-By Madeline Matcheski
Owen Sound has over 300 businesses, services and stores downtown alone. From cozy bakeries and restaurants to privately owned record and art shops, the city has a lot to offer if you know where to look. While they do have frequent customers, businesses in downtown Owen Sound are missing out on a critical demographic- the students.
Teenagers are more likely to spend money due to their disposable income. It’s also more likely that they will come in large groups and buy large portions. On top of it all, students are the future and attracting them can lead to long-lasting customers. The question is; how do you appeal to teenagers?
Students today aren’t known for wanting to venture to find businesses themselves, often content with going to chain restaurants that are close and familiar. It can be hard to gain their business but it is possible to appeal to them and keep them coming back. Vouchers, coupons and free gifts are always helpful in catching their attention as well as advertising close to schools; whether it be by posters or other promotions. Sponsoring school activities like sports teams and rallies work to both gain publicity and support the community. Hiring students is also great if you want your business to spread by word of mouth.
Social media is also essential in appealing to teens. The algorithms on platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook can often help in finding your target audiences. Small businesses have been able to blow up by appealing to teenagers and young adults on these platforms.
DBL Jewelry, for example, all started when Liv Portio spent $40 to make jewelry to support her family in the Philippines. She was able to gain popularity by trying to bend wire into harder and more complicated names to sell. Now she has over 2 million followers on TikTok with over 63.2 million likes overall, and a profitable business. Her interaction with fans and potential customers using the app was the key to her success. Other stores like Sani Sisters, Street Brew Coffee, Designs by Felicia, Siders Woodcrafting and Vessi have managed to become quite popular because of the algorithm.
Jumping on trends is also a great way to widen your audience. In early 2020, whipped (Dalgona) coffee became extremely popular although not everyone was able to do it in their own home. Coffee shops can follow trends like these in order to draw in new people. Currently, aesthetic fashions like dark academia, cottagcore and alt, are huge in the media and amongst young individuals. Thrifting businesses have utilized this factor to sort their clothes into sections and get more people interested in their personalized style. Even Coles, a large branch chain in Canada known for selling books, has entire sections of the store dedicated to “Now Trending on #Booktok” where the top hits can be easily found in one place.
With over 1 Billion monthly users, 60% of whom are Generation Z, and its unique algorithm TikTok seems like an ideal platform. That being said, making comical tweets on Twitter can also do the job! By interacting with people, with both big and little followings, and utilizing their comedic responses, Wendy’s official Twitter page has 3.8 million followers!
Also being respectful of teens like any other customer is important. Giving them the benefit of doubt and allowing them to bring their backpacks into stores is a great start.
Allowing people to film in your business can be very beneficial too! Although it comes with risks like getting a bad review, customers often like to film their good experiences to share. A small food court restaurant, Magnolia Wok, located in Florence, South Carolina, blew up on TikTok after a verified creator shared the large, delicious food portions! Now, the hashtag has 45.8 million views and business is booming!
Putting effort into your products to make them different is bound to attract people both young and old. This could be having signature and unfamiliar dishes or handmade products.
“I tend to like stores that have unique products. Something that no one else really has, or something that’s made with time and effort, not by machine,” reports one student when asked about their ideal shopping experience.
Lastly, businesses should strive to portray the sense of community that smaller towns and cities around the area are known for. Owen Sound store owners should continue to lift up other businesses along with their own for a prosperous and homely feel. After all, Owen Sound’s slogan is, “Where you want to live.” Let's do our best to make it that way!
