Sanchez. But it's not just the tricks she describes - to understand the magic, look at how the ads are edited, how subjects are lit, and who the subjects are. 

📚 Check out this AI tool that develops performance marketing strategy decks for your brand. It's still in alpha, but don't show this to your agency clients.  

👻 Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says they're launching new ad placements soon. He also cites research that Snap is the only social media platform that doesn't cause negative self-esteem across it's users. 

😤 This is 94-page comprehensive guide to TikTok Shops, from TikTok. It doesn't get any better than this. Mandatory reading for all.

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