Social media has become a lifeline for Gen Z, So which platforms are their favorites now?
Instagram
Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app. People can upload photos or videos to our service and share them with their followers or with a select group of friends. They can also view, comment and like posts shared by their friends on Instagram. Anyone 13 and older can create an account by registering an email address and selecting a username.
YouTube
YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. On average, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so there's always something new to watch! And you'll find all kinds of videos on YouTube—adorable cats, quirky cooking demos, funny science lessons, quick fashion tips, and a whole lot more.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos, videos, text, and drawings. One of the core concepts of the app is that any picture or video or message you send is made available to the receiver for only a short time before it becomes inaccessible. This temporary, or ephemeral, nature of the app was originally designed to encourage a more natural flow of interaction.
TikTok
TikTok is a social video sharing app. Users can shoot, edit, and share 15 second videos jazzed up with filters, music, animation, special effects, and more. Like its fellow social media apps, users can also follow, like, and comment on everything they see. TikTok can be used on iOS and Android operating systems. To put it plain and simple, TikTok is here to make social media fun again.
Memes
What is a Meme?
Memes are a worldwide social phenomenon, and an increasingly important aspect of viral marketing and social engagement. Memes often relate to existing cultures or subcultures. Often, memes spread rapidly through social media, email, and forum boards.
Where does the word Meme come from?
The term meme was coined by Richard Dawkins, a biologist. Dawkins believed that cultural ideas are like genes. He thought that our concepts as a society spread from brain to brain, multiplying and mutating as they went. The resulting trends were his definition of a meme.
Most modern memes are cultural inside jokes. They are a way of connecting with people across the internet through unique photos that become instantly recognizable. Memes collect emotions, ideas and actions into an easy to translate format. Memes are ideal for the digital age.
Benefit of Memes
Though memes are popular in the consumer world, they are also powerful for companies too. Companies use memes to:
- Share information in a fun and memorable format.
- Humanize your brand through a demonstration of personality.
- Showcase complicated concepts like company culture uniquely.
- Obtain higher engagement with their audience.
Why marketers are using Memes
Most internet users spend around 100 minutes a day on social media. Most of our conversations today are informed by the jokes and references made online. Whether it is a picture from a social influencer or a video from a brand, memes are affecting the language that customers speak online. This means that brands need to learn how to translate their advertising for this new world.
Memes elicit better reactions from audiences because they are tailored for social media. People naturally share memes as part of their online experience, so they are a great way to improve engagement.
How to use Memes
Like any other social marketing plan, posting memes must be a measured and audience-specific process. Remember to:
- Target your customers: Know your audiences sense of humor before you begin posting. Humor has a very wide spectrum and poor planning could cause offense.
- Create branded memes: Rather than copying and pasting memes, organizations often see better results when they create their pictures and videos. Just make sure you understand the context of the picture or video you are using.
- Do not force it: If memes look forced or out of place, they will damage your reputation. Make sure that your use of memes seems natural.
- Do not overuse memes: Memes are best used sparingly and in the right circumstances. Too many memes on your timeline will make your clients question your professionalism.
GenZ Fashion
Understanding Sustainable Fashion
Fashion brings many of us joy. We all know that what we wear on the outside can change how we feel on the inside, giving us that extra confident bounce in our step. But the downside of clothes? They’re not always sustainable.
Globally, the apparel market, excluding footwear and accessories, is worth $1.34 trillion a year. The fashion retail sector alone is bigger than the Russian economy. Unsurprisingly, an industry that size has significant environmental drawbacks. In 2018, the fashion sector emitted 2.1 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
But, as consumers, we don’t have to buy into brands that harm the planet. We can still shop for new clothes, but we can change the brands we choose to buy from. By going for sustainable, ethical, and responsible fashion brands, we can help to build a better fashion industry.
What is Sustainable Fashion?
Sustainable fashion leaves minimal impact on the environment. Dr. Anna Brismar, the founder of sustainability-focused consultancy firm Green Strategy, explains: “Sustainable fashion can be defined as clothing, shoes, and accessories that are manufactured, marketed and used in the most sustainable manner possible, taking into account both environmental and socio-economic aspects.”
To be considered sustainable, brands must work to improve every single aspect of a product’s life cycle. They must use sustainable raw materials, store and transport clothing responsibly, and do their best to ensure that items can be repaired and recycled.
“The aim should be to minimize any undesirable environmental effect of the product’s life cycle,” Brismar continues. Brands should use natural resources—like water, land, and soil—efficiently and carefully and utilize renewable energy sources. Brands should also consider the human impact of fashion; working conditions on the field, in factories, in transportation, and in stores should all be as ethical and as fair as possible.
Why Is Sustainable Fashion Important?
Sustainable fashion is more important than ever. If the fashion industry carries on as it is, according to Greenpeace, the total clothing carbon footprint will reach 3,978 megatonnes by 2050. To put that in perspective, that’s nearly double India’s carbon emissions for 2018.
But greenhouse gas emissions are only one part of the problem. The fashion industry places a strain on many of the earth’s resources, including water and land. Producing just one kilogram of cotton takes 20 thousand liters of water, for example. In the Amazon rainforest, cattle ranchers clear the land with fire, not just for beef production, but for leather production too.
The United Nations says that if we are to save the planet, the fashion industry has to change. Patricia Espinosa, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, said in a statement in 2018: “To turn things around, we must make a choice: we can keep on with business as usual and hope to survive the consequences … or take a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror and admit that we need a drastic and dramatic change.”
