What Impact Do Kids Have On Influencer Marketing

I don't have to look very far to see first hand how the shift in influencer marketing and content consumption is happening.

My very own focus group lives with me...we have a 24, 21, 18 and 7 year old (That's a story for another day) which gives me the perfect age range.  Plus it's two boys and two girls.  

Of course as a parent I am naturally curious about what they watch, listen to and post online, but being in the business it's equally intriguing to me to understand their media consumption habits and how their digital friends "Influencers" really direct their attention. Both the good and the bad stuff.  

Here is what I have discovered.

• None of them watch cable TV programming (Except Live Sports)
• The older ones binge watch series via appleTV on Netflix and HBO 
• The little guy likes watching Youtube of other kids playing minecraft and kid Vlogs (I'll explain below)
• None can even name or listen to local radio 
• They don't read physical newspapers or magazines off line
• They perfer reading an actual book rather than digitally
• When they watch live TV, they look at their phones 90% of the time during EVERY commercial
• They rarely talk on the phone one on one with another human.  
• Does anyone else get texts from your kids who are in the next room?  
•  Instagram and SnapChat is their magazines, newspapers, ABC, NBC, CNN, ESPN, etc
• Their phones are their TV's and they can hack anything to bypass cable
• SnapChat is here to stay and will be a major player in the influential marketer space.  
• This summer will be huge growth for SC.  Figure out how to use it personally this will open your eyes to the endless B2B, B2C opportunities.  
• The brag factor of a simple photo or video to tell their story of being at a cool event has propelled the "Lifestyle Experience" to to be more valuable than material things like cars or clothes.  
• Their digital friends influence their entertainment, travel, music, fashion, food and political views more than we may think.   

Kids Are Creating Personal Media Empires

• You may have heard of this young YouTube star EvanTubeHD.  At 10 years old he already has 2.9M subs on his personal YouTube Channel.  
• The main theme to his Vlog is providing his perspective on new products which he explains as he assembles and plays lego's, board and video games. 
• Let's put it into perspective, the screen shot of the video below shows 39M views and growing (As of June 6, 2016)  
• The recent ABC NBA Finals had 16M viewers.   Let that set in for a minute.
• The cost of Evan's production as currency of 8 hours of his dad's time to edit and a few hours to shoot.
• From a product placement perspective the CPM's on 39M views is worth paying attention.  
• The 10 year old next door is the influencer, not always a celebrity or athlete.
• Evan is not in a union or on payroll.  

​How Did This Happen?

• 24 hour on demand multiple screen access points
• Low cost of production
• Free media distribution rights 
• Simple ad rev share % via Google Adworks directly into young Evan's college fund.
• Estimated .10 cents per view...do the math on 39M views.  
• Anyone with a cell phone or laptop is part of the eco-system
• It's not just about getting to market first, that helps, it's quality of content 

​Growing & Evolving By The Hour & Day

The influence that Youtube, SnapChat or musical.ly will have on my home focus group is massive.  
Those brands that are nimble in the space, willing to take some risks and not bogged down by layers of approvals and politics will win.  

If you're thinking this is a few years away you lost, think 3,6,12 months and what are you going to do today.    

Now if I can only get my seven year old to play the guitar like Eddie Van Halen! 
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Thank you for reading and hopefully commenting below and sharing this post. 

Rob is the author of "The Business of Sports" eBook guide to working in the sports industry and a 25+ senior executive with The Walt Disney Company, North American Sports Group and The NFL. I help global sports organizations, media groups, brands, leagues and teams create digital and live event revenue generating content and activation.  

​You can follow me on all SM platforms @RobThompsonLive  

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