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When we hired a Gen Z marketer, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We expected fresh perspectives and a new approach to marketing, but as an older millennial, I didnt expect just how foreign her methods would feel. Our company is an AI-powered platform that helps small and medium-size businesses find top part-time professionals through network-based recruiting. As we grew, we realized we needed someone who truly understood how younger audiences communicate and consume contentnot just to market the product, but to shape how we tell our story in a changing world of work. For decades, marketing has been about connecting emotionally with audiences. “Hit the pain points,” they say. But now? Were living in a completely different world where short and authentic is king and Gen Z speaks an entirely different language. Try making sense of phrases like: Touch grass? I AM the lawn. Delulu is the solulu. Slayed so hard I need a rest day. I need a dictionary to decode this. Worse, I cant even evaluate the creatives our marketer brings to the tablethey’re so removed from my understanding of what works. It’s a puzzle. But what is also true is that we needed someone who gets it. In the same way that you need the right tech stack to build a successful product, you need the right people to resonate with your Gen Z audience. Heres what I learned about how marketing has changed from our Gen Z marketer. A Gen Z style ad for Intech. The rule of TikTok Theres a general rule when it comes to social media platforms teenagers dont want to hang out where their parents areor geriatric millennials. Instagram was built to solve a specific problem: sharing lifes moments in a simple, visually appealing format. It worked because millennials wanted to embellish their life. But that’s a negative vibe for Gen Zs only authentic content ethos. TikTok is different. It doesnt solve a problem, it is more of a content playground where attention grabbing creative content rules. TikTok is not about functionality but about the thrill of discovery. The same goes for YouTube Shorts. Micro-trends dominate One of Gen Z’s most defining traits is how quickly they move through trends. On Instagram, an ad can last for weeks before losing steam, but on TikTok, youll be lucky if a trend lasts a couple of days. Gen Z’s world is about micro-trends, and staying on top of these can feel like a full-time job. Remember that trends are not created by companies they are created by young people themselves. Advertising itself has become decentralized, and it cant look like advertising at all. A millennial style ad for Intech. Thats so me If you try to replicate Gen Zs style or worse, imitate them as a millennial or older marketer it comes across as inauthentic, and that’s a surefire way to alienate them. Gen Z has a radar for fake, and they’ll call you out for it. The content that grabs their attention is fast, compressed, and utterly focused on authenticity. Whether its meme-based or pure user-generated content , if its relatable, theyll engage. Furthermore, Gen Z is rejecting traditional advertising which paints a picture of a happier, more beautiful, successful life. For them, its about identity. If your content doesnt make Gen Z say ‘Thats so me,’ then its not worth their time. This could be a video of someone fake-smiling through a Zoom meeting while their laptop teeters on a stack of laundry, a meme about overthinking a simple text message for 15 minutes, or a skit that dramatizes the emotional rollercoaster of getting ghosted after a job interview. The goal isnt polished perfection – its emotional accuracy, humor, and the unfiltered truth of everyday moments. Let Gen Zers lead the way As a founder with over a decade of marketing experience, I’ve come to accept that I cant speak to younger audiences the way fellow Gen Zers can. Before, our marketing used to follow a classic structure: brand-building business-to-business positioning: thought leadership, long-form content, product launches, and sales enablementall based on the pain solution offer formula. It was clear, structured communication that worked well for a more traditional audience. After a Gen Z marketer joined the team, everything shifted: we stopped explaining the product and moved away from polished, heavily branded materials. Instead we prioritized native, meme-driven, user-generated, and highly contextual content. The goal wasnt to convince anymore, but to resonate instantly to make the audience say: Thats so me. Our marketer launched TikTok-style videos that used humor to show what it feels like to be stuck hiring from outdated platforms. She created Instagram Reels featuring mock text threads between overwhelmed founders and the dream hire who finally gets it. She even turned real user feedback into memes that felt like inside jokes for our audience. In the new approach, pain points are barely mentioned at allits all about cultural relevance and emotional recognition. At the same time, our return on ad spend jumped from around 30% to 120%. If your product targets Gen Z, or if you want to stay relevant in a future where Gen Z will be the dominant workforce and consumer group, you need to let them take the reins. Their instincts for trends and authentic content are unmatched. They understand the pulse of whats current and know what will resonate with their peers. If you want your marketing to succeed, you need to follow their lead.
