Revealing Gen Z and Millennial purchasing preferences across social media platforms

24 Jan 2024 --- Traackr releases its 2023 US Influencer Marketing Impact Report offering data from 1,000 Gen Z and Millennial consumers about their social media usage, purchase behavior and perceived impact from influencers. 

The software company powers the influencer marketing programs for L’Oréal and Shiseido. 

L’Oréal Paris launches product campaigns that incorporate influencers and popular trends. In May 2023, the brand partnered with influencers Adam Waheed and Angela Chalet to create content and promote its men’s hair color products. 

The survey respondents said they were most likely to comment, like and share funny/humorous content. Product recommendations ranked second and advice/inspiration ranked third. 

What consumers want
The report cites that 71% of chief marketing officers in North America and Northern and Western Europe said they lack the budget to execute their strategy in 2023. Due to the high costs of traditional marketing and cost crises, companies are turning to the less expensive option of influencer marketing.

Brands such as ELF Cosmetics launched channels on the streaming platform Twitch in an effort to tie the brand to the gaming community through specialized products.

Gen Z ranks TikTok as its number one social media platform to give insight on influencer marketing.New live-stream platforms like Fanatics, which allows fans and collectors to participate in creator-run, live shopping experiences, continue to emerge.

The survey found that US consumers still prefer to use legacy platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) when posting content online.

All US consumers ranked Facebook as the number one platform when asked where they were most likely to purchase products. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest followed.

Gen Z was more likely to rank TikTok as number one when looking at responses by generation. Similarly, female-identifying consumers were more likely to rank TikTok as number one, while male-identifying consumers were more likely to pick YouTube.

The rankings changed slightly between Millennial and Gen Z consumers, but the platforms mentioned remained the same. Additionally, Snapchat was ranked the fifth most popular platform for Gen Z.

Forty-six percent of respondents said they are more likely to buy fashion products from influencer marketing, followed by beauty and personal care products, home goods, electronics, and food and beverage. 

These rankings changed slightly when indexed across the different generations and genders. Gen Z said they were more likely to buy beauty and personal care from influencer marketing over other categories.

By Sabine Waldeck