Are you using YouTube to connect with Gen C?
Introducing Gen C, a powerful new force in consumer culture that is more about attitude and less about age.
Generation C is a term that encompasses a vast segment of people: the digital natives.
Unlike the well-known designations of Generations X, Y, and Z, Gen C is about much more than birth year. Most of those science-types in the know about such matters suggest that Gen C stretches from birth years 1982 through 1996, which is a broad demographic.
The more compelling definition (as far as we're concerned) of Gen C is totally tech-related. These are the great lovers of making and sharing content and the appreciators of the communicative power of social media.
They have a real penchant for complexity and randomness, and strong gravitation towards performing creative jobs. They love curated stuff and building communities around the things they love.
Gen C by the numbers
A Google Think research study says that, for all of the above reasons and more, YouTube is one of the best ways to connect with Gen C, as they are primed for it.
As the data shows, 80% of Gen C are also millennials (or Gen Y), which corresponds to YouTube's core audience. Two-thirds of Gen C engages in uploading and sharing visual content, according to the study.
This makes YouTube virtually a no-brainer when it comes to connecting with Gen C - they’re already there.
More to the point, the proof is in the pudding that online video sites, such as YouTube, are displacing the dominance of traditional TV viewing. 40 % are described as "light TV viewers," having replaced the old TV with streaming video.
Need more compelling evidence of the value of Gen C as an audience for your brand? How about a $500 billion spending budget each year?
And they make it - like everything else they do - a social matter, with most of them relying heavily on the approval of their peers before making a buying decision.
Other useful facts from the study
- 91% of Gen C is always connected via their smartphones
- 80% of them use YouTube as part of multi-screen viewing
- 88% have a social media profile
- 65% update their social profile on a daily basis
How will you leverage this information?
So how is your company using the power of YouTube to connect with Gen C (which can also be read as, you know, the most important consumers around)?
The new data from Google shows just how useful YouTube can be as a tool from getting a message out.
In fact, the only thing we can find to disagree with Google about is the name of their study: "Introducing Gen C - The YouTube Generation."
The reason for our "disagreement" is that Gen C is already well-established, and they need little in the way of introduction. If anything, the study reminds us of the need to introduce our businesses to consumers through YouTube and other platforms already being adored by Gen C.
- Photo Credit: Jonas B/CC/Flickr
- Presentation from Think with Google
