Gen Z on TikTok in America

Why Gen Z started using TikTok instead of Google. Opportunities for marketing in the U.S. market

Recently there has been an increasingly common habit among the Gen Z in America. We are talking about the tendency to use platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to search for things to do, find restaurants and places to try, choose which products to buy, and browse the news. Data collected by Google analysts speak for themselves: 40% of U.S. Gen Z consumers don't go to Google Maps or Search, but instead open TikTok or Instagram. In essence, social media in the U.S. have become search engines.

On TikTok, Gen Z are looking for generic suggestions and rely on the individual algorithm to receive specific recommendations. If they find a product or service in the U.S. that they want to try, they can save the content in a folder and review it when they are almost ready to buy.

What industries can best leverage their social media presence to market and sell to Gen Z in the U.S.?

America's Gen Z is fed up with Google's algorithm and has found better search engines to make purchasing decisions. Let's see how things have changed for two sectors of the U.S. market:

• Food sector: recipe blogs and traditional e-commerce have lost their effectiveness and, even if applying a good SEO strategy today, it would be imprudent to base the success of your business in the US on these alone. Instead, translating this content into a format suitable for social media allows you to capture the attention of the American user by prompting them to complete the purchase on the app, as it is now possible to sell on TikTok in the US.
• Restaurant industry: it is easy to entice a user to try a restaurant on TikTok, and when a piece of content appears on someone's feed it is very likely to be something they will like. In addition, TikTok is more credible than Google, which has often been unable to tell whether restaurants are still open or have ceased operations since the pandemic began.

Basically, this is content created by companies, or sponsored content for specific products on influencer and creator profiles, which will in turn be commented on, saved and shared by American consumers. There are similar opportunities for plenty of sectors in the U.S. market such as food, dining, hospitality and fashion.

Selling in the USA

TikTok's search engine offers a huge opportunity for Italian companies in the U.S. to become relevant in the U.S. market

In 2021, Google held a 92.5% market share in online search. Today, however, Internet users have different expectations of search engines. The growing popularity of TikTok among younger audiences could provide an easier route to the U.S. market, because the visual engagement generated by the platform's content fits perfectly with the tastes and preferences of the new generation of American consumers. Of course, it is too early to say whether TikTok has dethroned Google in the United States or not. What is certain is that TikTok's features will help and benefit many businesses active in the U.S. market.