By Samuel Thimothy, VP at OneIMS.coman inbound marketing agency and co-founder of Clickx.io, the digital marketing information platform.
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My three children are all under the age of six, and they are digital natives. Like any parent, I am fascinated to watch them grow up in this new digital world.
They are constantly exploring and learning from them, but there are some things that stand out to me about how they interact with their environment.
Surprisingly, my little one managed to teach me some important lessons, not only about life, but also about marketing and advertising.
Let me share them with you.
Lesson #1: Be memorable with your branding.
My son loves cars. At a very young age, he started to recognize different brands. BMW, Mercedes, Tesla – all the cars you can think of. He’s memorized them all because of their logos – and that’s an essential part of any brand.
Logos are powerful because they allow people to connect with your company and your values. Color schemes, fonts and so on – the more memorable the better!
But when you create an instantly recognizable brand, your business becomes more than just a name and symbol. It becomes the face of what your brand stands for. Use this powerful association to make it easier for consumers to connect with your product or service. It really works.
Lesson #2: Be consistent in your messaging.
Every time we drive down the road with my kid, he sees all the store signs and reads them aloud: Starbucks, Subway, McDonald’s.
He captured all these names in a flash because he would see their ads everywhere – and they would all be consistent in the images, color schemes, voice and everything else.
So if you want to attract your buyers, make sure you stay consistent with your brand message. It should be reflected in every ad, every social post and every interaction with the customer.
When your brand is consistent, it becomes more recognizable to consumers, making your business feel more trustworthy. In this way, customers also get to know you on a more personal level.
Lesson #3: Don’t interrupt your customers.
Another thing I’ve noticed about my three-year-old when it comes to advertising and marketing is that he hates interruptions but has no problem with native advertising.
Whenever he tries to play Curious George on my iPhone and sees a commercial pop up, he absolutely hates it. The boy learned to skip ads before anyone ever taught him how to do that.
My conclusion is that as marketers we must learn to engage our customers without annoying them. Whatever you do, don’t push your messages. Have people come to you voluntarily.
All in all, as a marketer and advertiser, keep these three things in mind when thinking about how to promote your brand and attract buyers.
How’s your branding going? Is it memorable? Are you consistent in your reporting? And finally, do you interrupt people in their time when they try to poke around, or offer value?
You can improve the lives of your customers and their business by following these little pieces of advice.
