Be Very Afraid

You have nothing to fear if you're ready for them. They are part of a new wave of consumers positioned to help you grow your business, or shrink it. And they're wired.

Teenagers and young adults. They're being called the "wired generation", and there's a reason for it. This is a generation who, for the most part, has been born into an internet-connected world. Some of them don't even know what it's like to look through a phonebook for listings. Or an encyclopedia. 

On average, teens send about 50 text messages a day, and they're logging on to social networks every single day. This is a generation that is very familiar with publishing information about themselves, their likes, dislikes, relationship status, and the names of products and services they buy, love, and swear by.

 In Gary Vaynerchuk's book The Thank You Economy, he describes how he saw a teenager at Best Buy use Facebook to ask for recommendations on a video game. He got that feedback in real time, and made his purchasing decision based off of it.

This isn't just a frilly anecdote--this is going to be the norm.

As a business owner, no one has to convince you of the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Well, welcome to word-of-mouth marketing, baby! This time, it's on performance-enhancing drugs and has something to prove. 

Listen, I'm not predicting doom and gloom for those of you who don't get with it. All I'm saying is that the businesses who do get with it--those who have an active online presence--are in a better position to continue and grow their business.

Where will this leave you?

This wired generation is going to get older. They're going to have more buying power, and they're going to be looking for your products and services via a platform they've been using for most of their lives.

The future of your business is in their busy little texting hands.

Do you have a plan?

Photo credit Arne Hendriks