5 Graving Challenges And Their Solutions To Retain Gen Z Subscribers

Within the last few decades, technology has swiftly evolved, and it has revolutionized the world in a way that millennials and Gen X feel they have covered the distance of a century. Today, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z share the same ecosystem. Slowly and gradually, most of them have become part of the subscription business ecosystem.

Most of them appreciate the subscription billing business model and connect with SaaS subscription software. However, the point of conflict is just that how fast different generations adapt to the changes in the continuously evolving subscription business market.

It is a challenge to cater to the needs of all subscribers belonging to different generations. In this article, we are going to shed light on the thought process of Gen Z, the challenges to onboard and retain Gen Z subscribers, and some ultimate solutions to beat these challenges. You can only devise a workable plan to retain Gen Z subscribers if you have no ambiguities about this age group.

Also Read: The Definitive Guide to Improving Customer Retention for Your Business

Who Is Generation Z?

Gen X is elder than Gen Y, popularly known as millennials, and they are elder than Gen Z. This is how you can explain a layman about the gap between these generations.

So, today’s market is the Gen Z market.

You, being a retailer in the subscription business market, must understand what makes Gen Z different from other age groups. It can help you bring subscribers of all generations on board, particularly, GenZers.

Gen Z is the new-century generation.
They have witnessed economic recession.
They have grown up seeing at least two other tech-manifested generations (Gen X and millennials).
They are used to speedy technological transformations and evolutions.
They are known for their digital gadgets addiction.

It is perceived that Gen is addicted to screens, obsessed with social media applications, and has a minimum attention span. You do not need to delve into the details of whether this is good or bad?

The point of the focus is the stereotypical behaviour of this generation that can become the cause of the following challenges to keep them on board even if you have the best subscription management and payment processing software:

Reaching Out to Gen Z

Conventional marketing was not as complicated as modern digital marketing. There are different trends and techniques when it comes to marketing SaaS subscription products in the digital arena. Even if your plan is good, reaching out to targeted Generation Z is not easy.

There was a time when puffery was helpful to sell products. For Gen Z, you need to think out of the box to reach customers beyond millennials and Gen X. Gen Z is not attracted to showy advertisements. Generation Z is far practical than others. They prefer the usability of the product rather than the brand name.

According to Harvard Business Review,

“most of the searches for SaaS products start with simple keywords rather than the specific brand name.”

Gen Z is the youngest but smartest as well. In short, they are smart and equipped with modern gadgets and knowledge. Developing a marketing strategy that is effective enough to break the wall that can hinder your entrance to their social network is a challenge.

Also Read: Customer Acquisition vs. Customer Retention—What are the Post-COVID Marketing Focuses and Trends to Grow Business in 2020-2021?

Customer Persuasion

Gen Z grew up with smartphones and many other gadgets that millennials and Gen X did not even know about when they were of the same age. Gen Z has many sources of knowledge and they proficiently use all these sources.

So, it is very difficult to convince them to subscribe to any services or products. Though they have a major role in the success of the subscription billing model, no one can befool them to subscribe to the SaaS services or products that they do not need.

Mobile Experience Optimization

As mentioned above, Gen Z is proficient at using mobile phones. Researches and studies show that most of the people from Gen Z own smartphones. Other than entertainment, they actively use this gadget for entrepreneurial activities.

Now that it is proven, Gen Z uses smartphones conveniently, retailers in the subscription business market need to keep optimizing the mobile phone experience at their SaaS services or products. There can be technical and financial limitations to optimize the mobile experience with time.

Competition in the Market

The subscription business market is filled with entrepreneurs, small, medium, and large companies. It can be said that the number of competitors in the market is directly proportional to the voluntary churn. Gen Z subscribers are well aware that they have alternatives in the marketing offering the same services.

If they experience anything that affects customer satisfaction, they cancel subscriptions right away. It is very difficult to bring that customer back who has cancelled his subscription.

Keeping Abreast of Changing Trends

Technology is changing and subscription business trends change with it. For example, when subscription billing was newly introduced in the subscription business market, there was no concept of changing the subscription plan. Even today, some SaaS companies offer just one subscription plan. However, many SaaS subscription software provides this opportunity to not only change the subscription plan but go for the customized one. So, you need to adapt to these changing trends which are not easy.

Also Read: The Leading Causes of Revenue Leakages—Learn How to Mitigate Disruption in Recurring Revenue Streaming

By now, you would have developed an interest in knowing the ways to bet all these challenges to retain your gen Z customer base. Following are the solutions to face the challenges to keep Gen Z customers:

Multiple Payment Methods

Online payments through credit cards are time taking in comparison to other payment methods. The customer is also required to enter his credit card information, and people are sometimes reluctant to share this information. Studies reveal that millennials are very comfortable using credit cards, however, it is the smart gadgets dependability that freaks the GenZers to go for mobile wallets.

Gen Z prefers paying through speedy payment methods. So, provide your customer with multiple payment methods, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Ali Pay, etc. is a great way to provide the ultimate cart and checkout experience.

Also Read: Credit Card VS. Digital Wallet – Which Payment Method Works Best For Recurring Billing Businesses?

Engaging Interactions

Social media platforms are the places where Gen Z socializes. And what makes social media so good for communication and socialization? Social media applications offer you to use stickers, emoticons, emojis, gifs, and a lot more ways to express your moods and thoughts.

When you are targeting to bring more people from Gen Z on board, you must offer them engaging and alternative interactions across social media. Each social media platform has its unique audience. Targetting them through the way they communicate is the best way to spread marketing, PR, and sales calls and messages for your SaaS and subscription business.

Incentives for Customers

Gen Z community is aware of all customer rights and they expect optimal customer experience every time they interact with your SaaS subscription software. So, you can offer certain incentives for your Gen Z customers. Generation Z is good at adapting to changes. They easily use modern gadgets and changing technology. You have the margin to experiment and offer incentivized versions and features of your products or services to retain Gen Z subscribers.

Also Read: Subscription Retention Begins With Customer Experience Elevation—Predictions and Actions for 2021

If you are worried because of voluntary and involuntary churn or if you are planning’s a strategy to keep Gen Z customers on board, then SubscriptionFlow is the platform that offers its free subscription management system as a freemium version. You can try it to experience the robustness in managing your Gen Z customers. You can also contact them to get the premium version and use the power of this platform to tie the knot with Gen Z customers that no one can untie.