More than $264 billion is spent annually for products bought by and for teens in the United States. As a small business, understanding a demographic worth over a quarter of a trillion dollars can help you better address their needs. And for this group, Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) is the most popular social media channel with 47 percent of teens using it — a growth of 12 percent year-over-year.
The 34th semi-annual Taking Stock With Teens research survey by Piper Jaffray Companies highlights the spending trends and brand preferences of 6,100 teens across 44 U.S. states. And amongst its finding is their preference for Snapchat.
Teens Like Snapchat the Most
Piper Jaffray reported Snapchat came in first with 47 percent, followed by Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest at 24, 9, 7 and 1 percent respectively.
The popularity of Snapchat also extends to millennials. A recent survey by LendEDU reported 58 percent of college students are checking Snapchat before Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook combined. The growth of Snapchat within these two demographics represents a shift from Facebook, which came in at a low 13 percent and Instagram at 27 percent.
If you are a small business still on the fence about Snapchat, now is the time to use the platform to engage with these users.
What About Spending Behavior?
The fall 2017 report saw overall teen spending down by 4.4 percent year over year. This affected the amount they spent on food, which was down to 22 percent from the 24 percent in the spring of 2017. But it was higher than the 20 percent that went for food.
When it comes to shopping, 23 percent of teens prefer specialty retailers, down three percent year over year, and 17 percent opted for pure-play ecommerce, which was up two percent year over year. And for teens, Amazon is by far their favorite site, getting 49 percent of the respondents, up nine percent year over year.
The Value of This Data
The Taking Stock With Teens project was launched by Piper Jaffray in 2001. And after surveying more than 155,000 teens in 16 years, it has collected close to 40 million data points. The information reveals how this group spends their money on fashion, beauty and personal care, digital media, food, gaming and entertainment. If you are a small business in any of these industries, you can use the data to make informed decisions for targeting teens.
For some of the additional data on the Taking Stock With Teens survey, take a look at the infographic below.
Click here to view a larger copy of this infographic…
Snapchat Photo via Shutterstock