Marketers should engage mobiles to reach Gen-Y

Online marketers don't need to employ fancy flash-based ads or invest huge portions of their budgets in social networks to attract a younger user base. They simply need to engage the mobile audience. That is the recommendation from a recent study from InsightExpress.

by Kristina Knight

The study found that 18 to 24 year old users, referred to as Gen Y, use mobile phones to take about 76% of their personal calls and over half of all young mobile users report wanting more to do than talk on their phones.

In addition to talking to their friends and family, younger users report that they use their phones to rescue them from uncomfortable situations - like bad dates or boring events.

"It's clear that as an extension of self, these omnipresent devices play a much broader role in the lives of young people, especially when it comes to interpersonal relationships, than simply voice or text communication," says Joy Liuzzo, director of mobile research at InsightExpress, in a release. "The mobile phone has apparently become like a panic button, used for 'rescue missions' in awkward social situations."

To capitalize on these areas, mobile marketers could use this trend to provide similar services that users can employ to get out of sticky situations without relying on another friend to take that call.