What is Gen Alpha marketing? A strategy guide for brands

If the phrases “6-7,” “brainrot,” or “skibidi” mean absolutely nothing to you, you might have a Gen Alpha blindspot.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about marketing to Gen Alpha: who they are, what makes them different, and how to actually reach them on social.

What is Gen Alpha marketing?

Gen Alpha marketing is how brands reach and connect with kids and teens born from 2010 to 2024.

While that might sound like a niche audience, it’s actually not. Gen Alpha is the largest generation in the world, and they’re already influencing purchasing decisions.

But, there’s a twist: A big chunk of Gen Alpha is still under 18. That means you have two audiences to win over: the kid who wants the product and the parent who decides whether it comes home.

Gen Alpha vs. Gen Z: How they differ as consumers

Gen Alpha and Gen Z both grew up online. But Gen Alpha grew up with a much more personalized internet, and that changes how they watch, shop, and engage with brands.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Area	Gen Z	Gen Alpha
Personalization	Grew up as algorithms became more sophisticated	Expects highly personalized feeds
Content preferences	Fast and visual	More interactive and gamified
Engagement with brands	More likely to engage directly with brand posts	Less likely to interact with brand posts
Social shopping	Comfortable with social commerce	More likely to use social shopping tools and shop online

Personalization 

Gen Z are digital natives, but they didn’t grow up with fancy, personalized algorithms. 

Gen Alpha did. They’ve had algorithm-driven feeds their whole lives, and it’s a big reason why they prefer YouTube and TikTok over TV shows. These platforms serve up exactly what they want to watch, without them having to ask.

Source: Collage Group

Content preferences 

Gen Alpha wants content that’s fast, immersive, and visual. While Gen Z is happy to just watch, Gen Alpha wants in on the action.

That could explain their affinity for gaming: 3 in 5 Gen Alphas say they’d rather play video games than watch videos. And Roblox reaches one of the youngest audiences, with 56% of its users under the age of 16.

Brand participation

When it comes to interacting with brands on social, Gen Z does more of the talking.

44% of Gen Z engage with brand posts, compared with just 28% of Gen Alpha. Gen Z is also more likely to follow brands it likes.

For marketers, that means the usual engagement metrics (think: comments, shares, and likes) might undersell how much Gen Alpha is actually paying attention.

Comfort with social shopping

Buying something directly from a social media app is still a new development for most of us. For Gen Alpha, it’s just how shopping works.

According to 2025 TeenVoice data, they’re more likely than Gen Z to use social shopping features, and 23% say they shop exclusively online.

Why does Gen Alpha marketing matter right now?

Gen Alpha is already forming preferences and influencing purchases, which makes now a pretty important window. 

Here’s what marketers need to know:

Copying a Gen Z approach won’t work

Gen Alpha isn’t just a younger Gen Z. They’re developing their own preferences, and some of them already look different from their older siblings.

Take online reviews. Only 31% of Gen Alpha say reviews on a brand’s website influence what they buy, compared to more than half of Gen Z.

That’s just one example, but it makes the point. The same tactics that worked on Gen Z may not translate to Gen Alpha.

They influence spending decisions

Gen Alpha may not control the household budget, but they have plenty of say over what ends up in the cart.

In one survey, 73% of parents said their kids are the first to tell them about new or popular products. And nearly three-quarters of parents said their child had at least some influence over recent grocery or snack purchases.

Source: Morning Consult

So if you’re waiting for Gen Alpha to reach full buying potential, you’re already late. They may not be the ones swiping the card, but they have plenty of influence over what gets bought.

Marketing to kids changes the rules

A lot of Gen Alpha is still made up of children, which should change how brands think about “effective” marketing.

The goal can’t be squeezing as much persuasion as possible out of every interaction. Privacy matters. Advertising should be easy to recognize. And experiences need to make sense for the specific age group you’re talking to.

Who actually makes the buying decision: kids or parents?

A little bit of both.

73% Gen Alpha parents say their child informs at least some purchases, like groceries and toys. Plus, 42% give their Gen Alpha kids an allowance, so they have a little spending power of their own.

