For Subscribers
Teen Dream Wake up to a market that could bring you big bucks.
By Gwen Moran Edited by Frances Dodds
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The youngest "millennials"--a demographic segmentroughly defined as individuals born in the 1980s and 1990s-areheading back to school. In 2005, 12- to 19-year-olds commanded awhopping $158 billion in spending power, according to Teenage ResearchUnlimited, a Northbrook, Illinois, market research firm.
Want to cash in on this lucrative market? Here are sometips:
- Keep mom and dad in the loop. "The biggest factorin marketing to millennials is that they have their parentshovering over their shoulders more than other generations beforethem," says Cheryl Russell, editorial director of New StrategistPublications, a publishing and information company thatspecializes in demographics.
- Look online. Tech-savvy teens are gettingrecommendations from online sources. Provide information to themthrough your website, work on search engine optimization to makeyour business easy to find, and consider a presence on socialnetworking sites like MySpace.com.
- Forget the fluff. "It's not enough to hang yourhat on a microtrend or a fad," says Michael Wood, vicepresident of TRU. "You [need] a product or service that ismeeting a basic teen need at its core, served up to them in aninteresting and entertaining way."
Gwen Moran is co-author of The CompleteIdiot's Guide to Business Plans.
