How to Get Customer Feedback from Gens Y & Z

There’s been a lot of research into the shopping habits of Gen Z and Millennials (also known as Gen Y) recently. These two generations have their differences, but they’re actually united in ways that could affect how you work and get customer feedback.

Finding ways to take both Gen Z and Gen Y seriously as customers and really listen to their feedback can only help you to positively shape your products.

So how can you go about connecting with customers aged 18-42? Here are a few tips.

1. Social media is key

Both generations use multiple platforms, but they use different ones more and/or in different ways. For example, you are more likely to see Gen Y on Facebook than Gen Z. Gen Z still may have a profile on Facebook, but they are more likely to be spending time on TikTok, Snapchat, or Instagram, as many teens think Facebook is for “old people”.

Both generations use Twitter more for news, Instagram for inspiration, and Snapchat for sharing real-life moments. It’s also important to consider the social media habits of Gen Z and Millennials when crafting ads for the different platforms. For example, while TikTok might be a great place to reach Gen Z, Facebook ads might have more success with Millennials.

2. Offer a place for reviews

Both Gen Y and Gen Z depend on reviews and ratings before making purchases, so be sure to encourage reviews. It’s also a good idea to respond to negative reviews and to address the concerns the reviewer had.

For example, if a customer complains about a shipment from an eCommerce site taking too long to get to them, make sure you apologize, and ask them if there is anything you can do to help them with future orders. Other people reading the reviews will see that you took the time not only to respond but also to make the situation right.

The best way to attract more positive reviews is to develop great products, of course, but also to manage expectations. You want to make sure they know exactly how long shipping is going to take, for example, if you are shipping a product to them.

Focusing on creating a positive experience for the customer is the best thing you can do to ensure a positive review. When your main goal is to have a happy customer, you’ll be more likely to create repeat customers.

3. Ask them meaningful questions

Sometimes the best way to get feedback is to simply ask for it. Reach out to your customers and ask them for the feedback you want to receive. Survey your audience – with well-crafted questions – and find ways to keep your survey research fresh.

The best way to reach Gen Z or Gen Y is through social media. They are much more likely to answer a question on an Instagram post than to respond to a question in an email. Emails from brands typically end up in promotional folders and don’t always get opened, particularly not by Gen Y and definitely not by Gen Z.

Stay away from “yes” or “no” questions. Rather, ask open-ended questions that invite the customer to tell their story and share their experience.

You also want to ask questions that will make sense to them and tease out their differences. Consider the differing behaviors, though-processes, and semantic styles of, e.g., an 18-year-old and a 40-year-old) and craft catered survey approaches and instruments accordingly. Then, make sure to study how these generations’ opinions differ.

4. Optimize the mobile survey experience

Your survey must be optimized for mobile, as access for Gen Y and Gen Z customers will largely be through mobile devices. For many in these generations, mobile devices become an extension of themselves that they interact with throughout the day. Short message service (SMS) campaigns can also be effective, as long as you follow current standards and guidelines (e.g., offering opt-out options).

5. Keep track of your customers

You already have customers, and many of them are likely Gen Y or Gen Z. Make sure you are taking a look at the customers you already have. You may want to explore using different tools that will help with this.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems for eCommerce can help you keep track of customer data from site activity and feedback from multiple sources. This can help you strategize how to meet different demographics that make up your audience, and market to them effectively.

You can keep track of metrics like conversion rates, email subscription opt-ins, customer click-through rates, and which pieces of content, products, and services are performing the best to help you determine what kind of content, products, and services you should be producing in the future. A CRM system will help you to plan the ideal customer journey.

Translating customer feedback into insightful data

Once you have customer feedback, the next step is to turn that feedback into usable data. Then, you want to use the data to make decisions about your business.

Sometimes when business leaders are faced with a large amount of data, they can face data analysis paralysis and feel so overwhelmed that they don’t know where to start. You can avoid this by finding one area to focus on before you analyze any data.

Gen Y and Gen Z customers can seem like broad categories that cover a lot of people, but as you will start to see with the more customer feedback you get, there are more similarities than you think.