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A Guide to Marketing to Teens

business.com editorial staff
business.com editorial staff
business.com Member
Updated Apr 28, 2020

Marketing to teens can have disastrous results if it's handled incorrectly.

  • Marketing to teens is a billion-dollar market.
  • Some tips for marketing a retail business to teens involves using social media, keeping the content entertaining and creating a YouTube page.
  • When creating an advertising campaign for teens, keep in mind that teens are socially conscious, they love technology, and they love to be entertained.

Marketing to teens is easy if you know what you're doing, but the results can be disastrous if you go about things the wrong way. Teenagers are media-savvy and distrustful of advertisers, so if you want to create a marketing campaign for teens, you need to get inside their heads.

Trends for target marketing to teenagers change frequently. As a method becomes more common and mainstream, it loses its effectiveness. Because of this, it's important to stay up to date on the current trends in niche marketing to teens.

Consider the following when you create an advertising campaign for teenagers:

  1. Teens are socially conscious and more likely to support a company that supports a good cause. When niche marketing to teens, make sure that your company supports a variety of charitable causes.

  2. One of the best ways to market to teens is through entertainment. Movies, music and television can all influence teen behavior. Your product must look cool.

  3. Teens are comfortable with technology and social networking programs. Any advertising campaign for teenagers should incorporate these types of media.

1. Create focus groups and surveys.

The simplest way to learn what teenagers want is to ask them. Most teens are more than willing to share their opinion with you on a variety of topics. You simply need to find ways to get them together and get them talking.

2. Attend marketing conferences to network with others.

Conferences are a great place to meet others that work in the teen market and to get great ideas from each other. Various lectures will teach you about the current trends in the market.

3. Stay up to date on niche marketing to teenagers with blogs and newsletters.

Because trends can change so quickly with the teen market, it's important to learn about trends through media that can update you just as quickly. Look for resources that have daily or weekly news updates.

Try to be yourself when creating an advertising campaign for teens. Companies often miss the mark when they try too hard to be cool by incorporating teen slang or trends. Teens will see through these attempts and lose interest in your product

According to Small Business Trends, these are some ideas to help you market your retail business to teens.

  • Social media: One of the top ways to market a retail business to teens is by connecting with them on social media. Teenagers have a large presence on social media. If you want to grab their attention and market your products, you should be meeting them where they are. No matter if you choose to do this on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or any combination of these platforms, you should take the time to find out what the teens are discussing and find the best ways to introduce your products based on this information.

  • YouTube: Speaking of social media, although YouTube is somewhat of a social media platform, it is mostly used as a way to create and share content in video form. Given that this is one of the largest platforms in the world, you should take the time to create a channel and distribute useful videos that can also be used to promote your brand and business.

  • Entertainment value: No matter how awesome your product may be, teenagers want to be entertained above all else. Although including details about your products is important, you must be sure to take the time to infuse some entertainment value into all content. For instance, when you are creating YouTube videos, you want to keep it lighthearted and may opt to do it in cartoon form or include gifs. When you are on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, you should include hashtags or memes.

  • Listen to them: As mentioned, social media is a great way to connect with your teenage customers. To take it a step further, you can use surveys, comments, etc., to find out their opinions on the products you are selling. For instance, a teen may want to see more vibrant packaging and may suggest that you sell more color options and more. Teens love to speak their minds and you should be using that to your advantage.

  • Payment options: As we all know, the payment options for most teens are limited at best. However, many teens do earn an income and are always looking for new things to spend it on. By accepting forms of payment such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and more, you can increase the likelihood that teens will shop at your store.

  • Coupons, discounts, etc.: Given that many teens have a limited amount of income, they are more likely to shop with companies that offer great value products as well as regular coupons and discounts. If you have products that are especially useful to teens, you may want to provide them with discounts that are exclusive to certain platforms or even offer discounts for their birthday, graduations, etc., via email marketing.

  • Be personable and engaging: As mentioned, teenagers love to have a good time. If you want to attract more teenage customers, you should be going above and beyond to embrace their trends, phrases, hashtags, etc. In person, this could be anything, whether it's mentioning the top trending shows or songs while they are shopping or encouraging them to tag their friends for contests and discounts, etc. No matter what, be sure that you are making them feel special and appreciated throughout the process.
Image Credit: Rawpixel / Getty Images
business.com editorial staff
business.com editorial staff
business.com Member
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