Among marketers, there are few demographics as important and valuable as teenagers. This group of consumers is busy setting trends, while spending their parents money on items like electronics, fashion, music, video games and movies. Many businesses target the impressionable youth through a variety of advertising mediums in an effort to gain a piece of the estimated $800 Billion they spend each year.

Facebook: Using the Social Network to Influence Teen Consumers

One of these mediums which has produced excellent results for marketers is Facebook. Advertising professionals have become extremely effective at getting their marketing message to teen consumers through Facebook’s business tools. This is demonstrated by a 2013 Teen Survey by Piper Jaffray, where over 52% of teens admitted their purchases were influenced by information they saw on social media. With increasing trends toward online shopping, the ability to capture your target market online is extremely useful.

Facebook: Teen Demographic Dropping as Social Network Losing Importance

Unfortunately for marketers, the same report shows large consecutive drops in teens using Facebook. Some analysts believe that Facebook is losing the “coolness” factor as it has grown to be the social media network of choice for parents and grandparents. In efforts to escape the lurking eyes of family members, teens are now turning to other social media sites to connect with friends and brands. Sites like Reddit, Twitter and Instagram are of growing importance to teens and thereby marketers as well.

In the effort to capture this teen market segment, advertisers must be nimble to remain with this capricious group of consumers. Maintaining a social media presence on outlets that are pertinent for teens will remain a challenge. The key is staying on top of trends. The easy days of simply creating a Facebook campaign may well be on the way out. Now marketers will be tested to see if they can learn the difference between sites like Vine and Snapchat. Business presence on new trendy sites will provide a great advantage over the competition and should be considered a must for any business looking to capture teen dollars.