Street cred? Maybe you’re trying too hard to reach gen Z

Is staying relevant to a youth audience as hard as it’s made out to be? Gen Z might be consuming news media differently to any generation before them, but getting back to basics could lead you to engaging youth audiences better than ever.

My research report, ‘What does news media mean to gen Z? An investigation into the media habits of gen Z in the UK’ was published in February and supported by the CIPR research fund. Here’s a few practical takeaways that could shape your approach to youth audiences. 

Know your place in their ecosystem

Understanding the media diet and content consumption of your youth audiences can shape your understanding of how, when and where you can show up. Better still, reviewing any data you have about what they open from you, or how they’re interacting currently as well as asking them what they want seems obvious, but will help you align your content more effectively. 

In the industry interviews, Amy Davies, Global VP of Vice Insights shared; “All of our formats are social first journalism now. We’re on every single platform youth are consuming. They’re getting the majority of their news social first and we’ve started innovating too – at Vice News we launched a Twitch stream. Overlapping with those native spaces makes sense.” 

If their news media journeys are increasingly social first, with the decision to explore stories through a different mix of channels in their control, then putting content several clicks away or investing in an app that competes for their time, may not be the right solution. 

In short, jumping straight to a tactic like ‘increase the number of young people signing up for our newsletter’ happens far too often and my usual response to clients is ‘why would they?’. With any audience you have to ask what’s in it for them, what value are we offering and are there other ways we can communicate?

What content works for them?

The research points to less of a relationship with traditional news outlets and a more personalised content experience. Gen Z has grown up with far more content choice than their millennial predecessors, from both broadcasters as well as individuals, so its little wonder youth audiences have a different mix of preferences. 

Sweeping stereotypes of ‘short form, video only, everything on TikTok’, is a basic approach to understanding a youth audience. Many younger audiences really like in-depth written content, explorative podcasts, niche communities on Twitch etc. Ultimately, one-size does not fit all. 

Sophia Smith Galer, author and journalist commented as part of the research: “Younger audiences consider more things as being newsworthy – this should be a positive for news media who can now create a greater diversity of content to respond to them. News creators specialise in ‘edutainment’ and news outlets that emulate this tend to do well.”

In a recent campaign, as well as quantitative data we got some of the best behavioural nudges for the toolkit we provided by asking our target audience what else they would find useful. These were small nuggets like the way in which coaches shared information at events, to reminders that would help them (even some print items!). Not all of these will be exciting, high tech solutions but they really helped to compliment the main campaign and importantly, we’d talked with our audience.  

Right voices, right conversation

The pace of news has been revolutionised. With the evolution of technology and social media platforms, everyone can break, and fake, the news. Just as every consumer can call out brands, share their experiences and own opinions (#influencer), we can all report the news from wherever we are. 

This positions news media differently. At one time, the authoritative, one-way news, is now more democratised, more as it happens. When it comes to engaging your youth audiences, are you enabling a conversation, or are you telling not talking?

Who represents your content and tells your story, could significantly contribute to how it lands. Reviewing the creators and influencers you work with, exploring what youth networks and voices you can support, or better still help to evolve your message, are all good places to start. Does your organisation or brand need to be front and centre, or are there ways to champion and support youth communities or young people already in the space?

News media outlets have found themselves competing with a breadth of new entrants, from influencers to meme accounts, and continue to adapt their content to different platforms, recognising the need to join the conversation there, rather than dictate it. 

Amy Davies, Vice Insights said: “Whenever a format is created they (Vice news team) think through it in an ecosystem way. We’re not just dumping the same format everywhere, it’s making it right for each platform. 

“Involve young people in the ideation process, then the community aspect. Gen Z are going back to archival content and consuming it more than other generations. A lot of pieces have journalists exploring the thematic at the same time as the audience. There’s something in that idea of exploration, unveiling a story in real time that’s hooking gen Z I would hypothesise it’s down to their growth of learning. They want to feel they’re discovering it and feel that the journalist is on a part with them and not authoritarian.”

Measuring the right stuff

In a world of digital metrics, it can be easy to define success by the interactions available in each platform alone. But how do these contribute to genuine shifts in behaviour, understanding or engagement?

My report found several metrics that indicated a drop in participation when it comes to news online. But it’s a little more complex than simply youth audiences not liking news anymore. 

Firstly, they’re bombarded 24/7 across multiple platforms with content, including news. 

Secondly, social media isn’t known for creating space for balanced discussion, so sharing and commenting can lead to divisive discussions, or worse still, public pile-ons. 

Thirdly, I think not just in news media, we’re seeing younger audiences change their public interactions on social media more broadly, and there was evidence of audiences more likely to share things in messaging or smaller groups rather than publicly. If you’re chasing 'more likes from under 18s on our posts’, you’re most likely chasing the wrong thing.

Thinking about what you’re trying to achieve, which specific audiences you’re trying to engage with and how you could understand what success looks like, could challenge the design and implementation of your communications campaign. 

Rebecca Roberts is the founder of communications and marketing agency Thread & Fable, which has worked with clients across the higher education, sport, charity, youth and public sectors. Her website includes details of a weekly newsletter sharing youth insights and articles. Rebecca is also the voice of the Hear It Podcast which is coming back for a fifth season and will speak with experts, researchers and campaign professionals who share their understanding and experiences working with youth audiences.