Your Toddler Can Teach You the ABCs of Marketing

If you’re a parent, uncle, auntie, or babysitter you already know that convincing a little kid to do anything requires masterful messaging. We may say, “It’s not mashed potatoes, it’s mushy French fries.” Or “That’s not a pull-up, they're nighttime undies.”

We can learn a lot about marketing from the way we communicate with toddlers. They can teach us how to navigate online marketing trends better to engage our audience.

A. Audience Attention Span

If you don’t constantly engage a toddler, then you will likely have one grumpy kiddo. Well, it turns out that the same is true for adults. According to Eye Square, you only have 2.5 seconds to catch your audience's attention before they move on to something else. That means strategic planning is critical, especially these three essentials:

• Understand your end goal - What do you want your audience to do ultimately? You don’t need to communicate this goal to your audience, but understanding your goal will make the next iteration of your communications engagement with your target audience crystal clear.
• Identify a Clear Call To Action and get them there fast- Close, close, and Close…You don’t have time for wasted content or widgets. Get buy-in and move me along with ease. One of the biggest mistakes companies continue to make is creating too many barriers to get to the action. Like we do for toddlers, make it easy as ABC.
• Communicate that goal in an engaging way - Buy-in happens when clear communication meets personal benefit. Just like with a toddler, you need to focus on one thing when communicating your message. If you wouldn’t try to make a juggler out of your toddler or yourself, don’t make your customers juggle either.

B. Be Repetitive! Iterate…again, and again.

If you ever asked yourself, “How many times do I need to say this?” Then the answer is at least one more time. We remind our kiddos often of the rules because they simply forget. It’s okay to repeat the same message over and over again. That’s the only way anyone will know what you’re saying is if you repeat the same message over and over again. Rather than change your message, adjust your delivery for better user engagement.

• Tease me with good footage and messaging- Get your audience excited by letting them know you have an exciting message to share.
• Say it with pride!- Deliver your message with enthusiasm so your audience truly leans in.
• Repeat your message with a factoid and/or Influencers -Consumers love evidence. We will buy products that have a familiar face that we trust associated with the brand or if there are 4 or 5 stars associated with the product because those stars are also trusted evidence that your company delivers on its brand promise. So if you can, add a factoid, add an influencer, add some reviews…it’s up to you to prove.

C. Continue to Keep it Shiny and Evergreen.

Believe it or not, the visual appeal of shininess is innate and stems from our need for freshwater as a resource. Who Knew…Well, now you do. Connect the shiny thing to your compelling message for improved audience retention and keep your audience thirsty.

Evergreen content reigns supreme because it is iterative and you can always build upon your copy with new data and interviews to keep it relevant to what’s happening within the industry. Agility content is the new evergreen…it’s moveable and allows for pivoting if necessary without throwing out the entire campaign idea.

D. Don’t forget you’re the toy

Have you ever noticed how, while playing with a young child, they can easily switch from thing to thing? One minute you're coloring, the next you’re playing with cars, then dolls, and before you know it you are in an outer space cafe eating slime pancakes.

It’s not that the child is not focused, they are completely focused on playing with you. You are the toy. Hyper-personalization allows you to create brand experiences that build a connection as your customer moves through your different product offerings, thus enhancing personalized marketing.

E. Echo the process.

Once you got ‘em hooked, You must keep them hooked! Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to building trust and loyalty with toddlers and with your customers, too. The same work you put in to get them to buy-in must be maintained to build long-term equity. Deliver on your brand promise over and over, and they will keep coming back over and over. You may have had me at hello, but if you break your brand promise, you will get a lot of goodbyes. Stay true to your brand WHY, and you will keep soaring high.