To attract today's teens, think like a marketing pro

Whether you work for Nike or in a library, it’s tough to attract an audience. And that’s where smart marketing can make all the difference. Even though libraries don’t have millions of dollars to spend on slick Madison Avenue ad campaigns to entice today’s teens, you do have access to the media that kids love, and that’s a great place to start. But before we consider the best strategies to attract Generation Y, it’s essential to understand how its members use social media, like blogs, social networking sites, virtual worlds, and podcasts. Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from studying young peoples’ online habits, helping to launch a number of successful Web sites and TV properties for teens and twentysomethings, and founding a blog about youth culture for media and marketing pros.

Illustration by Max Scratchmann

Teens are multitaskers. Like previous generations, students still watch television, listen to music, and do homework. But Millennials also surf the Net, play video games, and instant message (IM) and text message their friends—often at the very same time. According to a 2005 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (see “Generation M”), students between the ages of eight and 18 spend more than 25 percent of their media time multitasking, which makes it harder for them to concentrate on a single task, like studying for a test—and makes it much tougher for you to grab their attention. Teens prefer byte-sized entertainment. With so much multitasking going on, it’s best to keep your message short if you really want to nab teens’ attention, and that’s especially true if you’re delivering it to them online or on cell phones. Sure, kids can still get lost in an engrossing book or an hour-long TV program, but when it comes to electronic content, brief is best. That explains why hundreds of thousands of young visitors are drawn to the extremely short episodes of Prom Queen, a Web video series created by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on MySpace, and why the latest issue of Seventeen features snippets rather than full-blown articles. Teens expect content on demand. Today’s kids have been downloading their favorite tunes and videos from peer-to-peer networks (like Gnutella, Morpheus, and BearShare) and watching TVs hooked up to TiVos and DVRs since they learned to crawl. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating, but Gen Yers are used to getting what they want, precisely when they want it—delivered, of course, on their favorite devices, including iPods, iPhones, and game consoles, like Playstation 3. And that’s drastically changed the way marketing professionals evaluate (and present) media. For example, the CW series Gossip Girl was initially a complete bust—at least, in terms of traditional TV ratings. But when network executives noticed the buzz on teen blogs and fan pages and the number of times the show was downloaded on iTunes, they realized they had a huge hit. Teens want to participate. Young adults are totally hooked on social media because it offers them instant feedback. And mainstream media have hopped on the bandwagon. Hit shows like American Idol encourage viewers to vote for their favorite contestants; Doritos, Dove, and other well-known brands invite consumers to create their own commercials and jingles (with the best airing during the Super Bowl or Oscars); and publishers like Penguin offer teens a chance to design book covers. Kids want to have a say—and even some ownership—in the products and content they use. And the more opportunities they have to personalize these things, the more engaged they’ll be. Keeping in mind the ways in which kids consume media, here are some marketing tips that can help you reach more teens (and tweens) with your services, which, in my mind, are way more important than any video game, soda, or sneaker. Enlist teens to manage your social media. Yes, even if your library already has its own Web site or page, you still need young people’s input. Have them set up a MySpace profile or create a Facebook page for your library. Students can also help you choose or design a MySpace layout, upload videos and photos, or add widgets and other Web applications. Take advantage of social media’s ability to reach vast audiences by sending out weekly MySpace bulletins, Facebook notes, or fun messages to fans about what’s happening at your library. By recruiting a teen or two to assist you, you’re validating their technological expertise and social networking skills. You can also empower youth by letting them redesign your Web site or contribute online content to it, like art, poems, or blog postings. The U.K. division of Penguin Books has taken things one step further: it has recruited kids between the ages of 13 and 18 to run its new teen Web site, Spinebreakers. Don’t try too hard to be cool. Kids can see right through that. And don’t write in “teen speak” or pretend you’re hip to whatever they’re into. The writers of The N, a nighttime network for teens, do a nice job of relating to kids by throwing in a few OMGs on their Web site—but they don’t overdo it. If you maintain your library’s Web site or send out messages to Gen Yers, be yourself and don’t be afraid to laugh at your own mistakes—fess up and own them. Be honest about what goes on behind the scenes. All of that will make you and your offerings seem more authentic and accessible to kids. Know your audience. Boys and girls, and teens and tweens use the Internet differently—and you’ll want to tweak your strategy to take advantage of those differences. Teenage boys, for example, create and upload more videos onto sites like YouTube. But girls spend more time designing, decorating, blogging, commenting, and communicating on social networking sites. Tweens tend to view the Internet as one big playground, and they love to play games like Runescape or casual memory games in virtual worlds like Club Penguin. While there’s a certain amount of social interaction on younger kids’ sites, like Webkinz, the exchanges are less frequent and much more controlled and monitored than on those for older kids. It’s also important to stay on top of the latest research on how teens use technology and which sites are popular and why (see “If you’re over 30…” on opposite page). Ypulse, the blog I created four years ago to help companies reach Gen Yers, is a great resource for that sort of information, and it includes a handy directory of the most popular commercial Web sites for teens and tweens. Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas from the pros. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Don’t sweat the design. Beautiful design is great, but your site doesn’t have to be drop-dead gorgeous, like Apple’s or Nike’s. Just make sure it addresses kids’ fundamental needs. I’ve seen teen bulletin boards and forums without any bells or whistles that have attracted thousands of postings—simply because they offer young people a place to talk about topics they’re interested in (see www.teenhut.net). And even though adult designers have never been crazy about MySpace’s design, the site is wildly popular with young adults. Why? Those crazy, blinking templates offer teenagers a terrific way to express and experiment with their identities—a significant concern for any adolescent. Support causes that kids care about. American Apparel, a brand that’s popular with teens, speaks out on immigration reform, and Virgin Mobile supports organizations that are working to end youth homelessness. And lots of other youth-oriented companies have joined the (RED) campaign, which was created, in part, to purchase medical supplies for women and children in Africa who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Find out what your local teens are passionate about and create a way for them to make a difference in the world. That can be as simple as creating a button on your library’s Web site that links to a cause like saving Darfur or tapping into kids’ current interest in the presidential candidates’ campaigns. If you show your support for causes and issues that are meaningful to teens, they’ll respond to your goodwill many times over. Use text messaging and IM appropriately. Teens use email to communicate with the adult world, but when they want to talk to each other, they usually text or IM. If adults reach out to kids in a medium they view as their own, it often freaks them out. That’s why it’s essential to make sure you give youngsters the option of signing up to receive your text messages or IMs. For example, using IM to offer students homework help during specific, prearranged hours is a good thing—but you wouldn’t want your messages to pop up on their screens uninvited. Also, make sure your messages are practical and helpful (for instance, your book is due tomorrow). I’ve saved my strongest marketing tip for last: the best way to discover teen trends is also the most obvious—just ask them. As librarians, you have the kind of access to young people that most marketers would pay big bucks for. Enjoy the advantage.

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Author Information

Anastasia Goodstein is an award-winning blogger and the author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online (St. Martin’s, 2007).