Using the Build-A-Bear Workshop model of success, the first key point I would like to discuss when marketing to children online is INTERACTIVITY.
Build-A-Bear makes use of this interactivity not only in their store, but also on their website as well. They are so clever over there at BABW!
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I recently discussed how children became consumers and what could be learned from the Build-A-Bear phenomenon, and as promised I am going to apply this marketing to children online. Over the next week I will be posting on this topic.
First, it should be mentioned that there are guidelines concerned with advertising to children offline and online in the United States. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit is a self-regulatory program and these are their core principles:
1. Advertisers have special responsibilities when advertising to children or collecting data from children online. They should take into account the limited knowledge, experience, sophistication and maturity of the audience to which the message is directed. They should recognize that younger children have a limited capacity to evaluate the credibility of information, may not understand the persuasive intent of advertising, and may not even understand that they are being subject to advertising.
2. Advertising should be neither deceptive nor unfair, as these terms are applied under the Federal Trade Commission Act, to the children to whom it is directed.
3. Advertisers should have adequate substantiation for objective advertising claims, as those claims are reasonably interpreted by the children to whom they are directed.
4. Advertising should not stimulate children’s unreasonable expectations about product quality or performance.
5. Products and content inappropriate for children should not be advertised directly to them.
6. Advertisers should avoid social stereotyping and appeals to prejudice, and are encouraged to incorporate minority and other groups in advertisements and to present positive role models whenever possible.
7. Advertisers are encouraged to capitalize on the potential of advertising to serve an educational role and influence positive personal qualities and behaviors in children, e.g., being honest, and respectful of others, taking safety precautions, engaging in physical activity.
8. Although there are many influences that affect a child’s personal and social
development, it remains the prime responsibility of the parents to provide guidance for children. Advertisers should contribute to this parent-child relationship in a constructive manner.
You can read the full guidelines here [PDF].
I think it is important, when advertising to children to consider that they are still children, and therefore one must be more conscious of what is being said and what is being promoted. While you want to make money and market your site, you still don’t want to be evil and “steal candy from a baby”.
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Big Bob’s Frankfurter Co. in Toronto, Canada has created a website, and Big Bob wants a first page Google listing. He optimizes his page and ranks #1 for the word frankfurter in Google, Yahoo and MSN, but is shocked when the Big Bob’s Frankfurter Co. website gets very little traffic. Where did Big Bob go wrong? He was marketing frankfurters when he should be selling hot dogs. Nobody uses the word frankfurters anymore, at least not in this neck of the woods, and if you are trying to rank for keywords, make sure that you are optimizing for keywords that people actually search for.
Finding the right keywords to rank for is really a big part of the battle, as what people actually search for to find sites like yours will dictate the amount of relevant traffic your site will receive.
There are applications available to help you make this happen. The WordTracker Free Keyword Tool is one service that will help you find what keywords you should be optimizing for. WordTracker also has a paid service if you are looking to get a little more involved in the SEO process.
But while you can use an online tool such as WordTracker, you should not underestimate the power of your own brain! After all, you are a person, what search strings might you use? I like doing brainstorming before using any tools, and I might even ask some people to see what they would search for to find different things online. Personally I find this helpful in giving me some direction and real life ideas that go beyond using tools.
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Branding is important for blog survival – no matter what you blog about – someone else is blogging about the same thing.
What is branding?
Wikipedia gives a great definition for the disambiguation of something by creating a brand:
A brand includes a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the use of the product or service and through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it. A brand often includes a logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols, and sound, which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and even personality.
Sorry, I try not to quote too often. But I really like the Wikipedia definition, as I find it extremely succinct. :)
For example…
Take John Cow and his trademark mooney making blog posts. This blog has seen a rapid increase in traffic, partly because he it is a parody/exact copy of John Chow’s site, and also because this blog has been thoroughly branded so as to create a buzz about his site. In fact, the fact that he is copying the John Chow’s site is another form of branding that is entirely unique. Now, I don’t frequent this blog and I likely never will, but it is a perfect example of how you can rise quickly to the forefront of the blogosphere by properly branding your blog.
My blog, on the other hand..
What can a brand do for you?
When creating a successful blog, or website, you need to consider the fact that no matter what you do, someone else is already doing it. So you need something special to help you create a buzz and to make people return to your blog. Don’t stick with a generic template. Personalize your site, and amplify one part of your personality, create a symbol for it. This is why people return to a blog. It’s not just about providing quality content, successfully drawing in a “crowd” is also about creating a quality “environment” for your users. This does not mean you have to be flashy, you just need to create a common theme and feeling, an underlying tone and symbolism that permeates throughout your blog, and if you can manage to do this, people will return.
I frequent many blogs that have managed to do this. Nice4Rice is one blog that has really managed this well. Because it is not just about creating a brand, you must also constantly remind your readers of your icons. Don’t ever let them forget them, and just like you can’t help but sing that catchy jingle from some dumb commercial, you will continue to return to the blogs that have an interesting theme that keeps you intrigued.
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I recently asked my readers if they saw a value in businesses having a blog, or if a website listing their services and contact information was enough. And generally, the response was positive for businesses having a blog. I thought now I would share my opinion on the subject.
It’s big world, and there is a lot of competition. So I believe it is really important to stand out. And assuming that all your competitors have enough business sense to have a website, companies these days must really go above and beyond when trying to attract potential customers. This means reporting on timely issues that surround your industry, creating a corporate identity online and showing generally that your company is more than just a website, it is a group of living breathing individuals passionate about what they do.
It really is difficult, however, to show passion and drive in a business website without sounding unprofessional, and perhaps a little bit like you are “gushing”. A blog may be just the ticket for giving your company an outlet for the passion that motivates the drive for success, and the desire to please your clients.
In addition to this, creating an online presence cannot be just about attracting the clients that will ultimately pay for your services/products. Good marketing, online or otherwise, means that “everybody knows your name”, not just those that really need to know your name or those that are actively seeking to discover your name. The more people that know about you, the more chance you have of drawing in potential clients.
Blogs have the added bonus of being much more likely to be linked to. By creating interesting and informational posts a company can contribute to the technological climate, thus engaging in a natural and organic linkbuilding campaign.
I don’t believe that a blog will directly generate a large number of new leads and sales, rather a blog is great for contributing to the corporate image and online marketing of your company, which will in the end help you to secure more business.
Here are a few resources I thought I might also share on the topic of business blogging:
White paper relating to the value of a blog for businesses from Lewis Global Public Relations
Business Blogging from Internet Marketing Voodoo
Also, if you want to see what I mean about a blog being used to enhance a business website for Terinea computer services in Edinburgh and Hastings, check out a blog I frequent, Terinea Weblog, which coincidentally is where I found this hilarious YouTube video under their Friday Funnies. This blog illustrates essentially what I am saying here, and what many people suggested when I posed the question.
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