The economy is looking even more dire, and there are lessons
performance marketers can take away

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Most financial planners would steer their client away from get-rich-quick investment approaches and instead advocate for “buy and hold” strategies. In most cases, the latter involves finding reliable workhorses of the stock market and then hanging onto them for years or even decades.

Generations Y and Z have a different idea about how they want to build their assets. From cryptocurrency and bitcoin to NFTs and other digital assets, younger investors are forgoing blue chip stocks that their parents and grandparents used and taking bolder, riskier moves with their money.

Some of the shifts can be traced to the rise of “neobanks,” or those fin-tech firms offering up apps, software and other technologies that help streamline mobile and online banking. According to Forbes Advisor, neobanks—which specialize in checking and savings accounts—tend to be nimbler and more “transparent than their megabank counterparts, even though many of them partner with such institutions to insure their financial products.”

“The advancement of digital banking and the rise of neobanks is creating a new paradigm of how younger millennials and Gen Z want to interact with their finances and investments,” Nasdaq has pointed out, adding that the adoption rates for neobanking are high in the U.S.—a trend that’s supported the expansion of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, digital wallets and digital real estate.

“With digital-only finances and tools, the realm of possibilities for investing extends beyond the physical,” Nasdaq also stated. It went on to say that mainstream consumer brands are also shifting brand equity into the digital world; Walmart is launching cryptocurrency and NFTs and Nike is creating shoe NFTs for the metaverse. “Other brands have rushed to claim space in the metaverse, even while the future of the metaverse remains unclear.”

They’re already digital-savvy

Credit the digital-savvy Gen Z and the younger end of the millennial generations with driving higher interest in electronic-based investment options. Already used to communicating on social, learning remotely and basing important decisions on virtual peer reviews, these consumers gravitate toward options that older generations didn’t have when they were in their 20s and 30s.

Take NFTs, for example. Used to indicate ownership or usage right of a unique asset—typically art, music or a video game item—”these tokens are built and managed on a blockchain, the same digital ledger technology system utilized by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” as explained by The Motley Fool. Younger investors have taken to NFTs like a moth to a flame, so to speak.

According to YPulse, 13% of people aged 13 to 39 have purchased NFTs and 28% have bought cryptocurrencies, the latter of which further proves the Gen Z and millennial thirst for alternate, digital investment options. This research “found that between crypto, NFTs and digital land, more young people have made digital asset investments than have invested in stocks.”

“We also found that overall, young people don’t believe that they can build wealth the same way that previous generations did,” YPulse added, “making new avenues to making money more attractive to them.”

Time to sharpen your pencils

Right now, performance marketers should be watching the trends, sharpening their pencils and coming up with new ways to attract, serve and retain these digital-centric generations of consumers. Accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option is one method to lean into this trend. There’s a massive digital opportunity for fin tech, banks, financial companies and other brands that can meet consumers where they are right now. It also opens up the opportunity for even more brands or influencers to be able to play in this space and leverage their hip and cool business approaches.

From exclusive branding opportunities to VIP offerings to specialized experiences, younger generations of consumers want it all. And while the boundaries may be down for marketers right now, the environment is evolving quickly, and companies are catching on. Keeping up and staying out in front of the digital metaverse requires effort, energy and resources, but the payoff can be significant for marketers that jump into the emerging space now.