‘Not Your Mother’s Fb’ — Is It Sufficient to Entice Gen Z?

Welcome to The Perspective, a collection the place HubSpotters weigh in on the newest enterprise and advertising developments.

“We aren’t your mother’s Fb.”

This daring assertion was handed round at Fb’s occasion for youthful creators in NYC earlier this summer season.

Because the social big turns 20 this 12 months, they know a giant chunk of their future depends on Gen Z. Particularly contemplating solely 52% at the moment rank Fb as their favourite platform, and solely 33% of teenagers aged 13-17 use it in any respect.

(By comparability — 72% of Gen Z rank TikTok as their favourite platform, and 63% of teenagers are actively utilizing it.)

Can Fb really present youthful generations there’s extra to it than “outdated” folks and outdated memes?

To seek out the reply to that query, we now have to start out by unpacking why Gen Z decides to spend their social power elsewhere.

And who higher to ask than a member of HubSpot’s improbable social group and one in every of my wonderful Gen Z colleagues.

Featured Voices:

Right here’s Why Gen Z Isn’t on Fb

“I believe it comes all the way down to the kind of content material on Fb,” says Reece Callaway, Model and Social Content material Supervisor at HubSpot.

“Since Fb is likely one of the oldest social media platforms nonetheless round, we see plenty of Millennials and Gen X on Fb who frequently submit content material that doesn’t resonate with Gen Z. Gen Z desires to see the newest culturally related content material on their feeds, and Fb simply isn’t the place for that.”

And Callaway brings up an ideal level. The opposite a part of Fb’s tried rebrand is to place themselves as a “hub for all issues culturally taking place” within the platform’s underground.

Making a culturally related area for youthful generations is a vital first step — however it’s not essentially a straightforward one to perform.

The Gen Z Perspective

Justina Thompson, Affiliate Advertising and marketing Supervisor at HubSpot (and Gen Z baddie herself), looks like Gen Z is not on Fb like different generations as a result of it has a repute for being family-focused fairly than a real social platform.

“After I was rising up, my Fb was monitored by my mother and I primarily used it to remain linked with aunts, uncles, and center faculty associates whose profiles had been additionally monitored by their dad and mom,” says Thompson.

“Over time, I started to crave extra autonomy over my on-line presence, which I could not do by Fb.”

These are additionally explanation why I not have Fb, and I am a millennial.

My timeline was a mixture of random posts from members of the family together with the occasional “hbd” from somebody I haven’t interacted with since elementary faculty.

It turned laborious to curate my timeline and my following to align with my pursuits.

Thompson additionally says that Gen Z desires to excavate their very own identities on-line — particularly the place nobody they know is watching. That’s why TikTok is so widespread for this age group.

“Individuals from anyplace can work together together with your content material and never must know you IRL. There is not any pre-existing impression that they’ve of you.”

Thompson continues, “Fb represents having an attachment to communities that already know you. Locations like Instagram and TikTok have confirmed that you do not have to return bearing proximity to anybody you already know with a purpose to construct connections. That is the hurdle I believe Fb has but to beat.”

I second that — Fb has to make that leap with a purpose to compete. Channels like Instagram and TikTok have high-quality algorithms that make it straightforward for customers to curate their feeds and discover new folks.

So, now, this all begs the query … 

Can a ‘rebrand’ work … or is it too late?

In principle, Thompson thinks a Fb revamp might work. And I am inclined to agree. However she says it’s going to take much more than shifting what we see on our feeds to get Gen Z again there.

“I do assume investing in what’s already on the platform, like Fb Market, is an effective place to start out — particularly as a result of I’ve personally had constructive experiences with that a part of Fb,” says Thompson.

And she or he’s not alone. Our analysis reveals that social media is Gen Z’s #1 channel for product discovery, and 43% have purchased one thing by way of social media prior to now three months.

Plus, Fb Market is in actual fact Gen Z’s massive draw to the platform proper now.

“Nevertheless, Fb isn‘t simply its Market. It’s an amalgamation of many issues, and all of these items have to talk to one another in a manner that is smart,” says Thompson.

She continues, “I believe TikTok does an ideal job at this. Though I‘m not the largest fan of TikTok’s monetization efforts, they‘re accomplished properly as a result of they’re built-in into the content material you see as you scroll.”

And since different channels like TikTok are already so widespread amongst Gen Z, Callaway says it’s going to be tough to reroute their consideration.

“It’s going to be very laborious to take Gen Z off of different platforms that they’re already on,” he argues. “I believe there is a chance for [Facebook] to rebrand themselves. Nevertheless, they’ve 20 years of repute to work towards.”

He is proper — Gen Z nonetheless sees Fb because the social channel for older generations, crammed with inspirational quotes and boomer humor. It’s not not possible, however that rep goes to be fairly laborious to shake.

So, what’s the important thing to bringing Gen Z again?

Fb says they’re specializing in three key options to get Gen Z to purchase in: the feed, reels, and creators.

They plan to spotlight extra related content material together with Fb Market, Fb Courting, and teams and occasions to draw youthful audiences.

From my perspective, this isn’t a nasty technique. Earlier, Thompson referred to as out Fb Market as a constructive, and serving tailor-made, audience-driven content material all the time wins.

Callaway says, “I believe they would want to get plenty of the largest creators that Gen Z enjoys to constantly submit content material on Fb and do it in a manner that makes Gen Z select Fb to observe that content material over a distinct platform.”

He continues, “Together with that, Fb wants options which might be distinctive to Fb, not only a copy of a preferred characteristic from a distinct platform.”

Thompson echoes the necessity for distinctive options to attract in youthful customers. Listed below are three concepts she thinks Gen Z can be concerned about:

A customizable timeline: “Make the timeline extra customizable so Gen Z can filter by random posts from household whereas additionally getting the knowledge we really need.”
Simpler content material monetization: “TikTok has the Creator Fund however it’s extremely laborious to get into … possibly Fb might make a few of these pointers extra accessible.”
App integrations: “I like that Tiktok has turn into extra built-in with different apps — like CapCut — to make it simpler for folk to supply fast, ready-to-post content material. I believe some type of integration like that might be superior.”

Somebody at Fb, in all probability:

Picture Supply

Fb + Gen Z = 🫶🏽?

As Thompson shared, “Fb has to know that Gen Z‘s priorities are quickly altering. We’re concerned about getting uncensored entry to the knowledge we have to downside clear up and dwell life enjoyably.”

It is an uphill battle, and never a assured win, however I believe Fb can take steps to convey Gen Z again — so long as they take notes from the competitors and refine the platform to fulfill their social wants.

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