Client Engagement Best Practices: Don’t Let Gen Z Ignore You – Why Your Digital Services, “Print for Pixels” Are Not Working

In today’s digital age, capturing Generation Z’s attention has become a crucial challenge for businesses across various industries. Although the CCM world continues to evolve with industry trends, dissatisfaction remains with digital client communications. Too often, businesses trade “Print for Pixels” without utilizing the unique digital capabilities that can attract and engage this tech-savvy demographic.

Understanding the Shift to Digital 

In the Aspire Survey conducted from 2019-2022 we found that Boomers desire data security, Gen X prioritizes mobile communications, while Millennials and Gen Z value relevance and personalization. Gen Z has grown up in a hyper-connected world where technology is seamlessly integrated into every aspect of daily life. As a result, they possess a unique set of characteristics and preferences that significantly influence their consumer behavior. They chase a consistent experience across channels, as they want to choose how and where they receive such communications. 

The Pitfalls of “Print for Pixels” 

“Print for Pixels” refers to repurposing traditional print marketing materials for digital platforms without considering online audiences’ unique preferences and behaviors, particularly Gen Z’s. While this approach may have worked in the past, it fails to resonate with today’s digitally native consumers for several reasons, including a lack of interactivity, authenticity, personalization, and engagement.  

What Gen Z Wants and How to Give It to Them 

A cohesive experience fosters customer satisfaction and loyalty. Here’s proof: 

• 71% of customers say personalization influences their decisions to engage. 
• Personalized calls-to-action perform 202% better than basic CTAs. 
• 28% of consumers have increased brand loyalty with personalized communications, and  
• 95% of companies saw three times the ROI from their personalization efforts.  

Do you see a pattern? Gen Z demands a cohesive experience, including: 

1. Personalization: Personalize relevant messages that respect consumer preferences. 
2. Channel Choice: Consumers want options – email, SMS, websites, or other channels. 
3. Seamless Experience: Optimize your digital content for mobile devices. Speak with one voice across all channels. 
4. Interactivity: Leverage the popularity of video content by incorporating video into your digital marketing strategy – bills, policies, statements, etc. Gen Z is a generation influenced by digital marketing! 

What’s In It for You? The Benefits of a Unified Client Engagement Approach  

One out of every eight consumers will switch providers because of a poor customer experience. So, implementing a unified approach to digital client engagement is a must as we continue to evolve in today’s digital age.  Shifting to digital offers numerous benefits for companies, not just the clients, including:  

1. Improved Data Insights: Centralize customer data from multiple sources (e.g., website analytics, CRM systems, social media platforms). Integrating this data into a single platform enables companies to gain a comprehensive view of their customer’s journey and behavior, enabling more informed decision-making, targeted marketing campaigns, and the ability to anticipate and respond to customer needs. 
2. Consistent Brand Identity: Maintaining a consistent brand identity is essential for building credibility and customer trust. A unified approach ensures that all digital communications reflect the company’s brand values, messaging, and visual identity.

   Most Importantly,

3. Improved ROI: By consolidating digital marketing efforts and data into a unified platform, companies can more accurately track and measure the performance of their campaigns. They can easily analyze key metrics such as engagement, conversion rates, and return on investment (ROI) across all channels. This visibility allows companies to identify areas of improvement and allocate resources to initiatives that deliver the highest ROI. 
4. Cost Savings: When a bill or statement is better written, more engaging, and part of a broader, ongoing, and more personalized interaction, customers make payments faster and place fewer calls to a customer support line. 
5. Customer Retention: A more cohesive customer experience will result in customer retention. Not having to worry about losing consumers to your competitors, and a better customer experience will result in more word-of-mouth referrals, adding to your client base.  

Understand Best Practices for Effective Gen Z Engagement 

While “Print for Pixels” may have served its purpose in the past as a cost-effective and easy route to ‘digital adoption,’ it is no longer sufficient to capture the attention of Gen Z consumers in today’s digital landscape. By understanding their preferences and behaviors and adopting best practices for effective client engagement, businesses can successfully connect with Gen Z and cultivate lasting relationships in the digital age while reducing operational expenses.