Interactive and Online Marketing to Teens and Tweens - Whitepaper published

Brands using interactive marketing and online communities to reach teens and tweens must understand the new rules of engagement, and to aid that process, we've just published a new whitepaper. The paper - An introduction to using community and interactive advertising to engage tweens / teens – is the latest in a series of white papers from eModeration, and includes tips and insights for brands who are creating interactive marketing campaigns or online communities aimed at tweens and teens. It examines how groups of teenagers interact with brands (and, importantly, when they reject interaction with brands); what motivates them and what turns them away; and the most important things brands should consider when creating online marketing campaigns.

Brands should consider how this group engages with each other, says the paper, but avoid trying to be a ‘cool kid’ (the equivalent of ‘watching your dad dance at a wedding’). It gives insights into how teens and tweens engage with social media campaigns, cause marketing and aspirational brands (on their own terms); and the importance of ‘social currency’, peer-to-peer marketing, instant responsiveness and a safe environment.

The paper also gives advice on ‘getting it right’ with a younger audience, including information on:

• Making sure what you want to achieve is right for this market
• Researching, and listening to feedback from your audience before creating your campaign
• Injecting personality to your brand campaign or community that appeals to this group
• Being credible and creating ‘social currency’; and creating value from word-of-mouth marketing
• Interaction and ‘social utility’; agility and responsiveness
• Creating a space or campaign that is authentic and multi-sensory
• Not over-branding your campaign, or making the marketing too overt
• Developing a campaign that is useful
• Knowing your niche, and sticking to it
• Considering cause marketing
• Getting language and tone right
• Making your community or campaign safe and avoiding cyberbulling
• Drawing the line between setting boundraries to create a safe environment and one that protects your brand, while allowing freedom of discussion
• Avoiding being intrusive, or communicating over the wrong platform

You can download the whitepaper here.