Survey Shows New Social Media Habits Among Teens that Advertisers Should be Aware of

A new survey by PreciseTV dives into new teen social media trends for marketers. Finding what channels teens are most interested in is a complex task because they are on different social media apps and do not want advertisers to invade their space. PreciseTV collaborated with Giraffe Insights, a youth research firm, found out that teens between the ages of 13 and 17 are the biggest inspiration for what parents buy for their kids on holidays and birthdays.

PreciseTV says that advertisers need to look very closely at what teens are interested in nowadays because different groups of teens have different interests. It is also important that advertisers maintain the privacy of teenagers while doing their research. Advertisers need to learn about different teenager interests by researching deeply on different topics, videos and themes.

The survey asked 1000 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 and their parents about what social media habits teens are interested in nowadays. The results of the survey found that teens are using TikTok, YouTube and video games regularly nowadays. The results also found some interesting surprises like 58% of teens using Facebook versus 55% teens using Instagram. 36% also said that they have recently watched some content on Linear TV. Advertisers are always prioritizing teens when it comes to advertising their products. But teens don’t seem quite happy with ads that appear on their feeds.

The survey also asked teens to rank social media apps. Most teens ranked YouTube at top (46%), followed by TikTok (29%). Facebook (25%) was more liked by teens than Instagram (23%).Only 3% of teens said that X is their favorite social media platform. When teens asked which platforms have the most recallable ads, 52% of teens answered YouTube. 27% also said that YouTube ads were most enjoyable and interesting. But 25% of teens admitted to skipping ads on YouTube. On the other hand, teens do not like ads on TikTok and Instagram. Only 19% said that they enjoy ads on TikTok while 10% said so about Instagram.


Chief growth officer at youth marketing agency Archrival, Ben Harms, says that advertisers should have different strategies for ads on YouTube and ads on Instagram. He added that brands should add values to advertisements rather than just stuffing the platforms with ads that are a nuisance to teens. He gave an example about a recent collaboration with Charlie D’Amerlio and Ford and how it didn’t make sense to most of the viewers because it didn’t align with the content Charlie posts on YouTube and TikTok. So, advertisers should know their audience before offering baseless collaborations to content creators.

teens are most interested in gaming content (43%) and music streaming (36%) on YouTube, while other genres include comedy, how-to videos and fashion content. On TV, teens recall seeing ads during streaming (31%) than Linear TV (29%). But most teens (23%) said that they enjoy ads on Linear TV rather than on streaming platforms. Ben Harms also said that in addition to keeping up with latest trends, teens also want to experience some nostalgia. Brands should try to advertise on platforms like Tumblr because they remind Gen-Z of their younger days.

When Gen-Z were asked what their platform for streaming is, 27% chose Netflix, followed by YouTube (16%) and then Hulu (10%). Harms said that Gen-Z is a stressed and anxious generation so anything that reminds them of carefree and simpler days, they are going to take it.

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