Influencers or Traditional Ads: What Persuades Gen Z Consumers Most?

Photo: Anthony Shkraba Production/Pexels

After years of hard work in various marketing roles, finally, you achieved your career goal—being promoted to CMO of a startup! During your first meeting in the role with the company’s demanding CEO, you are informed that your performance would mostly be measured by your ability to maximize the company’s marketing budget. 

Saddled with the pressure to get the absolute most bang for the company’s buck, you approach your very first marketing campaign with a burdensome decision; which medium should you distribute the lion share of your precious marketing budget towards?

Today, thousands of CMOs also face similar situations. And for those whose target customers consist primarily of Gen Zers, the decision of whether to invest the lion share of their startup’s marketing budget towards the now popular influencer marketing—or traditional advertising—is one that could either make—or break their business. 

The case for prioritizing influencer marketing 

Actor, rapper, and now product pitchman Ice-T recently posted on social media that some of the best advice he’s ever received was given to him by the late Quincy Jones who told him that If you wanna LOSE a fight, Fight the Future. 

It’s true, regardless of if we like the way certain things in the world are heading or not, if you want to ensure that you’ll lose a fight, all you gotta do is just pick the future as your opponent. 

With absolute certainty, I could say that companies banking on influencer marketing (which is a form of social media marketing that involves businesses collaborating with individuals who have large followings) being a fad that’ll soon go away—would be betting against the future. Which is a sure loss. 

On average, studies show that Gen Zers spend 3 hours per day on social media. And a great portion of that time is spent reading, engaging, and watching posts from their favorite social media influencers. 

The case for prioritizing traditional ads

Often referred to as ‘The Blueprint of Branding', Al and Laura Ries’, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, isn’t just your average marketing book; it’s more like the definitive branding manual. 

If you’re familiar with the book, then you’re already aware that the Law 4 of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the law of advertising. Which states that “Sooner or later a leader has to shift its branding strategy from publicity to advertising.” 

Simply put, the law states that no matter how popular a brand becomes, eventually, the brand will have to begin advertising its offerings.

Nonetheless, knowing that eventually, every successful brand must utilize traditional advertising at some point in order to project leadership, the question at hand is if traditional advertising is more likely to entice Gen Z consumers to make a purchase than influencers.

Let’s dive into the answer! 

The verdict 

There was once a time when whichever brands had the biggest advertising budgets—had an absolute unfair advantage in their respective industries. However, social media has totally shifted that narrative on its head. 

Before the prevalence of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and Spotify, the best marketing vehicle brands had to reach a younger audience was by airing television ads during their favorite television shows.

And while businesses still spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually in traditional ads in new media like social media, podcasts, and websites to create more awareness for their brands or products—studies show that Gen Zers still trust influencers more so than they do traditional advertisements. 

A survey by GoDaddy revealed that 57% of Gen Zers are more likely to buy something recommended by an influencer. While 49% of the demographic say they’re more likely to make a purchase based on an ad they’ve seen in their feed. 

This data confirms that when it comes to persuading Gen Z consumers to make a purchase—endorsements from the right influencers have nearly 10% more of an impact on enticing the demographic to make a purchase than traditional ads from a brand when posted on social media.  

So while advertising helps give brands authority; in the eyes of Gen Z consumers—influencers help give them more credibility.

Let’s discuss your brand’s marketing approach

Whether it’s influencer marketing or traditional ads, we’d love to hear which approach your startup is currently or considering utilizing. And if you’d like help identifying and partnering with the ideal influencers for your brand’s target audience, connect with us today via email and let’s get started on taking your brand to the next level!