How to Explain Digital Marketing to a Kindergarten Class

I was very excited to be one of the many parent career presenters this month in my son Ronan’s kindergarten class. I love my son, I love my job, and I love talking about myself- what a perfect opportunity. That was until I sat down to think about how I would explain what it is I do to a room full of five and six year olds. I know they aren’t allowed on Facebook, most of them don’t spend too much time on a computer yet, and their allowances definitely minimize their spending habits.

As I started to plan my presentation, I took a step back and realized how much my children understand influencer marketing already. My four year old, Declan, recently asked me to go to Vat19.com so he could get the world’s largest gummy worm. I had no idea what he was talking about- “vat19, huh?” He insisted and we sat down on my computer to Google Vat19. Lo and behold, up popped the world’s largest gummy worm and he was thrilled. Unfortunately I was not convinced that this was a wise purchase but I did acquiesce and bought a smaller one for his birthday. I asked Declan how he knew about Vat19.com and he said that Evan Tube HD told him all about it and even had one of the gummy worms. My boys are obsessed with Evan and his videos about toys and video games. (I am even quoted in a Newsweek article about Evan’s popularity in our home). Such smart folks at Vat19- hire the perfect kid influencer to get out the word.

So now I had a good influencer marketing example but how do I explain social media marketing to children that aren’t allowed on social media. I decided to stick with the basics, Facebook, and simulate how a message can spread from one person to another on Facebook very quickly. I asked Ronan to be the creator of a great new toy called XYZ. He pulled two of his classmates up to the front of the room and told them about his awesome new toy. They each got to pull up two other children and told them about it too. Does this ring a bell? You tell two friends and they tell two friends…

Pretty soon the whole room was abuzz with kids talking about Ronan’s awesome XYZ toy. They all wanted one because they had heard it was really great.

Shortly after that the conversation took a sharp turn to how much their moms posted on Facebook about them losing their teeth, how they lost their teeth, and how one child’s brother lost his in an accident. I am not sure I ever got them refocused but I felt like they understood some of the basics of what I do every day. We also had a chat about how important is was for everyone to know how to use a computer and that just about every job they could imagine would involve a computer. I think they felt sorry for me that I spend so much time at my computer and so little time on the playground, but I assured them that I love what I do!