The Real Dill (How to Get Gen Z On Water)

by Bobby Heckel

There is one question on every dealer or manufacturer mind. How can my dealership or boating manufacturer include the next generation? Generation Z’s shopping habits are different. The average generation Z shopper has been known to spend money on luxury clothes, luxury make up,high-quality home goods and their pets. (USA today 2023). As a matter of fact, according to the same study, generation Z is both splurging and saving more than any generation this year as of 2023. With these positive figures in mind, the question of How we can get generation Z involved in the boating world comes to mind?

There is a solution and that solution involves social media. Social media plays a monumental role in generation Z consumer habits currently, 60% of generation Z uses Instagram to discover new brands, products and services and 48% of Americans whose age ranges from 18 and 34 have purchased from a social media platform(voyado 2023), That is why it is our responsibility as marine retailers to treat social media with respect.  Within the last week three major brands in the pontoon boating world only posted three times each on their Facebook page. The current share of Facebook users states that over 60% of all Facebook accounts are between the ages of 18 and 44.

 The ability to promote one’s brand, including events through apps like Facebook are huge. (Statisa 2023) According to Facebook, over 700 million people use Facebook events each month to market their event (Facebook 2023). To get generation Z to participate in boating, marine dealerships and retail manufacturers must update with the times. This can be done through daily postings. Daily postings can grow followers up to four times faster versus posting less than once a week according to Brayden Cohen, (Hootsuite 2023). 

TikTok has been all over the news for the past two years but that has not stopped Generation Z participation on the app. Over 60% of TikTok users range between the ages of 24 to 49 (Howarth 2023) with the largest growing demographic coming from the 55 years old above range( hootsuite2023). Social commerce has increased substantially on TikTok as well. According to the latest studies TikTok will have 33.3 million US social media buyers this year. The two powerhouse social media engines TikTok and Facebook both have 37% of their users, making a purchase on their platforms( insider intelligence, 2023). Posting on Tik Tok can help develop new customers throughout all generations.

This generation that I am lucky to be a part of values both luxury events, their pets, and lack of commitment. To obtain their commitment, you the dealer or you the manufacturer must be committed to social media. Some strategies that shows commitment to the younger generation would be posting every day to all platforms. Do events based around their pets, in order to create a new modern family environment and market your events weeks before they happen on all social media platforms. This in turn will make sure there is a good turnout to sell boats. If your dealership is trying to sell on Facebook marketplace, make sure your photos are spotless, the  dimensions of the boats are included, as well as using the right keywords (influenceMarketing hub 2022). These strategies will help your retail dealership or manufacturer gain ground in the battle for generation Z.