I know what you’re probably thinking:
“Wow! This Chad guy just blew my mind! Teens you say? I never in a million years would have imagined… Thank you kind sir, but I don’t sell clothing and I’m not interested in the music, video game, or cellphone industry…”
Of course the concept of marketing to teens is nothing new. However, bear with me while I bring a few new ideas to the table.
You see, teens today aren’t the teens of 5 years ago; nor were the teens of 5 years ago anything like those who roamed the streets a decade ago. Teens today are big money. Think for a second how much even your lower-level cellphone companies must love the modern teen: Their constant desire to upgrade to the newest model of “blackberry” or “iPhone” once or twice per year.
How does expensive modern technology evolving month-to-month compare to the obligation of having to buy your kid some ‘Guess’ or ‘Ikeda’ jeans once per year, and a Sega or Nintendo for Christmas back in the 90’s?
Do you know what the biggest teen trend was 10 years ago? Street racing. Along with all the aftermarket parts, car-buying, Fast and Furious race days at the track that teens and adults under 40 could handle at the time. Imagine if your business had been poised for the unveiling of that first movie?
You didn’t need to go into the car or parts business to reap the rewards of hitting on that teen trend. What if you’d developed a teen product or service, then sponsored race days at the track, or really segmented your marketing and did a giveaway for an upgrade package at your local tuner shop?
By the way, just in case you think I’m telling you to market to teen drivers in 2013 and beyond, this article at digitaltrends.com says teens don’t wanna drive anymore: Digital Trends Article. Apparently they’re too busy with their smartphones.
This one from about.com says more teens are driving than ever before: About.com Article. This article also delves into details that you might have never considered as a small business idea, such as starting a Porsche Driving School, or similar, to give teens a once-in-a-lifetime experience while they learn to navigate the mean streets. That’s kind of thinking outside the box, right? In an obvious sort of way…
I know I’ve been blabbering somewhat randomly for a bit here now, but I am going to drop a nice nugget here: One that any small, medium, or large business owner can use: App development!
“Oh you’ve shocked us yet again, Mr. Stewart. What is this ‘App thing’ you speak of?”
Apps are nothing new to us either, but think about how easily a teen can be summoned to use something if it’s cool and shiny. They’ll gladly spend a buck or two (or more) for something that tickles their fancy. They buy a cool app when they’re bored, if they think they ‘might’ use it, or if their friends have it and they want to say the have it too.
That’s all I’m going to say about teen apps though; the ideas are numerous and yours to capitalize on.
An adult, by contrast, might be a little more scrupulous with their cash if they don’t think an app will be of any use to them long-term. Unless it’s an impulse buy, or something they need at that moment.
If you don’t think teens and apps are worth your time, I’ll close this post with a somewhat related article about a ‘teen’ who recently sold his ‘app’ to Yahoo: Teen Sells “Summly” app to Yahoo
Photo credit: Alex E. Proimos
