Effective, Kid Friendly Marketing
By Gregory Smyth
Most of us intuitively know that the internet has become a pervasive phenomenon in our lives. Banking can be slow and painful without the internet, you can buy Christmas gifts much more interesting than those available at your local store, you can save money on things that you need everyday, and how often would you contact your friends and family if it weren't for email and facebook? Research is now confirming this though, and especially confirming how much young people depend on the internet also. 100% of UK children between 12 and 14 use the internet often, while 98% of Israelis in the same age group, 96% of children from Macau and the Czech Republic, 88% of kids in America, and 70% of Hungarian and Singaporeans also going online often. If this age group forms part of your company's target market, how should you change your SEO marketing, web marketing strategy, and even your choice of online marketing agency to reflect this?
The first thing you should be aware of when you change your web marketing strategy to aim it more directly at children is the relevant legislation. COPPA is the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and violating it can mean that hefty penalties ensue. It is best to engage an online marketing agency to help you assess your COPPA compliance. While this internet marketing guideline is USA-specific, many other countries have similar rules and regulations.
Much of the time that children and tweens spend on the internet is taken up with social networking sites. More than traditional forms of internet marketing, like article marketing and press release distribution, if you are looking to target tweens you should look into social network advertising. An online marketing agency can advise you of the most popular sites, and hoe to market effectively on them.
You should also look into advertising and linking to sites with games and competitions - a recent survey revealed this is actually the top reason that kids go online. For 86% of children aged 7 to 15, this is their prime reason for being on the internet. Far more than search engine optimization or increasing your search engine ranking, building links from the top online game and competition sites should drive younger traffic to your website.
More than half of kids also use the internet for homework, however, kids (should be!) unlikely to click through to any sites not related to their homework while they are researching. However, if you are internet marketing information to young people, this could be a valuable strategy. Ask your online marketing agency about advertising on popular information oriented sites.
Another extremely successful internet marketing technique to reach children is through Bebo. Skittles have actually created their own channel on this popular social networking site - a much more effective tactic, considering their audience, than press release distribution or article marketing. Your internet consulting service can show you how this sort of thing can also be great for link building, and then increase your search engine ranking as a side bonus.