Teens are spending less time on Facebook as a result of new changes to the platform, which could force social media marketing campaigns to adjust.

Social media marketing campaigns focusing heavily on Facebook should expand to new channels to target teenage and young adult demographics, a new report from Mr. Youth said. The recent adjustments to Facebook, including the news ticker and Timeline, have frustrated many users who may soon spend their social media time elsewhere.

According to the study, 59 percent of teens said they would not adjust their Facebook use. However, 21 percent said they would move to Google+ and spend less time on Facebook. Google+ has spent the better part of the last two months aggressively updating and improving its service in line with user demand, and it may have come just in time to satisfy a massive audience of teens and young adults looking for a new social fix.

Only 6 percent of users say they would stop using Facebook in favor of Google+, but another one in 10 claim they will stop using Facebook altogether.

The study suggests marketers hoping to engage teens online must move beyond Facebook with social marketing, and businesses targeting all age groups might find their efforts are strengthened by building a cross-platform presence that includes Google+. Brafton recently reported that Shawn Parker, a stakeholder in Facebook, believes online audiences will move to Google+ and Twitter if the adjustments Facebook recently implemented do not become easier to control and customize. 

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.