When you think of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, you know they help you connect with others and see how they are doing. They are successful at that, but there is another thing they all have in common – teens began to use them, and they exploded in popularity. Similarly, all failing social networks are doing so because teens and young people leave the platform due to various factors involved.
Another interesting thing to note is teen stars’ high engagement levels on social media, aside from celebrities of various ages. That is a trend you may not have paid much attention to – but it is true. No matter how much you may want to criticize them (because they may not seem focused on the ‘important’ things like school), the truth remains that there is a lot to learn from them in terms of social media marketing – they have it figured out before most people.
When you examine trends closely, teens have the power to achieve greater success compared to a rand with a massive marketing budget running into millions of dollars. And they do this in the simplest way possible – they only need their phone and a splash of creativity. Teen stars today are viral, and they are found through various platforms such as YouTube, and even go on to get major sponsorships because of it.
The major question then becomes – what do they know that major branding efforts do not? Here are some of them.
They do not try so hard to sell products or services.
A brand on social media will usually go for the logical step – make sure to market their brand as much as possible, all to sell their products or services. However, teens do not go for that because their mind does not dictate, ‘I must sell something today.’
When you have a sales-first mentality, it puts major filtering on everything you are posting – because you subconsciously think you need to promote your brand in all posts, get every day more Instagram auto followers, and generate leads.
However, a teen will not care about this mentality when producing content. For many, it is just a hobby or a method of exploring what they can do to keep themselves busy. Therefore, they will only care about the content they produce, which means their content does not have hidden motives or agendas.’ They will first use social media for its actual purpose, not marketing.
They usually take a documenting approach, while brands take a creative process.
The most popular brands you know on Instagram have one thing in common – the content is usually made specifically for their audience on the platform. Because of this, you will include a lot of Instagram contests, custom graphics that promote posts, and photoshoots of products.
On the other hand, you get to study the feed of a teen Instagram star; you notice something entirely different – they are simply documenting the things they see, including videos and photos. In other words, they are not forcing themselves to create content for their audience; they report what they see and where they are.
That also means the ‘staged’ and ‘perfect’ ways you know of creating content will not have a major place, and this will make your content seem more organic and real. Your audience begins to relate to your content, making them decide to follow.
They work together
One of the major hallmarks of teen stars and young people becoming social media influencers is their willingness to work with each other on certain projects or collaborate on content. With every collaboration they make, they can gain new followers quickly and learn new tips and tricks from those they work with. However, many businesses tend to keep all their efforts on marketing in-house and are unwilling to collaborate most of the time.
A teen will usually not collaborate to get new followers – rather, they are willing to do it because they want to learn and grow in their skills and have the chance to create something unique and fun. In the same way, consider working with other brands outside your industry, as they can teach you things and approaches to doing things. Also, you can get new followers quickly.
Quick adaptation
Have you ever experienced some hesitation when choosing a social media platform? It is one of the worst mistakes you can ever make – because the possibilities of your audience changing are very high. The best brands and teens will have the ability to switch up their social media approaches and reinvent how they do things.
Even though you may blame their constant changes due to a short attention span, the fact remains that their strategy always seems to work. When you want to grow your influence on social media, you should never be afraid to try new approaches. As you continue, you will eventually figure out the best strategy for your brand.
Show your thanks
You ever notice the most successful brands always thank their followers for following them, especially when they hit certain milestones? All social media influencers will appreciate their audience, such as responding to comments, taking the time to make a post or video saying thank you, or having a spontaneous giveaway to thank their followers.
This is a way of appreciating their audience and giving back to them instead of only thinking of ways their audience can help them.
Final thoughts
Getting your brand growth on social media entails many things, but you cannot just use the usual strategies. When you think like a teen in terms of your system, it can boost your engagement statistics much more, and that will help you reinvent yourself.
