Social media marketing | Generation Z Marketing

One of the beautiful things about social media in this day in age is the notion that there are very few barriers to entry, especially with the vast and dynamic start-up culture and gig economy that has been so prevalent for the last decade or so. When I start to analyze the Kik app, it feels like a throwback to the simpler times of myspace and AOL Instant messenger. The days where chat rooms created the anonymity that allowed users to freely be themselves with little repercussions that affect them in the real world. As Seth stated in his post about the Gartner’s hype cycle that can be found at https://thesgblog.video.blog/2019/02/28/kik-is-climbing-the-slope/ he mentioned that the Kik app is currently climbing the slope, and since 2009 has been a smaller force in the game of social media channels. I think about the integration of Kik versus that of Snapchat or Instagram where there are multiple different functional attributes, where as Kik’s platform is much more simplified and began from the need to message from different devices. I also see a couple threats that could be causing the app to remain rather stagnant in it’s life cycle. The integration between real life and social media accounts have been more focused on self-promotion rather than just simplified messaging with strangers. This could also lead parents to not allow their children to use the platform, due to fear of online predators. With recent news about the MOMO challenge where someone hacked Youtube videos for children and placed a disturbing image of a woman with directions telling the children to run with knives or even commit suicide, the online community worldwide is tightening the reins. Many social media platforms like Facebook and even Instagram focus more on basing a user’s following off of people in their immediate social network versus interacting with strangers online, but also altering and framing their own image to fit a certain look or agenda. The days of chatrooms seems rather obsolete, but there is still a market for those who would rather stay behind a screen and keep the anonymous factor due to social complexity and or stigma. Many children developing their communication styles reach out to chat rooms out of curiosity, which in a way opens up a whole new can of worms when analyzing threats in the immediate environment. I believe if Kik wants to continue to be profitable, it will need to integrate more aspects into their platform, such as video sharing or even partner with another small scale channel to fine tune their target market, which then will they be able to fully understand the niche they are trying to capture.

Marti is a current senior marketing major at Georgia State University with plans of graduating in May. She enjoys art, traveling, and live music.

To see more from Marti click on the link below:

https://martisheamedia.home.blog

Kik has taking a Star Trek approach to its social media presence in that it is going where no other platform has gone before. They have managed to be the pioneering platforms for the generation that has come to be known as “Z”. According to George Beall a contributor and analyst for the Huffpost “Gen Zers consist of those born in 1995 or later. They make up 25.9% of the United States population, the largest percentage, and contribute $44 billion to the American economy. By 2020, they will account for one-third of the population, and are certainly worth paying attention to.”

In the world today we see that what consider to be relevant is continuously being reshaped, and that Gen Z are thriving in a world of continuous updates. They have learned to process an abundance of information faster than any of the generations that have come before them thanks to apps like Kik. On the down side their attention spans have meaningfully decreased compared to those of Millennials. Gen Zers may not be able to focus well, but they are great multi-taskers. Any one that has teenage children I am sure is aware of this fact by now. Just last week I observed my twelve year old daughter and niece watching TV, while also watching a DIY YouTube vid on their iPads, and at the same time they both were researching topics for science projects on their iPhones. My first thought was “what the hell” but after a little probing I found out that they were actually retaining the information that they were receiving from all three medians.

While there is an ever increasing amount of Gen Zers that are getting smartphones many of them only have prepaid services, and are only able to utilize their device with the help of Wi-Fi. Unlike many other social media platforms Kik can be accessed strictly through the use of Wi-Fi without using a data plan. This is one of the many ways that Kik is differentiating itself from the competition. Also, many Gen Zers aren’t at the age where the parents are allowing them to have social media accounts or to have constant communication with others through the normal audio and text message channels. Kik allows for safe communication between teens and those they want to contact without having to give out there phone numbers which in return keeps them off their parent’s radar.

Learn more about the differences between Millenials and Gen Z at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-beall/8-key-differences-between_b_12814200.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/09/21/8-ways-generation-z-will-differ-from-millennials-in-the-workplace/