Teenagers are a pain in the a**. I apologize to the teenagers that regularly read our blog but somebody had to break it to you. With your “my way or the highway” attitude and the blind assumptions that your parents are the “stupidest” people in the entire universe (like seriously how could they be so stupid), you’re a tough crowd to please. Unfortunately for businesses, there is no secret formula to get teens knocking down your door. However, there are some strategic marketing steps to take that when marketing to teenagers that will make your business “totally cool bro.”
Don’t Tell Them What to Do
While this is a great rule of thumb for all aspects of dealing with teenagers, it especially works for businesses. For example, when you are watching American Idol and Ryan Seacrest says, “don’t touch that remote, you won’t want to miss what’s next.” Just because Ryan said that a little part of you wants to flip over to NCIS. Teenagers and most adults don’t want to be told what to do and if you do tell them what to do, you might as well expect the opposite. Give them the information about your business and products and they will make an informed decision on if it is right for them.
Interact with Them
Many teenagers will walk into businesses and not receive the time of day from employees. Interact with them the same way that you would every other customer that walks in the door and you will see immediate appreciation. Interacting with teens through social media is also a great tool to use when it comes to marketing to teenagers. Say you own a sandwich shop and anybody not just a teenager, tweets that if you have the best avocado turkey flatbread they have ever had. You should favorite, retweet and possibly respond to the tweet to let that person know that their voice is being heard.
Think Mobile
Around 50% of online searches are done on a mobile device, so making sure that your website and information is up to date are crucial. Children are practically born with the capability of using a cellphone and by the time they are teenagers they could be computer programmers. So if your website is not mobile device compatible you could be losing out on a good chunk of business, specifically from younger generations.
While teenagers can be difficult in more ways than one, there are some strategies for reaching this tech-savvy generation. If you have any other questions about marketing to teenagers, just contact your team of professionals at Midwest Marketing and we’ll help you Become Greater Than.
