Youth marketers: Use these seven tips to boost marketing results

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The iGeneration or Net Generation consists of people born after 1982 - the youth. They're also known as Generation Y or the millennials in the US.

The majority of CEOs, business development managers and marketing directors were born between 1950 and 1981 (the previous generation - Generation X). These people are responsible for developing products for, and marketing them to the iGeneration. It's crucial they have a good understanding of the demo-psychographics of this complex new generation of consumers.

Let's have a look at some of the most significant differences in the values, behaviour, experiences and preferences of the iGeneration that you need to consider when planning your marketing campaigns...

Understand the intricacies of the youth market to achieve greater success

With the inflation of the size of the youth market in recent years, this generation receives considerable marketing attention. However, many organisations have not taken into consideration the intricacies that make this generation different to older generations.

Here are seven tips to consider when planning your youth-targeted campaigns, in order to boost results:

1. The iGeneration helps out with shopping and the general management of the household. While teenagers in general spend a considerable amount of money annually for personal consumption, they also influence the decisions on many other items, including, monthly household purchases, cars, holidays, cellphones and other tech gadgets. In recent YDx research, 24% of young people said they are responsible for grocery shopping for their entire household. To a greater degree, the youth of today are forming important preferences and tastes early-on that will stay with them into their adulthood. Marketers must attract the youth a lot earlier-on to earn their loyalty.

2. The iGeneration dreams big. This generation also values positive reinforcement much more than previous generations. Feature your brand as an instrument of positive change. They also like products customised to their unique needs and brand names are important to them.

3. They don't respond well to traditional mass-marketing. Instead, they value real life examples and associate with strong visuals. Experiential marketing and compelling activations could boost your results far more than a standard traditional advert.

4. The youth subscribe to truth and realism. Marketers need to develop products and pitches that are more realistic, while bearing in mind that music and fashion are key touch points. They're easily able to grasp new concepts and are very learning oriented, in fact recent YDx research shows that for 73% of the teen respondents, education is the second most important aspect of their lives, after family. Use honesty, humour, uniqueness and information to reach out to them. They crave challenge so encourage them to explore new paths or options.

5. Recent YDx research shows that this generation actively seeks out instant gratification, are impatient, are highly adaptive to change and are very good at multitasking. An effective marketing strategy for this generation is to regularly introduce new products and services, and run lots of new creative promotions to captivate this active shopper segment that gets bored so easily.

6. Use family events and gatherings as ways to communicate with this generation. YDx research shows family is THE most important thing in the youth's life. Contact them through their parents and grandparents - they admire their parents much more than previous generations.

7. They value connecting with their peers. YDx research shows they use social media sites and instant messaging as opposed to email to share important information with their peers. Content is king for this generation. They want to be able to share content on all the different sites without restrictions.

Understanding the youth market is imperative for the success of your brand.

Youth Dynamix (YDx) is a specialist youth and family research and marketing agency with over 15 years' experience and insights. Contact YDx for more information.