In a report titled Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018, released last month, Pew Research Centre showed that American teens’ online behaviour is evolving, with repercussions for any brand or digital marketing agency. Based on interviews with almost 750 teens and more than 1,000 parents, the report unveiled several important findings relating to social media use and connectivity.

Teens are increasingly migrating away from Facebook, Pew reported. In 2014-15, 71 per cent of teenagers said they used the network; today, just 51 per cent do. Worse still for the social media giant, just 10 per cent of teenage respondents said Facebook is their most-used platform.

YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat are now the three most popular social media networks for teens, with more than 80 per cent saying they use one of those three platforms most often. Here, the implications for every digital marketing agency are clear: if teens are your target audience, avoid Facebook and embrace media-sharing sites.

The survey also revealed that a whopping 95 per cent of US teens have smartphones, and that nearly 90 per cent are either “almost constantly” online or go online several times a day. That means brands that market to teens can reach their audience with hyper-local, hyper-relevant messaging.

More importantly, this finding suggests that always-online lifestyles are about to become a reality for everyday consumers. Today’s teenagers are unlikely to give up their mobile devices as they age, and next-generation wireless networks, combined with a growing repository of user data, will enable brands to deliver personalized messaging to a massive, diverse audience.

As a Premier Google Partner digital marketing agency with access to valuable insights on Google’s preferred practices, GrowthEngine Media can help you develop an online strategy tailored to your target audience. Our team can help your business reach the right consumers with the right messaging and the right time.