Lifelong entrepreneur, multimillionaire, and host of the “Screw The Commute” podcast, Tom Antion, is joined by Emanuel Rose, a successful entrepreneur and marketing expert, in his last episode where they talk about fly-fishing, Gen Z, and marketing.
Emanuel & Gen Z
Emanuel comes from an orthodox fly fisherman family, with a passion for hunting and spending time in nature. He’s written a series of children’s books about nature and natural history, with key points about values and ethics.
Emanuel began writing them to give his grandson something to learn and connect with. They come with a pack of seeds so children can plant a tree after reading.
In the podcast episode, when talking about fly fishing, steelhead, and anadromous, Emanuel did a spot-on comparison to Gen Z.
Anadromous are born in fresh water and they live in there for a year or two, until they head out to the ocean, much like Gen Z, since they’re born in a reasonable environment and then they get thrown into another environment where they go wilding as far as they can, and then they make this enormous trip just to end up back at their parents house.
Gen Z is very different from Boomers and Millennials, and one of the easiest ways to see this is by taking a look at their social media accounts. Years ago, if you were to share a horizontally-filmed video with plenty of jump cuts, you were definitely going to be made fun of. Today, Gen Z is all about sharing short-form videos that give people a quick understanding of what it is about, using jump cuts of around 2-3 seconds per clip.
This showcases how times have changed and how it can be difficult for other generations to understand and sell to Gen Z, if they don’t have proper guidance.
The Story Behind Emanuel’s Successful Business
Before launching his successful business, Strategic eMarketing, a skilled marketing agency to help businesses succeed, Emanuel had a few bad job experiences, as we all had at some time in our lives.
The first one involved Emanuel building a multi-million dollar business unit for a company, which resulted in them reneging on paying the bonus he deserved.
Some time after that, Emanuel went to work for a friend at a big jewelry company and got lost in the morass of middle management. Then, he was told not to make changes for 90 days and got fired for not doing anything.
After various job horror experiences, Emanuel decided that he was not going to get sad about a job he didn’t like. Instead, he started to brainstorm his next successful business. He got clear about his interests and passions, which revolved around sales, marketing, and product development, and climbed his way up.
During this time, social media was just starting to get some attention, and a friend of Emanuel’s knew that someone was looking for a new agency. He quickly built out some materials and signed that first client.
Why People Struggle To Market Gen Z
After building his agency, Emanuel started to sign clients that were tired of paying people way too much money to just disappear and leave them with poor-quality results. Fast-forward 14 years, Emanuel’s business is one of the top agencies that still have those first clients signed.
This is not luck, but rather years of hard work and constantly educating themselves and their clients about the best marketing tools to target the right audience.
In the podcast episode, Emanuel explained why many people struggle to market to Gen Z. This generation is very caring and ethical, and they are always fighting for inclusivity and equality, which can come as a shock for other generations in certain topics.
Apart from this, Gen Z connects with businesses that are transparent, present, and doing things outside their market, such as collaborating with a social cause. With this in mind, Emanuel highlights the importance of the “social SEO”, which means the founder or head of the business needs to be in front of the camera as much as possible, in a friendly and inviting way, not just to sell something.
Sharing videos of your business behind the scenes, or with employees talking about their day-to-day activities has been shown to increase their online presence, as well as enhance the relationship with their audience.
This has to be done organically and with true feelings behind each post. Gen Z will notice if something is sketched or an employee was told to say certain things. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are two must-haves in your business and don’t forget to connect with them via liking their comments, responding to their messages, and more.
Read Authenticity: Marketing to Generation Z by Emanuel Rose and listen to his podcast episode if your company wants to market to Gen Z. By concentrating on authenticity, mobile marketing, and other vital trends, businesses can successfully engage with this important demographic and achieve success in their marketing initiatives.
About The Author
Emanuel Rose, an Authentic marketing expert, keynote speaker, and mentor, merges his passion for nature and the study of human consciousness, offering transformative experiences combining stillness, nature, and adventure.
His work includes children’s books promoting wilderness awareness and inspiring families to rediscover the healing and empowering power of the great outdoors. With a unique emphasis on fostering mental well-being and encouraging environmental stewardship, Rose invites us to join him on a journey of connection to God, self-discovery, and time in nature.
Books by Emanuel Rose
