Have you ever noticed how many kids there are out there with mobile devices now? A few years ago, seeing a child with a cell phone was a little absurd, but now, you can’t get by unless you kid has a small piece of technology. What do kids have access to with those phones? Well, even if they don’t have data plans and unlimited access to the internet, they almost always have calling and texting. Your business needs to take advantage of that whenever possible.

All about the stats

Maybe you haven’t been around kids lately and aren’t quite sure how common it is for them to have cell phones. According to the Boston Globe, 72 percent of children under the age of 8 now have mobile phones. This number has increased significantly in the last couple of years seeing as 2 years ago, only 38 percent of kids had mobile devices. That is a whole new audience you may not have even considered in the marketing business.

Kids and mobile marketing

Have you ever noticed that there are always lots of candy bars and cheap toys up at the front register when you check out? This is actually strategic marketing. Stores know that people walk up with their kids and the kids beg to get the stuff. As annoying as it may seem to young mothers with small children, the stores are making quite a bit of money off those dollar items you pick up to buy for your kid at checkout. This is the same advertising idea for your business. If a kid sees what they want and think they can have it, they will ask their parents for it. If you are advertising to kids by sending them texts, they will then get their parents to buy it.

Of course, you wouldn’t want to do anything shady or illegal. This marketing technique only works if you are advertising kid-friendly products and if someone has signed up for mobile alerts. It isn’t too difficult to get a parent to allow their children to get these alerts if you offer kid-friendly products and offer discounts with the alerts. New laws mean you have to have permission before sending texts, but that is a different topic for a different day.

Keep it kid-friendly

The most important part of advertising towards children is keeping it appropriate. A parent would get very irritated if they found out you were advertising dangerous or inappropriate things to their children. To avoid any potential legal problems, make sure everything stays light-hearted in the texts. For example, if you owned a toy store, it would be fine to send a picture text of a popular toy and say that you have it in stock. Kids want to know these things, and it is a good way to get them to start begging their parents for the next best thing. It would also be okay to use mobile marketing to advertise some sort of educational program the child could then use on the mobile device. Just make sure you protect yourself by following the law and only sending texts a child would want to see.

Source:

Boston Globe