Young people are typically on the leading edge of technology, and a new report from eMarketer finds that it's no different when it comes to using the internet, something marketers who sell to teens should consider.
According to the study, 74 percent of the U.S. population will be using the internet at least once per month by the end of this year. But, the number for teens – defined as those aged 12-17 – is significantly higher at 96 percent.
Still, it appears as though the teen demographic has reached the point of saturation, with eMarketer predicting that 97 percent of teens will be using the internet at least once per month by the end of 2015, a 1 percent increase over 2011. Over that same period, the total internet penetration in the U.S is expected to rise 5 percentage points to 79 percent.
With that in mind, companies focusing on internet marketing might want to remember that the teens they are marketing to right now will all be adults in less than a decade.
It would seem that today's adults are already very tied into internet usage. According to a May 2010 survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 95 percent of those aged 18-29 use the internet. This would seem to indicate that if a company is looking to target people under the age of 30, it better be doing so online.
