Nope. Not kidding. In some cases, teens know a great deal more than their parental units – especially when it comes to utilizing the World Wide Web to the best of its abilities. Teens have the know-how simply because they have used the Internet constantly and made sure to Tweet, Like, Click – any adjective you can think of – many times a day. In fact, without the Internet and, perhaps, that pesky cell phone, this particular YA generation would most likely not be able to function.
Although that can bring about shoulder shrugging and moaning and groaning from a parental unit – it can also bring about a big smile of happiness from businesses who want to learn how to get their brand, company name, and product out to the public in the most ‘profitable’ and quickest way possible.
Marketing is essential and social media is even more so. Yes, magazine ads are still helpful, as well as local events that can be brought up on the local news for the whole neighborhood to attend, but only through the use of social media can your 
company be brought directly into the homes of billions.
So what strengths do teenagers have that their elders tend to forget? The first is easy – the ability to keep a constant eye on the newest, latest fads. They also keep a constant watch on the latest networks appearing. These networks, such as the newcomer Pinterest – which is proving to be one of the best networks to market on – are found by teenagers. They check out these new tools and new systems and make them expand from ‘a nothing’ to something that has over ten million users.
Another part of the teen’s routine comes from perfect planning. Again, not kidding. They read various sites each and every day. They find their favorites and keep up with them. You see, some of their elders simply believe that the only reason they’re on the computer is to tell their friends they ‘heart’ something. So untrue; they are actually keeping up with current events – the events that could have your brand appearing inside the copy.
They wish to be ‘social.’ Many years back the only ‘social’ that could be found for this age group was going to the local diner to hang, or to head out to a school event or dance. Now social has become a huge playground. This is the way they connect. They observe – and their abilities to bring together that niche market (which is the most active market in the land) is a huge skill that businesses could learn from.
Gossip is also still a big deal. Although, again, it used to be nothing but the local rumor-mill that you would talk about on the telephone (dial, of course) or talk about in the halls at school. Gossip nowadays is able to be hard read, posed and shared – gossip about the newest must-haves. If you remember, it was campus gossip that actually began the largest social media network in the world – ask Zuckerberg if you don’t believe me.
The BeFirst Social Media Team has worked with small businesses by increasing the use of social media monitoring, to help them better understand their brand, industry and product. Now small businesses, with the help of Be First, can keep an eye on audience and fans – judging the length of time the readers and users are engaged by their website and marketing campaigns; how they feel about that company’s specific customer service, and more. Yet again, something a teenager does each and every day
In addition, sharing content is the best path to making profits. You can share by re-tweeting, liking, pins – pretty much all social media websites offer that gift that when someone likes something, they can share that experience – that website – that high recommendation of a product, all of these which the teen community does without blinking. In fact, they can type on those little screens faster than Billy the Kid could draw.
From humor to videos to pictures, sharing content is the path that allows the small business to turn into a major one. Which means a social media team must make sure that the content is being sent all over the place. Online conversations and sharing will lift your brand and your product to new heights – again, something teens already knew.
So when you’re starting that new company or refreshing an old one – make sure that the social media team standing behind you not only understands each and every facet of social media – but also knows that teens have many good ideas that should never be ignored.