Category:
E-Commerce
Americans love small businesses. We dedicate a week each year to applauding them, and spend Small Business Saturday shopping locally. Yet hiding in plain sight is an enormous challenge facing small-business owners as they age: retiring with dignity and foresight. The current economic climate is making this even more difficult. As a professor who studies aging and business, Ive long viewed small-business owners retirement challenges as a looming crisis. The issue is now front and center for millions of entrepreneurs approaching retirement. Small enterprises make up more than half of all privately held U.S. companies, and for many of their owners, the business is their retirement plan. But while owners often hope to finance their golden years by selling their companies, only 20% of small businesses are ready for sale even in good times, according to the Exit Planning Institute. And right now, conditions are far from ideal. An economic stew of inflation, supply chain instability, and high borrowing costs means that interest from potential buyers is cooling. For many business owners, retirement isnt a distant concern. In the U.S., baby boomerswho are currently 61 to 79 years oldown about 2.3 million businesses. Altogether, they generate about $5 billion in revenue and employ almost 25 million people. These entrepreneurs have spent decades building businesses that often are deeply rooted in their communities. They dont have time to ride out economic chaos, and their optimism is at a 50-year low. New policies, new challenges You cant blame them for being gloomy. Recent policy shifts have only made life harder for business owners nearing retirement. Trade instability, whipsawing tariff announcements and disrupted supply chains have eroded already thin margins. Some businessesgenerally larger ones with more negotiating powerare absorbing extra costs rather than passing them on to shoppers. Others have no choice but to raise prices, to customers dismay. Inflation has further squeezed profits. At the same time, with a few notable exceptions, buyers and capital have grown scarce. Acquirers and liquidity have dried up across many sectors. The secondary market, a barometer of broader investor appetite, now sees more sellers than buyers. These are textbook symptoms of a flight to safety, a market shift that drags out sale timelines and depresses valuationsall while Main Street business owners age out. These entrepreneurs typically have one shot at retirement, if any. Adding to these woes, many small businesses are part of what economists call regional clusters, providing services to nearby universities, hospitals, and local governments. When those anchor institutions face budget cutsas is happening nowsmall-business vendors are often the first to feel the impact. Research shows that many aging owners actually double down in weak economic times, sinking increasing amounts of time and money in a psychological pattern known as escalating commitment. The result is a troubling phenomenon scholars refer to as benign entrapment. Aging entrepreneurs can remain attached to their businesses not because they want to, but because they see no viable exit. This growing crisis isnt about bad personal planning; its a systemic failure. Rewriting the playbook on small-business policy A key mistake that policymakers make is to lump all small-business owners together into one group. That causes them to overlook important differences. After all, a 68-year-old carpenter trying to retire doesnt have much in common with a 28-year-old tech founder pitching a startup. Policymakers may cheer for high-growth unicorns, but they often overlook the cows and horses that keep local economies running. Even among older business owners, circumstances vary based on local conditions. Two retiring carpenters in different towns may face vastly different prospects based on the strength of their local economies. No business, and no business owner, exists in a vacuum. Relatedly, when small businesses fail to transition, it can have consequences for the local economy. Without a buyer, many enterprises will simply shut down. And while closures can be long-planned and thoughtful, when a business closes suddenly, its not just the owner who loses. Employees are left scrambling for work. Suppliers lose contracts. Communities lose essential services. Four ways to help aging entrepreneurs Thats why I think policymakers should reimagine how they support small businesses, especially owners nearing the end of their careers. First, small-business policy should be tailored to age. A retirement-ready business shouldnt be judged solely by its growth potential. Rather, policies should recognize stability and community value as markers of success. The U.S. Small Business Administration and regional agencies can provide resources specifcally for retirement planning that starts early in a businesss life, to include how to increase the value of the business and a plan to attract acquirers