One thing in business is for certain: things are going to change. However, it is likely that for the foreseeable future, digital marketing will still be a part of any reasonable marketing initiative and may have even more significance. Why? Because more and more transactions are done digitally than in physical stores.
By the time our children embark into the business world, physical stores will be much more about experiences than selling goods. The successful ones already are. While more physical stores shutter their doors, the digital marketplace and mobile ecommerce are thriving.
Digital marketing plays more of a role than ever in these websites and apps. It is even vital to places like restaurants, doctor’s offices, and vacation destinations. So how do we teach our kids about these things?
Start with the Basics
The basics of digital marketing are pretty simple really, and they are things you can easily teach your children.
- Purchase and Design a Website: Of course, to market digitally, you need a digital location. Purchasing a domain name is pretty inexpensive and easy. After that, you choose a theme and set up the look and design of your website. There are many easy lessons on web design online that you can share with your children.
- Put the Stuff You Sell on Your Site: Whether you are mowing lawns, raking leaves, or selling crafts you have made, you need to put those things on the website in a way that people can buy them. Teach your kids to set up an online store, shopping cart, and checkout process.
- Create Content: You will need content on your site that leads the site visitor to the stuff you sell, from landing pages to blog posts.
- Market your Site: This means sharing your site with others (see the section below on making friends).
Once your kids understand the basics, you can even have them set up their own practice domain to gain some experience.
The Importance of Writing
The importance of good writing can’t be emphasized enough. Being able to communicate ideas clearly, write content that converts, and make even complex subjects understandable for your reader is a vital part of digital marketing.
This means that things like grammar, punctuation, word choice, and other elements of good writing matter a lot to the success of any website. Teaching your kids to write well will not only aid them in the digital marketing game, but will also train them for other aspects of business as well.
The other important thing to teach about digital marketing and writing is that everything is brief. Writing needs to be succinct and use as few words as possible. Attention spans on digital media are short, and you need to capture your reader’s interest right away.
Picture This
People are visual, and photos are part of your digital marketing content. This includes everything from the photos on your home page, those included with your blog post, and product photos. Poor photos turn a reader off and send them away to find your competition.
With the advances in cameras on smartphones, you can take some great photos with them, but you need to know how, and what photos appeal to web users. Ideally, a hero photo or a photo of your project being used the way it is intended catches more attention. than just a photo of the product itself.
Even if you are not a photographer yourself, there are several ways to teach your kids to take great photos. They can take classes online or at your local library to learn about lighting, composure, and other elements that make a great photo.
Capture the Moment
In today’s digital marketing world, photos aren’t always enough. Video is also a huge tool. Just like photos, you can shoot great video with smart phones as well. There are even more options though.
You can shoot videos with drones, and not all of them are expensive. You can get a smaller drone with a decent camera, and practice catching overhead shots that can’t be caught otherwise.
The use of GoPro or other wearable camera means you can also catch moments in a new and significant way. Think of Red Bull, an energy drink. They do this well, showing video of people doing things that require energy, and showcasing that their product should be the source of that energy.
In most cases, a product or service can be showcased by using video, an even better marketing tool than the hero shot photos mentioned above. Videos get more likes, shares, retweets, and followers when used on social media than standard photos. Good video is digital marketing gold, and teaching your kids to produce them will serve them well for a long time.
Making Friends
The easiest way to explain marketing to your biz kids is making friends. No one knows enough people themselves to sell enough product or provide enough services to support themselves. You are reliant on other people to share your message and what you do as well.
This means you need to make friends. You need to share their businesses as well, and you need to become connected with potential customers along the way. This can be through social media followers and friends, or it can be through things like your RSS blog feed, or an email newsletter. All these are elements of digital marketing and involve making a connection, or friendship with another person.
Digital marketing has been and will be a vital part of business going forward. As you raise biz kids, teach them something about digital marketing and how to make it work for them. When their companies start to take off, they will remember the lessons you have taught them well.
