Risk Services of Arkansas - January 2019

A Vital Force in the Younger Generation of Account Managers

Have you started marketing to Generation Z yet? You should be. The oldest members of this generation — usually defined as people born during the mid- 1990s to early 2000s — are starting to enter the workforce. By 2020, around 40 percent of consumer buying power will come fromGen Z. Companies need to think about how to reach them— preferably without making the same mistakes they made when marketing to millennials. Gen Z grew up in an internet-focused world, but that doesn’t mean you can reach them through Facebook or email. Younger social media users gravitate to video-based platforms like YouTube or TikTok. On these apps, content feels more “real” because it is made by users for users. This preference shapes their buying habits. A survey from Business Insider found that only 49 percent of Gen Zers shop online once a month, a steep decline from the 74 percent of millennials who regularly make online purchases. Fifty-eight percent of the Gen Zers surveyed said they preferred brick-and-mortar shopping because they “wanted to see and feel the product.” There have been countless embarrassing attempts to get “on the level” with millennials, from a pizza company misunderstanding a trending hashtag about domestic violence to a presidential campaign asking people to use emojis to describe how they feel about student loan debt. These disasters produced major backlash because they were inappropriate, condescending, and insincere. Stay true to your brand persona and think twice before you approve an ad that riffs on a popular meme or claims your product is a “big mood.” Many of the mistakes companies made when marketing to millennials came from trying to market to “Millennials” — in other words, they relied on stereotypes to plan campaigns. Don’t make the same mistake with the 61 million Gen Zers about to enter the workforce. As president and founder of Red Fan Communications, Kathleen Lucente, puts it, “It’s more about understanding a set of behaviors, communication preferences, spending habits, brand affinities, and loyalties. Using terms like ‘millennial’ or ‘Gen Z’ might be easy, but they shouldn’t be applied to marketing when there are myriad other ways to understand behavior.” Marketers need to up their game when it comes to reaching this next generation — a generation who spent years watching companies clumsily attempt to connect with their millennial parents or siblings. Gen Z can spot insincere or manipulative marketing a mile away. Market to Gen Z Without Repeating Past Mistakes LearnWhere Your Audience Is At, andWhy Don’t Be ‘Hip’ RememberThat ‘Gen Z’ Isn’t a Demographic

Many of our team members at Risk Services/Insurica have been in the business for decades, while others are just beginning to help our clients secure their futures for the long haul. But while our assistant account manager, Aubrey Simpkins, may be relatively “new” at only 7 years with the company, what she lacks in years of experience she makes up for in passion, attention to detail, and a genuine interest in safeguarding the well-being of her clients. “What I do is all about helping people,” she says. “Basically, it comes down to protecting their jobs, protecting their livelihoods.” She knows that when running a business, you run a lot of risk. With that in mind, she says, “It’s my job to help them not worry about anything extra.” Aubrey started at Risk Services/Insurica as a receptionist, chatting with clients and making sure they were connected with whoever could best serve their needs. But she soon began to gain an interest in the larger workings of the industry and wanted to get her insurance license. After about two years, she became an account service specialist and hasn’t looked back since. “I think my experience at the front desk helped me to better understand the needs of the people we serve,” she says. “By now, many of our clients and I are on a first-name basis.” When coupled with the mentorship of some of our seasoned experts on staff, she’s become an invaluable resource to our company and the many folks she works with every day. Outside of the office, Aubrey is an avid reader, especially of the science fiction and fantasy genres. Though she’s busy, she tries to get out and travel as often as she can. Recently, she just returned from Chicago, and though she loved her time there, she jokes that she “wouldn’t have survived the cold.” At any rate, we’re glad she’s stuck with us and continued to grow her skills. As a member of the new guard of account managers, she’s part of a promising future for our company. We can’t wait to see all the great things she accomplishes in the coming years.

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