What Do You Need To Know For Marketing To Digital, Mobile And Social Teens? - The digital landscape from a teen's perspective - Social media facts and figures related to teen media usage - Five tips to sparking valuable conversations through engaging content

1. No Boundaries
≠ No Rules:
MARKETING TO TODAY’S DIGITAL TEEN

2. A day in the life …
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3. Emily wakes up and, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, texts her friend Jess to see what she’s
wearing to school today. Jess sends her a photo via Snapchat.
Wardrobe choices established, Emily rolls out of bed and pops in her headphones to listen to her
favorite Indie Spotify playlist, which she also shares to her Facebook News Feed.
On the way to school, she scans through her Instagram feed, commenting on a bunch of her friends’
photos before creating a stylized image of the view from the bus window and posting it to Instagram,
Twitter, and Facebook simultaneously.
Later, during lunch, she stars in her friend Jake’s Vine video, “Cafeteria Chaos,” which he uploads to
both Vine and Facebook.
After viewing the video on Facebook, Emily notices that Chandra liked the Spotify playlist she posted
earlier that morning. Chandra lives on the other side of the country, but she and Emily have struck
up a friendship based on their shared passion for Indie music.
After school, Emily tunes into her Maroon 5 Pandora station and spends some time adding imag-
es to her Pinterest board, “Summer Fun.” School is almost out, and she’s creating a digital bucket
list. After homework and dinner, Emily curls up on the sofa with Jess and two other friends to
watch the season finale of Pretty Little Liars together via Hulu and a Google+ Hangout.
After a long day on the go, Emily gets back into bed. Before she falls asleep, she checks in with
friends via text, Facebook, and Twitter. She also downloads the Pheed app for her phone. A lot of
her friends are hanging out there now, and she wants to check it out.
Emily and her friends are average American teens.Their days are filled with typical teenage activities –
school,homework,sports,and hanging out with friends.Surrounding these activities is a digital ecosystem
that inspires, enhances, captures,socializes,and broadcasts these experiences. From dawn‘til dusk,today’s
teens are plugged into multiple devices, apps, media, and social networks.
Teens live as much in the virtual world as they do in the real world. They are the “digital natives” you’ve
been hearing about. If you want to reach this audience, you need to go native, too.
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4. No Boundaries
In the digital space, there are no boundaries. Geography is
meaningless, physical proximity is irrelevant, and more and
more the lines are blurring between “real world” and “online”
relationships. Connection is the currency of the virtual world
where teens can converse with anyone, anywhere, anytime.
While digital connections extend teens’ reach across and
beyond traditional borders, the perpetually evolving collection
of digital tools and venues give teens the creative freedom
to produce, consume, and engage with all kinds of media:
text, video, audio, and images. Conversation is no longer
constrained to mere words. Relationships are now forged over
photographs, six-second videos, and curated playlists.
No Allegiance
Teens are not loyal to any particular app or media platform.
Their loyalty is to the content, not the delivery system. Their
interactions in the digital environment are focused on the
ideas contained in the media and the connections they
create with friends. It doesn’t matter to them if those ideas
and connections live on Facebook or Twitter or Pheed or
Instagram. Often, one interaction will span two or three
different platforms as content created on one platform
is shared across multiple networks, triggering multiple
reactions and conversation threads.
The digital world teens inhabit
is an immersive, organic, and
omnipresent environment. It is
more than an accessory to life;
it is life – a thriving ecosystem
with digitally spawned interde-
pendencies and interactions that
drive consumption, creation,
and communication.
To reach teens on their home turf,
as it were, you need to be able to
see the digital landscape from a
teen’s perspective.
The free-range
digital teen
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5. They also don’t feel the need to consume content according
tosomeoneelse’sschedule.Thoughtheymaystillbedevotedto
certain programming, for instance, alternate viewing options
like Netflix and Hulu give teens the flexibility to watch when
and how they want.
No Patience
It’s no surprise that, having grown up in the age of instant
gratification, today’s teens lack the ability (or inclination) to
tolerate any kind of pause or delay. The pervasive and perpetual
nature of digital media in teens’ lives virtually eliminates
the need to wait for anything.
Seventy-five percent of teens keep in constant contact with
friends by sending at least 60 text messages per day.1
Many
send hundreds more than that. Ubiquitous Internet access
(primarily via smartphones) gives teens the option to be
connected to their apps and social networks 24/7.
Impatience also contributes to teens’ propensity for digital
multi-tasking. Teens’ virtual activities rarely take place in
