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Want to reach kids? Forget Facebook, it's all about YouTube

Super Awesome on the challenge of children

Want to reach kids? Forget Facebook, it's all about YouTube

More than a third of children in the UK may own a tablet of their own, but arguably reaching kids is getting harder and harder as the years pass.

That's according to Dylan Collins of kids discovery platform Super Awesome who, speaking on stage at GameHorizon in Newcastle, said the simple approach of targeting TV or even the side of buses to reach a younger audience no longer applies.

"Kids and teens are harder to reach than ever," opened Collins. "Platform fragmentation is huge these days and kids are now distributed everywhere."

Collins used his data to explain how kids today are a notably distinct group when it comes to both reaching them and engaging them.

My face or yours

Facebook, for instance, is no longer the dominant platform for children.

"If you go into a classroom and ask kids how many of them have got a Facebook account, most will put up their hands," continued Collins, "but if you then ask how many log into it every day, far fewer put their hand up."

Dylan Collins on stage in Newcastle

Instead, it's YouTube that is increasingly the platform that most engages kids. Likewise, despite the games press focusing on the launches of PS4 and Xbox One in the run up to Christmas, when 2,000 8-14 year olds were asked what they would most like for Christmas, iPad and iPhone came out as clear winners.

Good news for mobile developers, but what else should studios know about younger audiences?

Kids tend to be slightly more long tail gamers than early adopters.
Dylan Collins

"Kids tend to be slightly more long tail gamers than early adopters – they will hang around brands longer than other people," he detailed.

"If you present a series of books to kids, they're far more likely to buy the first one if they know there's a universe to explore – three quarters will carry on reading all of them."

Chat attack

But while YouTube may be the platform children tap into most frequently in 2014, things are constantly changing – Facebook may even be making a comeback in the form of Facebook Messenger.

"60 percent of kids say they're using chat, but in reality it's probably about 100 percent," added Colins, highlighting WhatsApp current domination of the chat market and the rise of Facebook Messenger.

"It's also worth noting that Snapchat recently rolled out full chat. In 18 months, all the kids will be using it, mark my words."

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With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.