6 Lessons Bloggers Can Learn from Play School

Posted by Sarah Mitchell on 7 June 2010 | 12 Comments

Tags: blog, marketing, blogging

Today is a public holiday in Western Australia. As I pottered with the breakfast dishes, the sounds of ”Play School” kept me company. If you’re not familiar with the program, Play School is a half hour children’s program aimed at encouraging a child to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine. That’s not much different from the goal of most blogs. As I listened, it occurred to me bloggers could learn a lot from the Play School presenters. They certainly know how to hold a captive audience. Here are some of their tricks that easily translate into great blogging techniques.

Ask Questions
The Play School presenters start each segment with a question. It draws the children in and gets them interested in what’s happening. I often start and end a blog post with a question. The initial query engages the audience and the final one encourages people to leave a comment.

Focus on “How” not “Why”
The Play School audience isn’t much interested in theory. They’re at the stage in life when they’re starting to exercise some independence. Play School keeps things simple and focuses on a specific task. Whether they’re scrambling eggs or building a puppet stage, the directions are instructional and concise. Your blog readers want the same.

Stay Positive
No one at Play School ever has a bad day. Nothing is ever too difficult. All obstacles are easily removed. Blogs that keep a positive tone and solve problems are much more attractive to readers than the whinging posts.

Repeat your Message
While going over the same shapes, colours, letters and number may seem dreadfully boring, the audience laps it up because it’s all new to them. Remember your readers are looking to you for expertise. Reinforcing your ideas and repeating concepts is a great way to build trust and authority. Just because you said something in a blog post last year doesn’t mean your readers wouldn’t benefit from hearing it again in a different context. Your new readers may not have heard it at all.

Know Your Audience
Play School knows their target market – pre-schoolers – and focuses their energy on making them happy. The children keep coming back because they know what to expect. Remember who your readers are and why they’re coming to your blog. Provide them with the content they want and you’ll continue to have the traffic you desire.

Keep it Moving
Children tend to have short attention spans so the Play School segments are brief to keep them interested. Modern business people are easily distracted due to the vast quantity of information they need to decipher. Make your posts short and use headings and sub-headings to keep the skimmers moving down your page.

Play School has been around since 1966 and is the second longest-running children’s television program in the English-speaking world. Their longevity can be attributed to classic marketing techniques and consistent execution. The same winning formula can be applied to your blog. I’m all for adopting techniques that result in over 44 years of success. How about you?

What lessons have you learned?