In recent studies, we have discovered that the attention span of a GEN Z consumer (anyone born after 1995) is a staggering 8 seconds. Yep, that’s it. With online shopping, next day shipping, mobile ordering and more—this generation is used to getting what they want right now. In order to successfully market to this demographic, you need to ensure your mobile app tells it’s story quickly, and is available everywhere. If you are offering mobile ordering on campus you want to make sure you can mobile order from all campus restaurants. In addition, your user interface should be simple and straight forward. If we look at some of the most popular social media apps, like Instagram and Twitter, you’ll notice their user interface has become more and more minimalistic and straight forward over the years.

When you’re telling your story, you want ensure you offer some type of value as well. Signage and commercials simply aren’t going to cut it anymore. A Loyalty program is a great vehicle for this because you can award points to students for using your app which can then be redeemed for prizes. Many large companies have incorporated reward systems into their apps to increase usage and create loyalty. Some companies include Starbucks Mobile, Amazon Prime, and My Nintendo. By creating value to your users, they are more likely to come back to your app, and use all the features within your app if they know they are going to be rewarded for it.

At the end of the day, the marketing world for students is very fast-paced and having a mobile platform allows you to keep up. Further, once you combine Loyalty with a strong mobile strategy, you are guaranteed to see success. It’s also important to acknowledge your audience, and see if they are able to help. GEN Z is not interested in what you’re selling; they’re interested in themselves. How is this going to help me? How is this going to make MY life better? GEN Z grew up engulfed in social media and many of them learned from a young age how to benefit from social channels and even make money—some making full-time paying careers simply through social media. Therefore, we need to look at them as not just consumers, but also potential partners. GEN Z has the power to help grow your business, and their social channels might work just as well as ‘word- of- mouth’. On campus, it is important to scout out those students who have a strong presence on social media and use them to your benefit. Many GEN Z’s have become brand ambassadors for companies and product lines simply by having a follower number higher than 10k. By offering your service/ product in exchange for exposure, can lead to very successful marketing campaigns—no student relates better to someone than another student.

Want to learn more about how to market using mobile app loyalty? Click here.

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