Marketing to Gen Alpha

The current young generation of consumers, Generation Z, managed to set brand new expectations from both brands and marketers, who were urged to embrace the digital future. In fact, according to researchers, over half of this generation of people aren’t able to go more than four hours without access to the Internet, before they start getting uncomfortable. Additionally, for this generation of people, there are very few differences between their offline and online lives. Furthermore, over half of Generation Z are friends with people they’ve only known online and have never met in person.  

However, just as the world starts paying attention to the power that this young generation has, whether marketers are ready or not, there’s a new generation of consumers with exponential spending power, titled Generation Alpha. These are the people born after 2010, who are turning 11 this year. Although most marketers don’t start evaluating certain generations from a consumer standpoint until those people reach their teen years, this is a group of people that has a bigger spending power than any other pre-adolescent generation that has come before them. 

Because of the reach of social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, a number of these kids already have an influence over today’s culture. While the generation before them, Generation Z, made its mark by building personal brands across social media platforms, this younger group has started making money online earlier than their predecessors, through making videos about toys, playing games, or even showing off the latest trends for children.  

Over the past decade, the consumption patterns across the country, as well as the world, have drastically changed. This young generation of consumers is going to be growing up in a world that’s saturated with direct-to-consumer brands, and with shoppable social media platforms. Furthermore, their parents are also less likely to go down the isles of their local stores to look for products because of the convenience of the Internet and online shopping, with products being delivered to their doors at the push of a button. 

A great example of this phenomenon with Generation Alpha is a nine-year-old YouTuber, Ryan Kaji, who has one of the most lucrative channels on the platform. Although most of these kids are still too young and aren’t present on social media platforms to be drawn into buying journeys, their parents aren’t, which is why brands are turning to them to market products to this next generation of consumers. A number of brands and corporations have started trying to attract the parents of the youngest generation and thinking about what those people want to look for when making purchasing decisions for their kids. 

Although these are short-term plans, marketers will also have to consider this generation in their long-term strategies fairly soon, as this generation will be outnumbering Baby Boomers and, by the end of the decade, they will start moving into adulthood. This is the generation that will be the most technologically savvy, being born the same here as the first iPad, and growing up accustomed to short-form content.