Teens Taught Me These 4 Critical Social Media Lessons

Let's face it -- there's just some things teenagers do better than adults.

And social media is one of them.

Why?

Because teens aren't on social media to promote or sell. They're there for 1 main reason...

To be social!

A few years ago I met AirAsia marketing guru Kathleen Tan. She admitted during our discussion that she learns a lot about social media from spending time with her nieces & nephews.

Thanks to Kathleen's stellar leadership (and her teen advisers), today AirAsia is a social media powerhouse -- with more than 2 million Facebook fans & a million followers on Twitter.

Meanwhile, savvy teens everywhere continue to capitalize on their own social clout.

A young Viner I follow just partnered with Pepsi -- yes, the same Pepsi that hires professional basketball players & Beyonce for their ad campaigns.

This set me on a quest to figure out what these young social media naturals know that we don't?

And I think I finally have some answers.

Teens Taught Me These 4 Critical Social Media Lessons

1. Know the Lingo

Teenagers speak the language of social media better than anyone.

Ask them what types of content work on different social platforms, and they'll give you some helpful social media tips.

When sharing content, teens know that instead of trying to create something new, they should go with already established trends like using popular hashtags on Twitter.

And teens are conversant across all social platforms -- Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, NO PROBLEM!

This example shows how CamMi Pham used a trending hashtag to score some nice play on Twitter:

Takeaway

Know what types of content are most useful for your fans -- and what topics are popular in their world at the moment

2. Co-Promote

I’m seeing lots of co-promotion on YouTube & Vine (an app that lets users create & post short film clips).

Teenagers get together & shoot videos. They either make 1 video to post on everyone's channel, or several videos to post to each person's channel individually.

By linking to different YouTube channels & Vine accounts, each participant in the videos gets promoted as the content is shared around the web.

Remember the Pepsi example I mentioned above?

Well, you may also remember that before this year's Super Bowl, Pepsi launched a campaign to bring one lucky fan their own halftime party.

And to promote the contest, Pepsi partnered with some of the most popular people on Vine:

Takeaway

Partner with colleagues & influential people in your industry to co-promote your products & brands.

3. Produce Awesome Content

Teens in social media create & share some of the best content on the web.

The material is fun, relevant & very engaging. And businesses can replicate these posting strategies if they pay attention.

Many people will question whether some content is suitable for their audience -- and several posts probably aren't.

But following examples from the teenagers in your life could lead to some empowering ideas for how you can use social media for your business.

I was on Instagram the other day when a teenager I know tagged me in a comment. It was a simple photo of a dog.

But the caption said to tag your friend -- so he did.

Since then I watched as the post racked up more than 39k Likes & 2k comments.

And asking your fans to tag their friends on one of your posts could provide similar exposure for company.

Takeaway

Post fun, engaging content -- nobody follows you just to see your advertisements!

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4. Be Consistent

The final & perhaps most important social media lesson we can learn from teenagers is to post consistently & often to all our social media accounts.

Many top teens in social media post at least once a day. And even those who don’t are expected to post great content on a regular basis.

Some companies make the mistake of not posting often enough -- a huge no-no!

If you share engaging content, chances are people will return for more. And those repeat visitors help your social media presence thrive.

Trust me, if Epic Meal Time can create 70,000-calorie food monuments every Tuesday for 3 years, anyone can consistently produce creative content for their business.

They aren't teens, but I think you get my point:

Takeaway

Post consistently on all your social media platforms -- update your Facebook page regularly & know that you'll lose part of your audience if you disappear for even a few days.

Learn from Youth!

Are there other content marketing lessons you've learned while watching teenagers use social media?

I'd love to hear your observations in the comments below.