How do you reach young people with your social media messages?
You have a beautiful collection of children’s glasses on the shelves. The most trendy brands. But how do you get those parents and their kids in your store? Talk to the kids and young people yourself! Because from a certain age it is no longer the parents who look around for a pair of glasses, but the kids themselves. They often know very well what they want and often make the purchase decision themselves. And you can reach those young people very well via social media.
Use of social media by young people
Children born after 1996 grow up in a digital world, they can swipe before they can talk. They are therefore also called Generation Swipe. Access to the internet is their first necessity in life. A lot of free time is spent there, in their own digital world, alone or with friends. A large part of that time is spent on media: 7 hours and 42 minutes per day, of which 2 hours and 12 minutes communicate via social media (research: Media: Time, source: FrankWatching). Figures from the European Commission show that no fewer than 70% of all 9 to 12-year-olds in the Netherlands have a personal page on a social networking site. That is the highest number in Europe and striking because for registration on social media is usually a minimum age of 13 years. The Netherlands is also the leader in the 13 to 16-year-olds category with 87%.
Which social media channel
72% of young people between the ages of 15 and 19 use Facebook, 86% YouTube, 73% Instagram and 72% Snapchat. The use of Facebook is decreasing in this age group, the decline in daily use is even stronger. In 2016, 68% of young people still used Facebook, now only 43%. This evidence comes from the National Social Media Research 2018, the largest trend research on the use of social media in the Netherlands, carried out by Newcom Research.
This study also revealed the reason for the decline in the use of Facebook: young people feel less at home among the (older) people who are on Facebook (30%) and find advertisements annoying (13%). If you want to reach young people, choose the platforms on which they are active: Instagram and YouTube. The parents are reached via Facebook (89% of the 20–39-year-olds use Facebook and 77% of the 40–64 age group.) The use of Facebook among these age groups has remained the same as in previous years).
It is also interesting that youngsters use every platform for a different purpose (research by Ruigrok Netpanel, publication FrankWatching). Facebook is used for contact with family, so only family-proof photos are shared. Facebook is also used to look up people and thus create an image of someone they do not yet know. Instagram is used to collect likes from friends and to store memories. Many lifestyle pages and fashion pages are also followed on this platform. It gives a picture of the personality of the person who uses it. Snapchat acts as the most personal network, where young people drop photos that were not made to share with many people. They also follow branded pages on this platform and read stories.
How do you reach young people on social media?
Social media is the perfect place to show the youngsters that you have good and trendy eyewear in store for them. Because of the marketing noise (especially aimed at young people) of the chain(stores) and online shops they often are not aware of this. Social media is therefore also the place to get just as much attention from the young people, without having to use a lot of budget. But how do you ensure that you address this age group in a fun, attractive and responsible way on social media?
10 tips
- You can divide young people into four age groups: kids (6–8 years), teens (9–12), tweens (13–19) and young adults (20–34). Kids like to play games online, teens want to read information, tweens want social interaction with friends and young adults want to read relevant content. So think in advance which age segments you want to approach.
- Look for interaction. Only placing a banner or asking for likes does not work for young people and children. Ask them their opinion or ask them to vote for the most beautiful glasses, the best sportframes or the most desirable sunglasses.
- Young people have already seen all the funny movies and virals before you see them. Sharing these movies is superfluous, in fact, you will look ‘old’ and ‘outdated’.
- Choose the right platform. From the research of Newcom Research discussed above, especially Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube emerged as intensively used by young people. Instagram is good to use as a company and especially visual, so show your beautiful collections! You can also use Snapchat as a company. Make short and funny videos that can be scrolled through quickly. It can be raw and real, that is what the platform is meant for.
- Make sure you can be reached via Whatsapp for questions. 97% of the young people use Whatsapp and they are used to communicate with companies this way. Make sure you are easy to contact to for young people and use Whatsapp as a communication channel. For example, use WhatsApp for booking an appointment and answering questions.
- For young people, social media is mainly about humor. Hilarious vlogs from their favorite influencer, the funny filters from Snapchat and the funny movies on YouTube are a magnet to them. Try to incorporate humor into your posts, but do not do it in an ‘I’m old but I feel young’ way! Watch out for young words like WTF and OMG, you are quickly seen as ridiculous by the youngsters (and especially their parents).
- Make sure your message is ‘shareable’, so your message is quickly distributed among other young people. This mainly works with offers, promotions and funny videos. Always provide good and professional visual material, young people are very visual-focused. Connect with the target group you want to achieve by using visuals with young people and a modern design.
- Does a trendy brand you sell use influencers or do they make attractive campaigns that appeal to young people? Share it on your own platform. You get more exposure if you post a message instead of sharing the original message. So: ask your suppliers for the material and mail itself. Or use a social media platform where this is ready for you, such as Embrosa Pics.
- Do you know young people in your immediate environment? Like cousins, nieces, neighbors or your own children? Ask for their opinion about your social media messages and let them act as guest blogger, influencer and tester of your (children’s) products.
- Connect with local initiatives for young people. A pop venue, funfair and sporting events are ideal for hooking up on social media! Sponsor a local band that performs with your trendy products (and show them on your social channels and let the band members do the same), make nice pictures at the funfair or make a movie during a local football match (score your sports glasses with us too, this keeper/rugby player/ hockey player is a fan!).
About Embrosa
Embrosa is a Dutch company which creates technical solutions to give local entrepreneurs more marketing power. They started in 2017 in The Netherlands with the Embrosa app containing ready-made social media messages. Download their new app Embrosa Pics (Google Play / App Store): an app filled with professional visuals from optical brands. Opticians can download the visuals and use them for their online and offline marketing. Of course TEF is shining also in this new app, check it out!
Brands: add your marketingcontent for free. Send an email to our chief content Myrthe: content@embrosa.com. Get in contact with marketing girl Marieke about press and marketing questions: marieke@embrosa.com and let ceo/sales Melanie know if you want info about advertising: melanie@embrosa.com.