Gen Z May Save Us

We all know the stats on Christianity's vigor in the U.S. haven't been moving in the right direction.

From The Economist:

In 1972 some 90% of Americans said they were Christian, compared to a mere 5% saying they had no religious affiliation (researchers call them “the Nones”). By 2021 the Nones had swelled to 29%, a rise that was mostly consistent across lines of race, sex, income and education. On average, each successive birth cohort has been 10% less Christian than its predecessors.

Think about that.

Since 1972 each successive generation has been 10% less Christian than its predecessor.

Until now, that is.

See, new data from the Pew Research Center has found that Gen Z (between 13 and 28 years old today) is about as religious as their older peers. For the first time since this research began, a negative trend has stopped in its tracks. The so-called "secular surge" has plateaued.

According to the Family Research Council’s director, David Closson, a deeper dive into the results is a mixed bag:

Although it is encouraging that it appears those who identify as Christian has stabilized, it is also true that younger Americans are much less likely to associate with Christianity and religion as a whole. This means the younger someone is the less likely they pray, read the Bible, or attend church.

But on the other hand...

For Gen Z, 82% stated that they believe that people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body. 71% also stated their belief that there is something spiritual beyond the natural world.

In other words, Gen Z is very likely to be what my research calls "Innocents" - that's the group of Christians who are spiritual, but not particular religious in their day-to-day practice. And that represents, in many cases, well over 50% of your potential listening audience. Sometimes as much as 70%!

So if Gen Z is so spiritual, why don't they listen to our radio stations?

Well, for starters, the format isn't aimed at them.

And when we do create versions of Christian music built for this audience segment, we are competing against secular "hit" alternatives (the hip hop hits, the pop hits, the rhythm hits) as well as the zillion splinters of exactly-what-you-want-right-now available on digital media, which is native to Gen Z.

The result is that Gen Z-targeted Christian music radio brands will likely never capture the mass audience of traditional CCM brands with our loyal audiences of aging and financially generous radio zealots.

So does that mean Gen Z is beyond our grasp?

No, but it means you need to capture their attention in their language with their media and their personalities on their terms.

So what's your TikTok strategy? YouTube? Instagram?

Those are the three most popular social media platforms for Gen Z. So if you want to target them, it has to be there.

But don't try to force them back to your older-oriented radio station. Stay in their language. With their personalities. And on their terms.

Mark Ramsey Media does audience research for Christian Media - Perceptual research, digital studies, donor studies, music studies, etc. Learn more here. Call Mark at 858-414-4191 or email markramsey@mac.com.

And if you want a strategy to solicit major donors to pay for your research, look here and download this Listener Impact Study solicitation for donors from WAKW-FM.

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