Want a surefire way to win the hearts of children (and their parents) across the globe? The most successful toy and baby brands are the ones that incorporate innovative strategies into their ecommerce plans.
Statista projects that the toys and baby market is expected to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.07%, resulting in $29 billion in revenue by 2027. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to cement your position as one of the best toy brands and gain market share.
Learn how to incorporate the following five important strategies — including leveraging influencer relationships, utilizing enhanced content, and hitting parents with nostalgia-inducing product lines — to dominate the digital shelf.
5 Innovative Strategies That the Best Toy Brands Use
Here are five innovative strategies that the best toy brands use and tips for emulating them.
1. Work With Influencers
Influencer marketing works across industries to win attention, and toy and baby brands are no exception — especially on YouTube. According to Statista, children watch more than an hour of YouTube every day.
The best toy brands know how to promote toys on social media in a way that appeals to both children and their parents. Enlisting the help of brand ambassadors and partnering with influencers is an excellent way to achieve this level of engagement and show the benefits of your products.
There are numerous family-focused channels on YouTube and Instagram with wide visibility. Popular children’s YouTube channel Ryan’s World is just one example of the enormous opportunity influencers bring to toy brands. Ryan Kaji hosts the channel, which has nearly 35 million subscribers. He’s ranked as one of the top 10 most popular children-themed YouTube channels by Statista.
Working with influencers could help toy and baby brands connect with critical audiences and develop followings within well-known online communities.
Video Source: Ryan’s World YouTube
2. Collaborate With the Entertainment Industry
Toy brands that work with the entertainment industry have also seen a rise in market share. Toy company LEGO is one of the most persuasive examples of a toy brand that has found success in working within this industry.
LEGO has partnered with franchise giants like Super Mario, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Spiderman, and Batman — among many others. Take the LEGO Shop on Amazon: There are seemingly endless product options for parents, aligned with almost every major children's film release.
While not every brand has the budget of LEGO, this doesn't exclude less-funded toy brands from pursuing opportunities within the entertainment industry. Other options like in-movie product placements or cinema advertisements could help brands gain attention.
Image Source: Amazon LEGO Shop
3. Invoke Parents' Nostalgia
A significant trend to watch: What’s old is new again. Many classic toys have come back for a second run, and toy and baby brands are capitalizing on this dose of nostalgia. A quick Amazon search for “classic toys for kids” highlights old favorites like the View Master, Lite Brite, Connect 4, and others.
Baby brands are no different, as Fisher-Price’s Classic Xylophone, Chatter Telephone, and Rock-a-Stack toys dominate the top of the search results for “classic baby toys.” Baby clothes are also another area where nostalgia-inspired buying is healthy. Brands like Feltman Brothers have been successful with their lines of classic baby clothes.
Consider how your brand can invoke these feelings of nostalgia with parents. As they move through the toy-buying process, memories of their fun as children often guide final purchasing decisions.
Image Source: Amazon Fisher-Price Shop
4. Play With the Video Game Industry
Online gaming is hugely popular with many children, including games like Minecraft (age seven and up), Fortnite (age 12 and up), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (age 12 and up). Partnering with these gaming brands to develop new products is becoming increasingly popular.
Some brands like LEGO take this a step further by developing their own game lines. The LEGO video game catalog is extensive, including a wide variety of titles from LEGO Batman: The Videogame (age 10 and up), LEGO City Undercover (age 7 and up), and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (age 9 and up).
In-game advertising is another way for toy brands to promote their products to a gamer audience, whether on YouTube or Twitch, as some online gamers are popular with many children.
5. Optimize Product Content
Brands must think beyond the traditional product page with a simple image and brief product description to win on the digital shelf. Utilizing enhanced content, also called A+ content, can help increase conversion by 15% in most categories. This content includes graphics, 360-degree image spins, comparison charts, and other rich media.
As online sales continue to grow, shoppers have increased their need for product information. Take baby brand Chicco, which sells a wide variety of baby products like strollers and car seats, as an example.
The brand utilizes enhanced content, including in-depth product videos that highlight critical use cases and comparison charts that answer questions about dimensions, weight, and other specifications. This information helps new parents make informed purchasing decisions — and takes much of the stress of shopping out of the process.
Utilizing enhanced content can help brands optimize product experiences online, which can improve brand trust and market share.
Video Source: Chicco YouTube
Capture Market Share With Innovation
Toy and baby brands of the past may not have considered developing their own movie franchise or video game catalog, but these outside-of-the-box strategies have brought success for LEGO. Fisher-Price sells its classic toy lines to every generation, and Chicco eases the worries of parents across the U.S. with in-depth product experiences.
Utilizing these innovative strategies can help brands capture critical market share, learn how to promote toys on social media, and build brand trust with each generation of customers.
