Social Marketing That Makes Teens Want to Shop

by Olivia Collins

Advertising to teenagers can be very tricky, but effective if done right. A new trend is stores paying famous teens to simply wear their clothes and say where they got them – mostly using teens famous on tumblr and Instagram. I really like this method because it doesn't feel like some random advertisement is being crammed down your throat.

And it works because clothing companies ask teens who already wear the same style of their clothes – you won't see a girl on tumblr famous for her dark style suddenly sporting a ruffled pink dress tagging the company she bought it from. Teens love this form of advertising because they are able to get their hands on the same clothes as their favorite social media celebs. It's a great way for businesses, especially small ones, to get customers without being annoying.


I've also been to a few stores where they encourage you to add their  Snapchat. This works really well when rather than sending you direct Snapchats (which would be obnoxious) they make “stories.” Because the best part about stories is you can choose to look at them (or not). Also, they're usually really short, so you won't have to spend more than a minute looking at these advertisements.

The site Wanelo (short for Want / Need / Love) is another great place to advertise. It's actually designed for teens looking for products/things to buy and basically serves as a middleman between buyers and sellers via products they can’t resist. I can't even begin to count how many things I've bought from places I've never heard of because they were on the popular page of Wanelo.

Moral of the story? Shows teens what we want in the right ways, and we will buy!

What social media advertising gets YOU spending? Tell me in the comments!

IMAGE CREDIT: FURIA RUBEL