'CTA is about to retire', how can brands join the trend of Gen Z social e-commerce?

Why "CTA is retiring soon?"

This trend is for a future where Gen Z is taking over social media and becoming a major consumer force.

They are young, active, and desperately need a channel to speak out. Social media platforms are essential for them. At the same time, for these new people who have been using the Internet since birth, the shopping mode has also shifted to social media along with the e-commerce function that social media platforms have gradually added.

Gen Zers naturally know how to shop online, and they don’t need brands to write “click here…” or “click to buy” on posts or images. So, traditional CTA copywriting and marketing ideas are about to retire.

So how can brands that want to drive sales among younger users drive conversions? We suggest that brands can improve their marketing in the following ways:

01

More integration of new social media platform features

Recently, TikTok launched a business solution called Shopping Ads, which includes three new ad formats - video shopping ads, catalogue listing ads and live shopping ads.

These three kinds of advertisements can help brands directly add purchase links and product catalogs in TikTok content, and can also guide users to jump to live broadcasts with goods on the ForYou page.

The presence of the buy button saves the brand the redundant step of adding CTA copy and stickers themselves. The simplified social e-commerce shopping experience and the ability to guide users to choose from lists are more in line with the online shopping habits of Gen Zers.

Not just TikTok, but Instagram is also testing AR dynamic ads with more combinable ad formats. In the future, it will be gradually realized that products will be made into AR materials for consumers to select and purchase online.

02

Focus on micro-influencers

"Red people bring goods" is an effective promotion method among consumers around the world. But for the Gen Z crowd, it still has its particularity - they trust micro-influencers more.

According to GWI, 30% of Gen Z follow at least one influencer or expert. But most of them focus on micro-influencers with less than 5,000 followers.

Because Gen Z’s interests are very segmented, and they only trust recommendations from influencers who look “like them.”

Therefore, when overseas brands choose influencers for cooperative marketing, they can consider a lot of small and micro influencers in the vertical field. On the one hand, the quotations of small and micro influencers are low, and the same budget can cover more influencers; on the other hand, small and micro influencers have stronger credibility in their own vertical fields and are more likely to gain the trust of Gen Z consumers.

Overseas celebrity data platforms such as Find Influncer can be used to quickly screen and compare celebrities based on dimensions such as fan size and geographic orientation. And from multiple dimensions such as fan portraits, content data, etc., select celebrities who are more suitable for their own brand for cooperation.

03

More emphasis on short videos

And not only TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are also vigorously developing their vertical-screen short video features. Therefore, for brands, in the future marketing strategy, short videos should be planned as a focus rather than an "early adopter" direction.

Epilogue

The essence of social media is "social networking", but after combining social networking and e-commerce, in addition to strengthening the connection between brands and people on social media, consideration should also be given to strengthening the connection between brands and consumers. And starting to plan a marketing strategy for Gen Z consumers now will affect the brand for a long time in the future.

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