Copy That Hits: How to Speak Gen Z's Language

The world of social media is ever-changing. New trends pop up seemingly every day, and with that, the culture of social media and online interactions constantly fluctuates. A large demographic that contributes heavily to this is Generation Z, a group made up of individuals born roughly between the late ‘90s and 2012.

According to a 2024 article published by Forbes discussing Gen Z’s social media habits, platforms like Instagram are quickly replacing search engines like Google and becoming their first choice in searching. This begs the question: How can you tailor your copy to appeal to Gen Z and cut through the noise to reach them on social media?  

Over the past several months, Social Kapture has completely restructured its approach to student housing. After a few quarters of running digital advertisements tailored to students seeking off-campus apartments all across the United States, there has been a significant increase in engagement with these ads. A few aspects allowed for this success — here is a breakdown of them. 

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Three Defining Interests of Gen Z Social Media Users and How to Utilize Them

Gen Z Lingo

It truly is everywhere. Slang like “bet”, “cap”, “lowkey”, “W” or “L”, and countless others have quickly made their way into everyday conversations that happen IRL (in real life). Observing how Gen Z communicates in the digital world will shift your perspective and allow you to write copy that appeals to them. Incorporating phrases like these naturally, without going overboard, will grant your copy a sense of simplicity and genuineness, leaving behind a business tone and instead creating a casual one that Gen Z will appreciate.

Emojis

Everyone loves emojis. They add visual color and lightheartedness to pieces of copy that could otherwise appear bland. Informative pieces of copy become all the more engaging when you have an emoji or two paired with them. Throw in an emoji next time you write an informative sentence on social media and see how your audience receives it.

Short, Punchy Copy

One of the most popular discussions regarding social media today is how it is affecting our attention spans. Tracing back to 2013-2014, when Vine’s six-second videos redefined how social media could be used, to today’s presence of similar short videos like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, it is no question that social media users prefer fast content. This applies to copy as well.

Delivering content that is short, quick, and straightforward will naturally grab the attention of Gen Z. Eliminating much of the fluff and substituting it with the above characteristics (trendy lingo and emojis) will help your readers feel spoken to. 

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What’s an Example of These Practices Put to Use?

• “Fully furnished? Yes. In-home laundry appliances? Yes. High-speed internet? Also yes. Life at Apex just hits different. Find your dream apartment for Fall 2025 on our website.”

• “Top-tier amenities. Spacious layouts. Close to campus. Making the move to our community is a total W. Head to our website to unlock your dream apartment for Fall 2025.”

Apex, a community located in Rochester, New York, is a client that saw a significant increase in performance and engagement after Social Kapture’s student housing revamp. During the initial rollout of the new campaign, the first copy saw spikes in the click-through rate as high as 5.56% during weekly check-ins, showing a newfound sense of excitement surrounding this approach to ad copy. Similarly, the second piece of ad copy saw a stable CTR of 1.49% over the quarter. These examples are in stark contrast to the performances measured in previous quarters, which narrowly reached 1%.  

Social media will continue to change, so it's important to utilize these changes to strengthen your brand's voice and messaging. The key is meeting Gen Z where they are with copy that feels natural, not forced, and these tactics will help you do exactly that.

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