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While millennials may be the generation given the most attention by the media, savvy marketers are already looking towards the next cohort – Gen Z. Born between the mid-90s and 2010, Gen Z members consistently care about two things – social causes and YouTube. One report, for instance, shows that 76% of Gen Zers are concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet and 60% want their jobs to change the world.
Much like millennials, they not only expect but demand to see brands balance purpose and profit. It’s about genuine social responsibility. As the first true digital natives (having never known a world without the internet), they consume information and video content voraciously — with 50% claiming they would be unable to live without YouTube.
As a pioneer in the digital marketing sphere, I can see these evolving social values present huge opportunities for aspiring filmmakers and video artists. To cut through the noise and get noticed, it’s no longer just about creating good content — you need to create content that does good.
And I’m not just talking about data metrics. No, I mean affecting positive social change, like drawing attention to a cause and encouraging people to take action. If you want to cut through the digital noise and get noticed, use activism to draw attention to your art.
If cause marketing can work for brands, it can work for you. According to Unilever, 33% of consumers are now choosing brands that support social or environmental good. And in the digital age, everyone is a brand. Social movements can be momentum for any aspiring filmmaker’s career.
More and more brands are attaching purpose to their video content, from Heineken to Dove to Nike. Here’s the thing: It has to be authentic. Pepsi’s recent foray into activism ended disastrously because the company treated it like it was a trend or transactional. Your work needs to be transformational; build value in values and offer something new to the cultural conversation. If you create cause-related content that you believe in, viewers will connect with it.
Here are some pro tips on how aspiring filmmakers can use cause-related marketing and social media:
1. Who will connect with your cause and content?
Step one of any marketing plan is establishing and researching your target audience. In the case of purpose-driven content, look into who will connect most with your cause and which social media they use. It’s all about figuring out your niche and hyper-targeting them. For instance, ethical fashion activists like Emma Watson often turn to Instagram.
2. Don’t just stay on YouTube.
Too many aspiring filmmakers think they can post their content on YouTube and hope it will go viral. That’s not how social media works. You should be creating accounts on multiple platforms and posting your content on them — from Facebook to Reddit to Instagram to LinkedIn. Facebook alone has over 8 billion video views per day.