• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, January 20, 2020

It’s official: Generation Z women are now entering motherhood.  This may shock some marketing professionals who are still perplexed over the behaviors of the Millennial Mom, and this is certainly not intended to make anyone feel old.  

The reality is that generations span 20 years — and yes, we’ve been discussing Millennials for two decades. Generation Z spans births from 1996 to 2010, making the oldest women 24 years old. This is just two years short of 26, the average age for first-time mothers in the United States. 

It’s time to speak to Gen Z moms, who are buying everything from cribs to bibs, and much more. 

To provide you with a jumpstart in understanding your new mom consumer, I’ve put together key characteristics that are likely to create trends, product changes and affect your marketing plans.

-- Thrifting is a desirable form of shopping for the Gen Z woman.  She enjoys repurposing and upcycling gently used items. Beech-Nut is right on target to connect with Gen Z Moms with its Pinterest ideas for turning empty baby food jars into succulent planters, for example.

-- Scents are as appealing as the color, shape and form of a product.  Raised on the smell of three-wick candles and essential oils, these moms find their noses will help select products.

-- “Harry Potter” filled their childhood, and their love for crystals and elements of a mystical world will influence home décor, apparel, and likely the nursery.

-- The Gen Z Mom is a super-multitasker.   As a technology native, she’s not afraid of using applications, artificial intelligence and social friends for help getting things done. 

-- Serving home-cooked meals doesn’t mean hours in the kitchen for a Gen Z Mom.  She’s okay with dudes — delivery dudes, that is — bringing dinner to her door. She finds no shame in the “store-bought and home-plated” approach to entertaining. Whole Foods and Wegmans are likely to see an increase in Gen Z traffic to their hot food bars with this new generation of mothers.

-- She used filters to create content as a teenager, now she applies filters to the marketing messages she sees online as she scrolls through social media. Marketers have eight seconds or less to grab her attention before she swipes away. 

The good news for brands is that the oldest Gen Z Moms will adopt the behaviors of the youngest Millennial Moms. However, it is a mistake to believe that Gen Z moms are simply young millennials.  Every generation is shaped by technology, historical events, and social issues, and Gen Z women will soon be challenging marketers in their own way for the next 20 years.