isolation. For example, TV viewing might be accompanied
by texting and tweeting. Teens have no problem engaging
multiple technologies and networks at once.
1
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Teens-and-smart-
phones.aspx
2
http://www.tru-insight.com/
The global
purchasing power
of teens
(12-19 years old) 2
Social Media Facts Figures
$819
BILLION
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6. Teens using a social networking site. 3
More older (14 - 17) teens use a
social networking site than their
younger (12 - 13) counterparts. 3
Teen social media use
is high across a variety
of ethnic groups. 3
Social Media Facts Figures
79% Male
84% Female
89% vs. 65%
81% White
88% African
American
77% Hispanic
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7. 3
Pew Internet and American Life Project, “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy,” May 21, 2013
89%Have Facebook friends
who do not attend
the same school.3
33%Have Facebook friends
they’ve never met in person.3
151-600Facebook friends. 3
20%of teen users have
Facebook friends.3
Teens on Facebook
More than half of
teens (51%) have
more
than 600_____________________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
____________
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8. … so does the digital world of
teens. Though it may appear to be
an anarchy of random actions and
associations, there are recognizable
behaviors and patterns. If you want
to make the right connection, your
content needs to be:
Even the jungle
has its laws …
1.Adaptable Agile
Teens’rulesofengagementcanchangeonawhim.Tokeep
up, you need to monitor their reactions in real time, access
performance results quickly, and adjust on the fly. Smart,
iterative testing provides valuable insights that help you
learn from your mistakes. Flexible planning ensures you can
respond appropriately and in a timely manner when (not if)
the interest of your teen audience wavers.
2.Current Relevant
The old adage “timing is everything” may never have been
more applicable than in the context of reaching teens online.
Life moves fast on the Internet. Today’s meme is yesterday’s
news before the dinner dishes are done. To avoid the
embarrassment of being passé, you need to stay ahead of
the curve. In addition, you need to make sure you get the
context right. Playing off the latest “it” trend in the wrong
way is almost as bad as missing the trend all together.
3.Popular Unique
It seems like a combination of opposites, but the best teen
content manages to simultaneously convey a sense of
belonging and self-expression. It gives teens the chance
to be part of something while also giving them a chance to
articulate their own feelings and individuality.
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9. 4.Meaningful Entertaining
Teens are easily bored. They can also sniff out disingenuous
players in an instant. To make a good impression, you need
to capture their attention and “keep it real.” Use emotion to
create an immediate and authentic connection. Humor is a
great icebreaker for any age group, and aligning yourself with
a relevant cause or movement can also help you put your best
foot forward.
5.Varied Shareable
Teensalsohaveaseriouslyshortattentionspan.Whendeveloping
content for this demographic, “KISS” translates to “keep it short,
stupid.” Use a variety of content formats on a variety of venues.
And,makesurethateverythingyouproducehashigh“shareability”
in terms of both the content and the functionality.
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10. While teens do engage with brands online via ads and social
mediasites,theydoitontheirownterms.Theyarenotboundby
the constraints of traditional channels or their digital coun-
terparts. They do not limit their media consumption to any
particular format. They are more interested in the content
itself and the way it helps them either make a statement about
themselves or connect with others.
Digital media gives brands the opportunity to connect with
teens where they live – on the Internet, on their their mobile
devices, and via on-demand venues like Hulu. It provides
the tools you need to create engaging content that sparks
valuable conversations. It delivers important insights via
monitoring tools and performance metrics.
It’s their world.You
just get to play in it.
The digital world may
be a jungle, but it’s
also rich with
opportunity.
You just need to know
how to speak
to the natives.
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11. About iProspect
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transform consumer intent into action and drive conversions.
iProspect’s offerings span the full spectrum of performance
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Since 1996, iProspect’s client list spans many industries and
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For more information, visit www.iprospect.com or follow us
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Interested in learning more
about how to reach the “digital native”?
Contact us today.
Parks Blackwell
VP, New Business and Marketing
Parks.Blackwell@iprospect.com
817.665.1397
For questions about this research, please contact:
Danielle Smith
Group Account Director
Danielle.Smith@iprospect.com
817.509.0338
For all media inquiries, please email:
iprospect@inkhouse.com

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