in later stages. Second, exit infrastructure should be built into local entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are built to support business entry (think incubators and accelerators) but not for exit. In other words, just like there are accelerators for launching businesses, there should be programs to support winding them down. These could include confidential peer forums, retirement-readiness clinics, succession matchmaking platforms, and flexible financing options for acquisition. Third, chaos isnt good for anybody. Fluctuations in capital gains taxes, estate tax thresholds, and tariffs make planning difficult and reduce business value in the eyes of potential buyers. Stability encourages confidence on both sides of a transaction. And finally, policymakers should include ripple-effect analysis in budget decisions. When universities, hospitals or governments cut spending, small-business vendors often absorb much of the shock. Policymakers should account for these downstream impacts when shaping local and federal budgets. If we want to truly support small businesses and their owners, its important to honor the lifetime arc of entrepreneurshipnot just the launch and growth, but the retirement, too. Nancy Forster-Holt is a clinical associate professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Rhode Island. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
Breakthroughs happen all the time in the tech world, but only a select few manage to make a lasting impact. Predicting which innovations will shape the future is always a challenge. On Tuesday, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its list of the top 10 emerging technologies of 2025, highlighting those expected to influence global challenges within the next three to five years. The list, compiled with the help of Frontiers Media, a publisher of peer-reviewed scientific journals, avoids naming specific companies. Instead, the WEF focuses on concepts that are both novel and nearing maturity, with the potential to deliver meaningful benefits to society. Here’s what the WEF sees as being on the path to a breakthrough in 2025. Advanced nuclear tech Demand for nuclear energy is on the rise, with the Trump administration pledging to fast-track permits for nuclear projects. The WEF predicts that smaller nuclear designs and alternative cooling systems will offer safer, cleaner energy at a lower cost. These reactors, it says, “could play a key role in building reliable, zero-carbon power systems.” Structural battery composites The weight of batteries has been a pain point for things like cars and planes, impacting their efficiency. New materials that store energy and support weight can make these vehicles lighter, improving both their performance and their environmental impact. Collaborative sensing Speaking of vehicles, networking connected sensors can let vehicles share information in real time with each other, as well as with cities and emergency services. In the case of an incident, this can reduce traffic, increase response times, and improve safety, the WEF says. Generative watermarking As artificial intelligence becomes even more widespread, distinguishing original content from AI-generated material will be critical. Generative watermarking adds an invisible tag to AI content, helping combat misinformation and build consumer trust. Green nitrogen Producing fertilizer today requires fossil fuels, which leads to pollution and carbon emissions. Green nitrogen, which relies on electricity instead, could offer “a more sustainable way to grow food,” the WEF says. GLP-1 drugs for neurodegenerative diseases GLP-1 drugs are currently used to treat obesity and diabetes. The WEF notes they are also showing promise in treating other diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Autonomous biochemical sensing Smart sensors capable of continuously monitoring environmental changes or human health without wires could unlock numerous possibilities. The medical field may use them for early disease detection, while scientists can apply them to track pollution and atmospheric trends. Nanozymes Naturally occurring enzymes help clean pollution and are used in medical diagnostics. Lab-made versions, called nanozymes, are stronger and cheaper, which could expand their use in a variety of applications. Engineered living therapeutics Long-term medical care is expensive and often inconsistent in its results. Scientists, according to the WEF, are developing therapies that use beneficial bacteria to deliver treatments from within the body. This approach could lower costs and improve success rates. Osmotic power systems This renewable energy source, which uses the pressure difference that occurs when freshwater and saltwater mix, produces a cleaner form of electricity. That can be especially helpful in coastal areas where special care must be taken to protect both the environment and wildlife.
Category:
E-Commerce
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