5 Great ways to reach today’s youth (+1 Bonus)

Attending The Youth Marketing Conference has got me thinking about the best mediums to connect with today’s younger citizens. Below is a list of mediums that offer an effective way of spreading your message to today’s youth. This demographic includes people that are 18-24 years old. Although I do not go into specific psychographic and demographic information you can use the targeting options available throughout each medium to specifically target your audience.

1. Television

According the IAB 89% of American’s watch some form of prime time television. This number is probably affected by the amount of content and shows now available online and extends the reach of such ad buys. Although a fragmented medium that is changing rapidly, television represents a strong medium to get your message across a large demographic that can help support a campaign. Setting a foundation of messaging on television can help reinforce brand recognition throughout other mediums, and continue the conversation through online video ads, interactive banners, or simply static banners.

2. Social Networking

Websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, and many more have become premiere destinations for today’s teenagers as a personalized home on the web where they can share their interests and update their friends. Although no longer limited to the younger generations the social networking sites remain a great place to reach the coveted 18-24 range.

Social networking advertising now offers users and advertising more innovative ways of getting people interacting with their brands. Aside from the traditional banner advertisements that simply surround content you can have people using and interacting with your content. A great example of this can be seen by entertainment companies that have used this technology to make artwork, wallpaper, video clips, music clips, and more all a part of a user’s profile, or give the option of integrating them into their pages. This is the type of brand interaction that defies typical banner blindness and can truly lift awareness. It becomes less about forcing the message onto a prospective customer, and giving them access to the content they want to interact with.

3. In Game Advertising

A recent IAB study found that over 58% of American’s play some sort of computer or video game. With the wide range of features available on both consoles and computers video games remains an untapped resources of reaching today’s youth. The options are vast in how you can integrate advertising into a video game but today include; advergaming, in game ads, dynamic in game ads, inter-level advertising, pre-roll messaging, product placement, and traditional sponsorships.

This is such a large topic unto itself that I will be covering it elsewhere on Marketing.fm.

4. Out of Home – Billboards

Out of Home advertising is a great way to reach people outside the traditional locations and be creative in the process. The technologies of tracking such advertising continue to improve, and although true reach numbers are not known, the traffic estimates for major highways and locations such as Time Square in New York City are well documented. This is the type of advertising that can synchronize your messaging with your demographic in an innovative way if you think outside of the traditional “giant billboard” along a roadway.

One such example of this is the billboard in SoHo placed by Vans that showcased the work of a graffiti artist. This type of message speaks directly to their target audience in a authentic way that cannot be replicated by a large ad agency trying to mimic “what’s cool”.

5. Mobile Advertising

SMS advertising can offer an effective way to reach people when they want to communicate with your brand. Placing “short codes” or simple 6 digit codes on a billboard or advertisement that entices a user to text the number for more information can be a great way to track the efficacy of a campaign. This offers a great way to provide further information for someone that is interested but also a way to spread your message beyond its original broadcast location. An even more innovative approach is to utilize MMS technologies to pass along pictures or video content that can then be shared to others.

6. BONUS: Search Marketing

Having a search campaign is essential to any advertising or marketing campaign that takes place today. One of the first places any consumer turns to find more information about your brand is through the search engines. Although you may be ranking highly in the organic listings on your favorite search engine it is always more effective to have your own paid advertisements that allow you to control your message as well as your landing page.

Search Engine Marketing offers a true foundation to any campaign that can allow you to track the efficacy of your message that is delivered in any of the above mediums or others. When a person remembers only a small part of your message or product name – search is the first place they will turn for more information.

Disclaimer: As of this article writing currently work for a full service search engine marketing agency in NYC so clearly I am bullish on SEM 🙂

Conclusion:

Each of the above mediums can be used together or individually but should not be looked at as a one size fits all approach. The need to mix and scale each campaign across different mediums can be determined by your market size, your goals, how you want to track and analyze the campaign, and of course your budget. There are many variable that go into an effective youth oriented marketing effort and this only scratches the surface of options that are available.

If you are interested in learning more about connecting with today’s youth you can contact the Marketing.fm team.

[tags] television, social networking, in game advertising, search engine marketing, SEM, marketing.fm, marketing, advertising, youth marketing conference, youth marketing, mobile, out of home, OOH, mobile advertising [/tags]