But at the end of the day, parents still control the wallet. That means brands aren’t really marketing to one person. They’re marketing to two: the kid who wants it, and the parent who decides if it actually comes home.

Evereden, a skincare brand designed for kids, does a good job of walking this balance. Its TikToks are playful and trend-forward, but their messaging always circles back to what parents care about, like non-toxic ingredients.

Source: Evereden

What channels and formats actually reach Gen Alpha?

YouTube and TikTok are the top social channels for Gen Alpha, while gaming and entertainment-first formats actually hold their attention.

If you’re deciding where to put your effort, start here:

YouTube

YouTube is the clear winner for Gen Alpha. 68% of kids ages 7 to 14 say it’s one of the platforms they use most in a normal week, according to a 2026 survey.

And it holds up across age groups. YouTube came out on top for 7-to-9-year-olds, 10-to-12-year-olds, and 13-to-14-year-olds.

Source: PwC

TikTok

TikTok earns its spot because of its shopping layer. Gen Alpha is more comfortable with social shopping tools than Gen Z, and TikTok is where most of the see-it-buy-it behavior happens.

The platform also fits how Gen Alpha likes to discover things: through people, not polished ads. Creator videos, reactions, and trend-driven content all feel right at home here.

Gaming content

Gaming takes up a huge share of Gen Alpha’s attention. 54% regularly use gaming platforms, according to a new survey.

That doesn’t mean you need to build a Minecraft world tomorrow. But it does tell you something important: This generation is used to media that lets them do something, whether it’s playing, choosing, competing, customizing, or exploring.

Entertainment-focused content

Above all, Gen Alpha wants to be entertained. Think pranks, challenges, satisfying visuals, and anything that invites them to participate.

Source: Collage Group

Jellycat does this well. One of its Instagram Reels asks you to “wave your thumb to the beat.” It’s a small ask, but that interactivity is exactly what this generation loves.

Source: Jellycat

What compliance and privacy rules apply to marketing to Gen Alpha?

Marketing to Gen Alpha comes with more guardrails than marketing to adults. In the U.S., COPPA limits how companies can collect data from kids under 13. Social platforms add another layer with age minimums and tighter ad-targeting rules.

Here’s everything you need to know:

COPPA and data collection from minors

If your marketing reaches kids under 13, COPPA needs to be on your radar.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act limits how you can collect personal information from children under 13, and it applies the second your content is “directed to children,” even if you don’t think of yourself as a kids brand.

If COPPA applies, companies generally need to give parents notice and get parental consent before collecting that information. That covers names, emails, photos, and location, plus any behavioral data used to target ads.

Platform minimum-age policies

Different platforms have different minimum-age requirements. That’s easy to forget, until you build a campaign for an audience that technically can’t be there.

Remember: Gen Alpha covers a pretty wide age range. A 16-year-old and a 10-year-old can have completely different experiences on social. So before you build around a channel, check who can actually be there.

Advertising and targeting policies

Each platform has its own rules for marketing to younger users. On Facebook and Instagram, for example, advertisers can only use age and location to target teens. 

That can impact your social strategy pretty quickly. The audience may be there, but some of your usual targeting tools won’t be.

How do you build a Gen Alpha marketing strategy?

Building a Gen Alpha strategy means knowing exactly who you’re talking to, respecting that parents are still part of the decision, and showing up on social in a way that feels organic.

Here’s how to put it all together:

1. Start with the age you actually mean
2. Market for parents too
3. Make the content feel native
4. Use content creators strategically

1. Start with the age you actually mean

Gen Alpha covers a lot of ground. A 7-year-old and a 16-year-old are technically part of the same generation, but your marketing won’t land the same.

So narrow it down. Are you talking to younger kids, tweens, or teens? That one decision shapes your content, your platforms, and pretty much everything downstream.

2. Market for parents too

Your content strategy has to win over two audiences: Gen Alpha and the parents holding the wallet.

You can still make your social content fun or weird. But parents need their own reasons to say yes, whether that’s quality, value, safety, or usefulness.

Just look at this recent Reel from Claire’s. It features creator Bri Dietz taking her daughters to get their ears pierced, with lots of clips of them having fun. But the caption is doing a completely different job, calling out Claire’s new piercing experience and health standards.

