Context and utility

In a Harvard Business Review paper published in March 2013, Jeffrey Rayport discussed a new advertising medium - human experience. Human experience includes "one's online and offline travels, social interactions, group affiliations, and thought processes." According to Rayport, successful marketers base advertising on the context of the target's experience and utility to the target. For example, Duracell sent out Rapid Responder trucks in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, providing charging stations, WiFi, and free batteries. 

Rayport summarizes how brands should use human experience: "To win consumers' attention and trust, marketers must think less about what advertising says to its targets and more about what it does for them."

How does Rayport's advice apply to child product marketers? Mintel's 2014 US report on marketing to moms provides information on social media use:

• Moms especially use social media for photo sharing, particularly of early milestones. Visual content, particularly content focused on milestones, is therefore a likely means of encouraging engagement.

• Less than three in 10 moms say that they like to receive discount offers though social media, and even fewer watch “how-to” videos or post feedback on social media. 

Ultimately, moms use social media to connect with friends and family. How can brands advertise on the platforms without appearing intrusive?

Fisher-Price shared the above Shutterfly with Facebook fans last week. It in no way pushes Fisher-Price products - it is a helpful hint for a friend. In fact, many moms were probably surprised the post was shared by a brand, not a fellow couponing friend. The post is especially useful to a target who enjoys photo sharing and has lots of milestones to capture. It builds trust, linking to Fisher-Price's goal of helping parents create happy childhoods.

Using Twitter when catering to tots

While Twitter has arguably declined in popularity in the public mindset in recent years, it remains a strong digital platform. Twitter boasts 288 million monthly active users and 500 million tweets sent per day. In 2014, the percentage of online adults using Twitter increased by a statistically significant amount. Also in 2014, female internet users on Twitter increased to 21%, and users aged 18-49 represented an overwhelming majority of Twitter users. Clearly, adults, particularly females in parenting stages of life, are still using Twitter. How can child product companies utilize the platform to reach their customers?

Twitter offers several content marketing suggestions for brands. Key principles include:

• Use the 80/20 principle. Only 20% of your tweets should be sales messages like promotions. Focus on interacting with followers. It's about what they want to talk about - not what you want to sell. 
• Be personable. An overly formal tone, even for a corporate account, isn't fitting for Twitter. Be sure to use a unique voice and always consider entertainment value. 
• Establish a regular cadence.

Twitter also offers a sample Tweet calendar which should be altered to the size and needs of each company.

• Monday: Promotions
• Tuesday: Behind the scenes
• Wednesday: Helpful tips
• Thursday: Customer spotlight
• Friday: Feature industry experts or news
• Saturday: Community or industry spotlights
• Sunday: Employee spotlight

These general tips are easily applied to a child product company. Following several industry leaders on Twitter, I've complied a few specific tips. 

• Image centric posts are best. I am much more motivated to look at a post with an in-feed image than click on a tiny url.

Toys 'R' Us does a great job providing engaging, visually appealing content.

• If using Twitter for customer service, be sure to disperse entertaining posts amidst your string of answers (apologetic and kind, of course) to customer complaints or questions. You don't want consumers to only associate your brand with negative complaints. 

After considerable scrolling through Fisher-Price complaints, I finally reached a piece of content, published 3 days ago.

• Cadence, cadence, cadence. 

Bright Starts' last tweet was more than a month ago, and there is similar cadence between January and February. However, the company tweeted almost daily during the December holiday season. Yes, the holidays are a time for increased advertising, but Twitter is about regular engagement with followers, not just during a time of increased spending on toys.

Fisher Price Giggle Gang Toys

While getting my tires changed at Walmart recently, I browsed the toy aisles to pass time. Fisher Price has remarkable shelf space - an entire aisle and at least one end display. One product in particular caught my eye - Giggle Gang plush toys. When squeezed, the round characters play a baby's giggle. Each character has a different giggle. The toys made me laugh out loud in the middle of the store - they are absolutely adorable. Priced at just $12 and possessing especially adorable qualities, Giggle Gang has the potential to produce huge sales numbers - if only people knew about it. I ran a quick Google search of the product's current marketing activities. Here's what I found:

Fisher Price provides a sound clip with the product listings, an effort only reaching those who directly search for the product or browse product listings (for Fuzzy, product listing)

Gameplay of the Giggle Gang app. This is a great marketing effort, but it is likely targeted towards current users, not prospective customers. 

A sponsored mommity.com post from 2012, a great marketing effort but with little reach

How can Fisher Price improve their digital marketing strategy? Video. 

Because Giggle Gang characters have both adorable visual and audio characteristics, video is especially fitting. Further, video is growing in popularity. Instagram and Snapchat both have video capabilities, and Facebook and YouTube are ideal platforms for sharing video content. A short video of a laughing baby with a laughing Giggle Gang toy is attractive content for a news feed and would likely incite sharing, garnering earned media. Ultimately, video would illustrate enjoyment of the product and outperform previous marketing efforts in capturing Giggle Gang's adorable essence and spreading awareness of the product.