Targetting tips for young people online

Tips from Habbo to ensure your brand succeeds with teens online

1. Give something back to the community and add value to a site’s proposition

Social networking sites and virtual worlds elicit a strong sense of ownership and belonging from their users, who often feel protective over them. As such it is best that brands do not come into their spaces using traditional, heavy handed methods with overt branding and clumsy messaging. The best approach uses a fresh mindset to ensure that whatever integrated activities you are about to embark on, the campaign will entertain and excite the audience, and enhance the user experience. If you can put a smile on the user’s face, chances are they are going to be that much more appreciative towards your brand or product.

2. Go viral, think word of mouth

When brands hit the sweet spot and enhance the online property, users seek out their friends and talk to them about it. It is like going to a great concert and wanting to tell your mates all about it. Brand conversations in virtual communities lead to an amplifying affect where the message is passed through perhaps the most credible source available to us, our peers; building a positive brand association.

3. Never underestimate your audience

The youth demographic are at the cutting edge of fashion and trends. As adult media professionals, we sometimes misjudge this audience in terms of how much they know about the world – this is a fatal mistake. The youth of today are extremely media-savvy and have their finger on the pulse; they could teach us a thing or two about running the world! So never patronise them, treat them as equals.

4. Show, don’t tell

It never pays to be too didactic. Don’t feel you always have to spell out the commercial message; sometimes less is more and it leaves your audience wanting more.

5. You can’t please all of the people all of the time

Brands should enter the social media space with the mindset that no matter how good your product or promotion is, you are always going to attract some negative feedback. Social media is a fluid and fast moving place to be.

6. Look at the long-term

Flash-in-the-pan tactical communications are all very well; however they do not gain traction with this fickle and ever-changing audience. Instead an on-going dialogue must be maintained to convert them into long term brand advocates. Don’t forget this young audience is a bright bunch who in the near future may well have the world at their feet in terms of earning potential. There is definitely something in the old adage of start talking to them young and you’ll have them for a lifetime.

7. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes

The social media space is a dynamic environment where the rules change on a daily basis. Be brave, take a leap of faith and be prepared to make some mistakes, just dust yourself off, learn from them and move on.

The SwapitShop recipe for ‘special sauce’ for 16-24 year olds

1. Shared moments and belonging

Create ways for your audience to interact with their peers through your product or promotion, showing off, group activity or self expression.

2. Peer group competition

Competition creates excitement and interaction.

3. Reward. What’s in it for me

Give them something for doing the things you want.

4. Compelling reason

These are busy people. Why should they give you their time?

5. Novelty

Lead don’t follow. Better to be innovative than a ‘me too’.

6. Delivery

It is better to earn than be given. Build in ways to deliver rewards.

7. On their terms

Look at it from their point of view; deliver on their terms; communicate on their level.

8. Continuity

Create points of consistency and allow your audience to build a following. Don’t drop them for the next promotional activity.

9. Evolution

One offs are great but if you can evolve through user input you will multiply the value.

10. Communication

Fuel safe self expression and dialogue, but be prepared to respond to two-way feedback.

Communicating effectively to young people – Code Computerlove’s five top tips

1. The overall design of your communication is vital

Adopting a style that this demographic already ‘accepts’, like MTV, computer gaming and reality TV helps them view it as ‘cool’.

2. Remember the three Ps

Don’t preach, patronise or be prescriptive. They’ll soon see through ‘marketing spiel’. Communication has to be believable. So talk in their language, or peer to peer communication works well.

3. Use media that they already use

E.g. the internet, social networking, CD ROMs. This, again, will encourage them to not dismiss it as marketing but engage with it.

4. Engage them

This age group likes to discover for themselves. Allowing them to search out the information that’s relevant to them encourages them to consume.

5. Most young people are very web savvy

So push the boundaries using the latest techniques and functionality that they’ll find fun and interesting.

Five key things a planner should consider for a successful online campaign aimed at young people - by Cat Agostinho, associate director digital, Starcom

1. This audience resonates with digital channels

They are not only active across digital platforms but they are also contributors. Taking this into account means we are able, as media planners, to measure a number of metrics for success so that user interaction with the brand, number of video plays/downloads/friends to a profile page/ virals that are passed on.

2. It is key that digital planners ensure they understand where this target audience is spending time

Along with what activities they are taking part in. Advertisers need to be clever about how to reach the youth market, so need to think above and beyond standard advertising. Social media plays a huge part in the life of this audience and the opportunities here are endless.

3. Digital spans more platforms than just online

Video and mobile are also key areas for the youth market If an advertiser is able to successfully engage this audience through the interactive channels available, this can be incredibly crucial to a brand.

4. You don’t always want consumers to come to you

But instead you want to go to them and push the content to areas that your consumers are already active in. Do not ask the user to do too much to find content, this audience want relevancy delivered to them. Assess carefully if brand microsites are the right thing for this audience.

5. The youth demographic is heavily online; their worlds revolve around the internet

This audience has a pretty heavy consumption currently but behaviour will change in-line with the marketplace changes. For example, continued growth of video and mobile applications, and increasing popularity of social networking will have a big impact on this audience.

Five things you should know before building an effective online experience for young people - from Tribal DDB London

1. Define meaningful and valuable experiences for your audience your business

Creating a gimmicky Facebook or iPhone app might seem like a good idea, but before you launch into developing an app, ask yourself whether it is right for the business. Will it provide the right kind of experience? Will it enable people to interact with the brand in the right ways?

2. Know what you want people to feel as a result

Whatever online experience you build should have very clear emotional objectives. Always ask, ‘How should this make people feel?’

3. Don’t expect your audience to come to you

Go where they are. If your brand doesn’t possess the natural pulling power for your audience, it doesn’t make sense to create a destination website for your campaign. Often, the best way to reach the audience of isn’t through a microsite but by being where they already are. Make sure that your brand is present in the online environments that your audience frequents.

4. Identify your influencers

Social media is the talking point for marketers this year and for a very good reason. With Facebook having now reached more than 200 million users, we certainly have reached a tipping point where social networks can no longer be considered a peripheral online phenomenon and where social media is far from being a fad that will have passed before the year is out. For marketers it is therefore becoming increasingly important to aim digital activity at the influencers – to be able to reach and convert key audiences into loyal brand followers by leveraging the power of social media.

5. Don’t lose sight of your business goals

Begin with the end in mind. Work backwards from your business goals and define the role that digital should play for your brand before you start planning any activity. It is crucial to understand how online can help build your brand and achieve your business goals before you start considering different digital solutions.

Five tips on using video to raise awareness of your brand – from InSkin

1. Don’t be too animated

As this will interfere with the users video viewing experience.

2. Be clear on your overall objectives

Do you want to drive the to the advertiser site, or bring the advertiser to the user in the form of an expandable microsite?

3. Only use 3 to 5 menu options

In the expandable microsite whether it be book a test drive, watch a video, or download a voucher, for example.

4. Ensure you have a clear creative brief

To allow build of fully working mock up.

5. Leave a minimum 15 working days lead time

Between first briefing the creative build, to going live.

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