The Pew Internet & American Life Project has a new report you should scan if you still think marketing the old fashioned way to the new and next generation is going to work. It's about the use of social media among teenagers in America, with a focus on how boys' and girls' online preferences differ in some ways. But for me, that's the side story. Of more importance I think is that television, radio and newspapers aren't even mentioned in the report (not totally surprising since this is Internet research), and that the numbers are staggering.
For example, see if this doesn't give you reason for pause:
Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation... There is a subset of teens who are super-communicators â€" teens who have a host of technology options for dealing with family and friends, including traditional landline phones, cell phones, texting, social network sites, instant messaging, and email. They represent about 28% of the entire teen population and they are more likely to be older girls...
There's an old saying where I come from. It is "Fish where the fish are." To that, I would append the phrase, "...and use good bait." Want to reach the online generation? Go online, and stop thinking that your static website full of polished, vetted phrases rises to the definition of social media. It isn't going to attract or compel the new supercommunicators.
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