Targeting the youth with your digital marketing campaign

Social media

It is absolutely essential to include social media in any campaign orientated at a youthful audience. The latest figures show that generation Y makes up the majority on almost all the social networks, with Twitter standing out as the 'youngest' social network in terms of user demographics. Today's youth spend hours on social networking sites, chatting with friends and sharing all manner of content and media. Brands that are able to establish a presence on social media will need to work hard and be cool to get the attention of their young audience, but once young social networkers identify with a brand on social media they can become loyal brand ambassadors. In order for brands to be successful on social media they will need to put effort in to maintaining their page, participate in conversations and share great branded content.

Mobile

The younger generation in general are tech-savvy and constantly connected through a range of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. In South Africa more people use mobiles to access the internet than desktop computers and this trend definitely pertains to the youth in particular. In order to stand out in terms of mobile marketing your brand should look into creating custom apps for smart devices as well as maintaining a responsive website that senses and adapts when viewed on a mobile device. On a more basic level, SMS and even MMS campaigns will also work when brands want to include youth who have mobile phones, but not necessarily smart phones.

Email marketing

You would be forgiven for not immediately thinking of email marketing when thinking of youth orientated campaigns, but studies have shown that email marketing is just as effective with this age group as any other. In fact the constant connectivity provided through mobile email has lead to the younger generation being more connected to their email than ever before. Email has moved past the days of simply functioning as a static inbox-bound advertisement - it's an interactive medium that can allow brands to share great content and link to their social media profiles. As long as your brand's emails are exciting, engaging and visually appealing, you will have no problem drawing in the younger audience through your email marketing campaign.

Content: videos and games

Implementing a solid content marketing strategy is very important when targeting youth. This generation more than any other refuses to be preached to by companies and much prefers to engage with them directly through social media or by sampling content that they've produced. Cool content, whether branded or not, will get the opportunity to be shared on social networks and will stimulate brand awareness and bolster your SEO and eventually sales. The most popular content among youth includes entertainment based mediums such as games, cool videos and visual art.