Tech

Brace yourself: here come the Gen Z cord cutters

The following proverb – may you live in interesting times – means a lot if you’re working in the broadcasting industry right now. In part due to new technological innovations, but also because of the generation shift currently taking place.

As Millennials get that bit older, their place as the new generation on the block is slowly being taken by Generation Z and their hard-shell habits.

The facts

Whatever you decide to call them – be it Gen Z, Generation Z, Post Millennials – they are on the rise. Here, I’m going to settle on Gen Z, the generational cohort that will hit more than 2.5 billion of the global population by 2020^[1]. That’s nearly 25% of the American population. Even today, they are second biggest generation in the United States^[2].

What defines the Gen Z?

Gen Z refers to people born in the late 90s – people who grew up with a mobile or smartphone in their hands, literally.

Learn more: A simple guide to targeting generation Z with videos

Gen Z spends at least one hour a day online, with almost half of them being connected for more than 10 hours every day! To make this even more complicated, they’re using many different devices, sometimes simultaneously. For many people who remember their parents telling them not to stare at the TV for too long, the stats will highlight just how different Gen Z really are.

Cord cutting

A characteristic that truly defines Gen Z is cord cutting. This generation get their content kicks from wi-fi enabled, standalone devices – often the smartphone – with the most popular platforms being YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. It’s no coincidence that these popular platforms are also the most popular ones for watching videos. That’s because [bctt tweet=”Gen Z loves video!” username=”TellyoTV”]But, unlike Millennials and Generation X, they consume it mostly via the web, their native environment.

It’s not that Gen Z aren’t watching TV at all. They do, primarily because many are still living at home where their parents watch television and the TV in the living room is often a standard satellite or a cable one. A family home is also more likely to have a combined cable/internet package deal, so families are not forced to choose between just the internet or the hundreds of traditional TV channels.

Even so, Gen Z do consume entertainment in a slightly different way. Gen Z teens spend more time watching Netflix and YouTube (combined 59%) than watch traditional TV (29%)^[3]. And, as Gen Z grows in size, cable TVs look to be in slow decline with the process seemingly unstoppable.

For now, most Gen Z teens are still living with parents. But soon they will start their own families and buy their first homes. At which point – Will they buy TV sets? Are they going to sign up for cable TV? Or will their behaviour be further shaped by watching music videos on YouTube, chilling with Netflix and checking the weather on a smartwatch’s screen? There are no easy answers.

Winds of change…

Just to be clear – cord cutting is not a myth, nor is it a monster that eats traditional televisions for breakfast!

It is a generational shift, influenced by many things such as technological advances, the prevalence of social media and changes in behaviour. However, it does seem that the process of cord cutting is irreversible. Something that broadcasters needn’t be afraid of, as many opportunities await.

^{[1]Gen Z Report 2016 by Fung Global Retail Tech August 29}

^{[2]http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/pages/macroeconomic-insights-folder/what-if-i-told-you/report.pdf}

^{[3]http://trifectaresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Generation-Z-Sample-Trifecta-Research-Deliverable.pdf}

What indicates success? The social video KPIs that count

Ok, so you’ve broadcasted another video to Facebook… Surely you gained some likes, comments and shares. But is that all you should expect? What really indicates success?

To help you measure outcomes, here are the indicators you should take into account. Let’s take a closer look.

Views

These are a very informative but basic indicator. Views are the most popular way to measure the success of video content and every social platform will provide this information. But views don’t tell the whole story. They’re more like the first chapter – a small glimpse at how your video is performing. So, [bctt tweet=”when choosing KPIs for your video strategy, don’t just stop at views.” username=”TellyoTV”]

Subscribers or Followers

The name of this indicator can vary from platform to platform. However, it’s one of the most vital ratios, with the number of people following your social channels hugely impacting other KPIs. When creating a video or broadcasting strategy, you should include fan, follower or subscriber growth, and ratios to other KPIs such as views.

Learn how to incorporate sponsorship into your real-time social videos

To increase subscribers, for example, remember to use call to actions (‘Subscribe to our channel!’), or subscribe buttons within a video and a link within its description.

Drop off rate

This indicates how many people watched your video and dropped off after 5, 10 or 30 seconds. It’s absolutely natural for this KPI to drop initially during some of your first attempts at video, but there are many practical things you can do to decrease drop off rates.

To do so, you might shorten video intros and cut the length in general to condense your message.

Watch your video one more time before publishing. Ask yourself: Does it need shortening? Does it get to the point quickly enough? Where’s the beef?

Conversion rate

This indicates how efficient your content is, but it’s rarely linked with video marketing or broadcasting in general. Whether you decide to include in your KPIs will depend on your goals. For example, if you wish to increase the number of subscriptions to your video service, and video is your main content, you may want to include this KPI in your quarterly or yearly marketing strategy.

You can convert viewers into subscribers, or even new customers, in many ways:

• Include call to action buttons in your videos. Play with the copy and design to test what works best for you.
• Remember to add call to actions and links with your video descriptions too.
• Use specially created email addresses and phone numbers to measure the direct impact of your videos on business enquiries.

It’s up to you!

No matter what set of KPIs you decide to measure, always give yourself time.

Collect the data over a reasonable period, which will enable you to see the whole picture and insightful patterns.

If you’re already using Tellyo – check out our Analytics section to see insights related to your content. Using our platform you also have access to other features, all of which are designed to make your content better and more attractive to viewers… so helping to boost your KPIs.