Who are Digital Natives?

            The term Digital native refers to younger people who have been raised in a world in which pervasive technology is the norm. These people have grown up using e-mail, cell phones, the Internet, and more as part of their normal, daily routine.

            The behavior of digital natives is different from those born in another era, because they are in the forefront of a rapid evolution in consumer habits. They are motivated by other things than previous generations and have gathered a media and communication experience like no generation before them.

            For digital natives, the Internet, mobility, and related technologies have always been available. Networked media and communication make up the foundation of their lives. They are used to the immediacy of hypertext, downloaded music, phones in their pockets which are on 24/7; a library on their laptops/ computers, and connectivity anytime, anywhere. Digital natives are different than traditional customers; they are tomorrow’s most powerful media consumers and professionals.

So you better get to know them now!!!

How to reach them?

            Here are some important aspects and "new rules" of marketing that can help you out to reach Digital Natives.

1) Talking directly to your customer where they are…ON:

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Plurk, blogs, and other social platforms

2) Provide customers (Digital Natives) with interesting content, exciting information easy to read but informative enough. It should be instantaneous information because they are used to give and receive it immediately. Remember they are impatient because grew up in an environment and conditioned for instant gratification. They might get bored if the information flow is poor or too slow

3) Creating content to share. Encourage digital natives to share content that you are producing. They grew up in a world that is connected, accessible and where interacting is one of their favorite activities

4) Personalization plays an important role when reaching digital natives. Merchants can target their marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message to a person’s name, interests, and past visits, purchases etc.

5) Fostering brand loyalty. The loyalty of digital natives can be intense, and some may, entirely on their own accord, evangelize your brand or product.

6) Interact with them read about what they think of your products and give directly and personalize feedback to them. The modern consumer wants their voice heard. Their needs are individual and they want providers to respond to their specific requirements and feedback

If you want to know more about how to reach DIGITAL NATIVES you can check out this article.   

http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/nine-ways-to-reach-digital-natives-and-rest-of-us-handley.asp

            This is a great example about how information is everywhere and available for Digital natives.

            Imagine you are at a bar with some friends and suddenly the bar plays a local radio channel, playing five songs in a row, and you hear a song in the middle that sounds like one of your idol, but it is not one you have heard before, it is probably a new remix! So you use Track ID to find out what song it is, records a snippet of it, and sends it to a music recognition service, which returns the name of the artist, song title, and an option to purchase the song from the service provider’s music service.

            This type of service is pretty much what makes digital natives to purchase a product!!