AGP's Top Five Tips for Reaching the Youth Market

If you're interesting in reaching the youth marketing, this article is for you. Youth today is a very special niche with very specials wants (as opposed to needs). They're virtually impervious to direct mail and some forms of eMarketing, but you can easily reach them online and through TV and filmed media.

Here's a statistic that probably won't be a surprise: almost nine out of every 10 teens use the Internet, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project's report, "Teens and Technology." The surprising part is when you compare that percentage to their adult counterparts (a mere 66 percent). So how do you reach them? Here's our top five tips on how to do that:

1. Sarcasm is in! Snarky sayings, funny quotes from pop culture and iconic characters from Saturday morning cartoons (see www.hulu.com) are a force to be reckoned with. Get to know these things. Seriously.

2. Get a MySpace account. Now. Pull all your company tidbits on it. You may not get as many friends, but being listed on a site that popular will help your SEO efforts in a big way.

3. Get a Facebook account. Now. See #2 explanation above.

4. Give yourself a face or a brand advocate. Youth programs, Kids' Clubs and anything revolving around a certain age demographic is basically a way of creative a brand that kids can interact with. Different ages respond to different things, so speak to them accordingly.

5. Incentives work. It's hot hard to figure out what kids are into these days. Sports, movies, video games, anything to do with pop culture. Toasters will not sway this age group, but an iTunes gift card may work wonders.