Source: Claire’s

So while the video sells the experience, the caption sells the safety, and Claire’s gets both audiences nodding along for completely different reasons.

Of course, not every piece of content needs to speak to both audiences at once. The goal is to make sure your overall content mix gives each audience enough reasons to buy in.

3. Make the content feel native

Gen Alpha is no stranger to seeing brands on social media, so they’re pretty good at tuning out anything that feels like a commercial.

That’s exactly why your content should feel like it belongs in the feed, not like it was dropped into one.

Kayleigh Crandell, Social Lead & Project Manager at Xponent21, puts it this way: “These kids have eyes on screens all the time, so breaking through the noise in a native way is both the challenge and the mark of excellence.”

She continues, “Keep things fun, since entertainment is the baseline expectation, but remember to lean into authenticity and strangeness to emphasize your brand’s impact on culture.”

4. Use content creators strategically

Gen Alpha kids already have favorite creators and influencers. That gives brands a shortcut to attention.

Source: @likenastya

But you still need to be picky about who you work with. The creator needs to make sense for the age group and the product itself. And because parents are still in the loop, don’t skip the vetting. A creator’s content and values need to hold up to parental scrutiny too.

Check out our complete guide to getting started with influencer marketing and our breakdown of current influencer rates.

What mistakes should brands avoid with Gen Alpha marketing?

The most common mistakes are flattening Gen Alpha into an aesthetic, underestimating their attention span, and trying too hard to sound young.

Here’s what to watch out for:

Oversimplifying Gen Alpha

Gen Alpha is more than an aesthetic.

“Brands assume brain rot and loud colors are enough on their own, since that combination has worked on kids for decades. But it’s hardly unique to Gen Alpha,” says Crandell.

In reality, they’re a lot more sophisticated. She points to games like Roblox and Minecraft, where Gen Alpha has “built entire micro-societies” with their own language, jokes, and norms. It’s also where brand preferences take shape.

So nailing the aesthetic is only half the equation. Brands should also be asking, “How do we become something these communities actually want to talk about?”

Assuming short-form video is the only way

Yes, Gen Alpha watches Shorts and TikToks. But they also sit through long-form YouTube videos, gaming livestreams, and walkthroughs that can run for hours.

“They have no attention span” is one of those stats that sounds true but isn’t. Gen Alpha has plenty of attention, it’s just selective.

Trying too hard to sound young

Gen Alpha doesn’t need brands to talk like teenagers. Forced slang and internet-speak can often come across as insincere.

The better move is to focus on making something they’d actually want to watch. If the content is funny, useful, or genuinely entertaining, you don’t need to cosplay as a 14-year-old to get their attention.

How does Hootsuite help brands market to Gen Alpha responsibly?

Gen Alpha doesn’t sit still, and neither can your content strategy. You need content that fits different platforms, insight into what content resonates, and guardrails for an audience that still includes a lot of kids.

Hootsuite brings those pieces together in one place.

Plan multi-platform, family-safe content with Perch

Gen Alpha isn’t hanging out on one platform, so your content plan shouldn’t either.

Perch lets you plan, create, and schedule content across multiple networks from one calendar. You can tailor posts by platform, build in approval workflows, and schedule around custom best-time-to-post recommendations (pulled from your own audience data).

Move faster on trends with Wisdom

Trends don’t wait around for your next planning meeting.

Wisdom pulls from your social performance and listening data to surface what’s working, suggest new angles, and even draft the next post. From there, you can ask it to drop the draft straight into your content calendar.

In other words, Wisdom makes it easier to spot the next trend before you can say, “wait, is 6-7 even a thing anymore?”

Keep campaigns compliant with Vigil 

When your audience includes minors, “we’ll fix it after publishing” isn’t a plan.

Vigil brings governance and compliance controls into the workflow, while Perch routes content through approvals before anything goes live. Together, they make it easier to catch a problem before your audience does.

Gen Alpha moves fast. Your social strategy should too. With Hootsuite, you can plan content across channels, spot what’s picking up steam, and keep the right guardrails in place before anything goes live.