Catering To A Young Target Market… It’s Not Child’s Play!
Children provide one of the most difficult areas of advertising, not just because of the numerous regulations, but the fact that children tell it like it is! So what can you do to cater your advertising and products to a younger target market?
As a key demographic, children are, quite possibly, the most important one. It’s not just in terms of their ability to influence their parents, but it’s also how they can bolster the sales of pretty much any product, from holidays to, of course, toys. And when we need to appeal to this target market, we may very well think it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. They are kids after all! But, children provide one of the most difficult areas of advertising, not just because of the numerous regulations, but the fact that children tell it like it is! So what can you do to cater your advertising and products to a younger target market?
Acquire Specialist Knowledge
While you could outsource this to a marketing company that knows how to do this, this won’t serve you well in the long run. If you don’t have an understanding of the motivations behind a child’s desire for a product, then you are wading through treacle. Acquiring specialist knowledge, either in terms of market research, or working closely with an advertising agency that knows how to appeal to the children’s senses, is invaluable.
Never Forget The Parents
Safety first! These days, there are so many horror stories of defective products that are purchased in bulk for cheap from another country. If you are going to stand a chance of getting your product on a large scale, you’ve got to be compliant. This has to be emblazoned all over your promotional materials. While CPSIA testing is not something that an average parent would know, if you can highlight the fact that you are compliant with so many different rules and regulations, this will stand you in good stead. These days, there are so many knock-off products, and every time these turn up in the news, it brings into question the whole idea of how effective these rules and regulations are in the first place. Usually, there are more sanctions imposed, and this can be detrimental to any business that aligns themselves with suppliers who are unethical, but just don’t comply with these regulations. It’s far better to do yourself a favour and comply with every single one, but also ensure that you target the parents because their number one priority is the safety of their children!
It’s All About The Brand
Brand name loyalty, you could argue, is more important than children than it is in adults! And these days, as there’s a lot more focus on the material aspects of living, and the sheer amount of peer pressure children have in a schoolyard, brand name loyalty is everything! If you can encourage brand loyalty with children via the adults, this highlights a better relationship over the years. Ultimately, you want to cater to a target market, but you want to stay with them as they grow. And this is one of the great things about promoting products to children; as they get older, and they progress into adulthood, they can look back on their relationship with certain products with rose-tinted spectacles.
It’s certainly not easy, but one of the most rewarding relationships any business can have is with a younger target market.