Alan DraperI’ve sat in on a lot of social media sessions, webinars and discussions. While I’ve learned so much from these, the delivery is typically the same. Presenters are often experienced marketers, thought leaders, executives, consultants, etc. Oh, and they’re typically of adult age.
But one of yesterday’s presentations from the Hartford Business Journal Social Media Summit was different. Sure, much of the social media stats and stories were ones I’ve heard before. The difference in one particular presentation was the point of view. The presenter is 14 years old. His name is Lane Sutton and he’s a young entrepreneur in technology, business and social media. He grew up with social media and doesn’t know life without it.
Yes, Lane grew up with social media and doesn’t know life without it. This concept boggles my mind. While I’ve been using social media since the early 2000s, I’m an 80s child so I had much of my childhood and early adult life without social. However, I’m a Millennial – the most tech-savvy generation. We grew up on computers, video games and cable. Lane isn’t old enough to be a Millennial yet. Do you think his mindset could be intriguing and give us a taste of what’s to come? I do.
Keeping his mindset in mind, I was able to strip away some key takeaways regarding this up-and-coming generation and their social habits.
Key Takeaways from a pre-teen
Be a cool brand. Brands that provide great products/services while maintaining a hip personality are more likely to intrigue this young audience. It’s about being human. Being cool. Is your brand status-update worthy? In addition, this age group cares about helping others. They want brands to stand for something. The Pepsi Refresh Project is a perfect example of a brand that provides a strong product, a hip personality and supports meaningful causes.
People flock to places where others are flocking. Word of mouth and trusting the opinions of friends is vital to this group. They are looking for inviting and exciting content. Uniqueness and intrigue can go a long way, helping a brand’s message spread.
Tools are at their fingertips. Kids understand there are plenty of free tools to learn about their social presence. They are tracking their Twitter followers, getting to know which Facebook posts preform the best and could even understand the concept of influencers. Now, Lane is exceptionally brilliant and ahead of the curve but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible for others on this medium to understand a similar concept. It’s just like my childhood days with Nintendo. I was dissecting my Nintendo, fixing it myself, getting books on the latest console information and teaching myself the game secrets and codes. I was probably ten at the time. It’s completely possible that this concept of understanding your technology is transitioning to social.
Keep an open mind with social and think outside of your age range. Kids can teach us amazing things, even information about our own industry.
How do you see social media evolving as younger demos continue to enter the space? How can we adapt? Share your thoughts on this autumn Saturday!
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Alan Draper.
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This article is very insightful and it’s really amazing how much teenagers can teach us. In the very near future, these people will move social media to another level and start another trend. This basically means we need to make the age range wider for B2C campaigns. Involve people with opinions and give them the opportunity to air it out.
Thanks Maybelle. I love hearing from new and different points of view and Lane was certainly inspiring from that perspective.
With campaigns, demographics are a thing of the past. It’s about mindsets. What are these consumers thinking and feeling? What is their sentiment toward your brand? It doesn’t matter if their 20 or 80 – if they are interested in what your product/service can provide, then they’re a prospect and it’s worth getting to know them!