We’ve got some new kids on the block! The oldest Gen-Zers are nearing 30, which means they’ve entered the professional world and are attending trade shows, conferences, and other events. While millennials and Gen X still make up most of your event attendance, Gen Z is quickly joining the ranks—they currently comprise 27% of the global population.
What worked for one generation won’t necessarily work for another. You need to understand the values, goals, habits, and pain points of Gen Z if you want them to be engaged with your event experiences. Fortunately, we’ve done the hard work for you! Read our guide to event planning for Gen Z to get the inside scoop on the youngest attendees.
Understand your audience.
Gen Z is unique in the history of event attendees. They’re the first generation to grow up with the Internet, and social media and digital platforms run in their veins. This impacts their value system and what they seek in an event experience. Understanding their values enables you to craft meaningful experiences that speak to them.
Gen Z values
- Tech-supported efficiency
- Sustainability
- Diversity
- Work-life balance
- Creative business strategies
- Communication & connection
- Unique & shareable experiences
Gen Z attendees are not only comfortable in digital spaces, but they’ve come to expect them in everyday experiences. Digital-first event planning is essential for engaging them in the experience. While this has led many to characterize Gen Z as being lazy with no attention span, the truth is that they can focus intensely on subjects they find interesting or meaningful.
Speaking of those laziness rumors, Gen Z has embraced unconventional business ventures more than any previous generation. They’re used to making money through side hustles and online businesses, like digital shops selling vintage clothes. Design your event content to speak to this creative entrepreneurial streak in Gen Z.
Diversity and sustainability are essential values for Gen Z, the most diverse generation ever. They also grew up seeing the impact of the climate crisis, instilling a passion for eco-friendly alternatives. As a result of growing up in the digital age, Gen Z values meaningful connections, making human-centric event planning a core strategy for engaging them.
Create digital-first events.
A Gen Z-friendly event must feature digital and tech elements to cut through the noise. This includes social media elements like hashtags or “social media” walls and event technology that elevates traditional aspects of the event experience. An example is iPads and touch-screen kiosks that make educational or product material more engaging.
3-D printing is a fun option for displaying products to Gen Z attendees. This popular new technology is all over TikTok, used to create everything from prosthetics to multi-colored dinosaur figurines. Incorporate 3-D printing to liven up product demonstrations or provide customizable swag they can’t get anywhere else.
Virtual and augmented reality are transforming the landscape of hybrid events. These event tech trends allow attendees to explore virtual worlds where product demonstrations come to life! They can even attend keynotes held within a digital world, elevating the potential of virtual events to engage Gen Z attendees who are all too familiar with Zoom.
Other exciting possibilities include video walls and LED panels that bring decor to life with moving imagery that engages guests who’ve grown up in a world with drone displays instead of fireworks. If you want to make an impression on Gen Z, you’ll have to step into the future and embrace the possibilities of emerging technology.
Incorporate social initiatives.
It isn’t enough for your event to just benefit attendees. You’ll have to incorporate social initiatives into your event planning to capture Gen Z’s attention. This is because Gen Z, due to their unprecedented exposure to global challenges through social media, deeply values companies that contribute to improving the world.
Sustainable event planning should be your default. Gen Z not only cares about environmental causes, but they’re also savvy researchers who will find out if your event is actually sustainable or just posing—so no cheating! Find creative ways to reduce waste, incorporate green energy,
improve travel efficiency, and include keynotes and sessions that educate attendees on green initiatives in their industry. If you help Gen Z live their eco-friendly values more effectively, you’ll foster organic brand loyalty.
Break up your agenda with give-back opportunities that allow Gen Z attendees to contribute to the local community’s well-being. This approach connects with their value for connection and community and reassures them that you’re committed to more than just the speaker lineup but also to making a genuine impact.
Authenticity is important to Gen Z, so whatever social initiatives you pursue, it’s best to find and prioritize those that align naturally with your brand values and industry. Don’t pick a cause just because it’s topical. Stick to what matters to you. Gen Z will recognize your authenticity and feel a deeper connection to your brand.
Marketing for the new generation.
While everyone else grew up enjoying the Doritos commercials during the Superbowl, Gen Z has been bombarded with advertisements across digital spaces. As a result, they’re highly sensitive to advertisements angling and can spot inauthenticity from a mile away, which makes marketing to them uniquely challenging. The key to winning their engagement is prioritizing authenticity and community in your event marketing.
Authenticity
Genuinely expressing the benefits, values and behind-the-scenes journey of your event experience will intrigue Gen Z guests. They’re too used to contrived ads whose only purpose is to make sales to be tricked by them. Design event marketing to make a sincere, emotional connection based on mutual values and interests.
Community
Social media allows event planners to use their marketing to foster a rich community of like-minded individuals. Design posts to be interactive and to fuel conversations between attendees about related topics. This effort shouldn’t end after the event but should continue afterward to solidify brand loyalty.
Think of community building as the long game and authenticity as the guiding light that leads it. From here, you can create all kinds of creative event marketing content to engage, intrigue, charm, delight and win over Gen Z attendees.
Gen Z-friendly content
- Behind-the-scenes or how-to posts
- Personal success/failure stories
- Industry insights or advice
- Topical polls
- Speaker or entertainment highlights
Interactivity is massive with Gen Z. Invite them to create content and then share the best ones to make them feel like they are a part of the event from the start! Memes are a part of Gen Z’s digital language, so meme marketing will add a layer of humor to your event marketing that also connects with their needs, interests and experiences.
Native social media content is an essential part of mastering authenticity. This refers to posting content that is natural (or “native”) to that platform, like photos and videos for Instagram or text for X (or Threads because X is dying). Stay up on trends and the ever-evolving platforms to communicate naturally with social media-savvy Gen Z.
Design share-worthy events.
We live in a time when exciting, unique, share-worthy events are more accessible than ever. To attract Gen Z attendees, you must create exceptional experiences that stand out from the colorful crowd. You can leverage attendee data to create personalized events they can’t find anywhere else, but there are other strategies, too!
Cater to Gen Z’s value for self-expression by incorporating hands-on workshops, interactive installations, and opportunities for content creation. Photo backdrops and marquee letters allow attendees to capture that perfect shot. A photo booth offers them a unique “content creation” method they can share with their peers.
Schedule unique live entertainment options like live painting, performance art or an emerging musician they may have seen on TikTok. While Gen X might enjoy those cover bands, Gen Z will want to see their peers up on stage and hear the music they connect to.
Thanks to influencers and travel bloggers, Gen Z has a passion for travel. Plan a destination event to entice Gen Z guests who want to live their globe-trotting influencer dreams. Inviting influencers to attend your event or host activities will attract Gen Z attendees who wish to connect with their favorite internet personalities.
Event planning for the new kids on the block.
They may seem intimidating, but Gen Z is the same as any other attendee base. All you have to do is learn what makes them tick—their values, needs, interests and goals. Once you understand them, you’ll be able to craft unique and compelling experiences that they’ll remember for years to come.
It’s easier to stick to what’s worked in the past, but time rolls on, and eventually, a new generation will dominate the event space. Get ahead of the curve by educating yourself on Gen Z and why they attend events. Before you know it, you’ll have a new crowd of loyal and satisfied attendees who enrich your community with their perspectives, talents, and values.
And remember, eventually, Gen Z won’t be the new kids on the block anymore—but we have a little while before we need to worry about Gen Alpha!
