What Content Marketers Can Learn from an 8 Year Old Boy Who Really Wanted a Cheeseburger

I came across an amazing story the other day that made me smile.
And as I’ve thought about it, I’ve realized it reveals an important and overlooked factor that many content marketers, or marketers in general, overlook.

The content marketers and marketers who do overlook this experience frustration and a lack of results.

The content marketers and marketers who don’t overlook this experience triumphs and abundance of results.

Check out the story below and then I’ll explain to you what this overlooked factor is…

The 8 Year Old Boy Who Really Wanted a Cheeseburger

McDonald’s Cheeseburger – Photo from https://www.mcdonalds.com/ 

It was 8 pm April 9, 2017 and a young boy in East Palestine, Ohio was really craving a cheeseburger from McDonald’s, so he decided to do something about it.

Instead of waking his sleeping parents and begging them to take him (who were asleep after a long day of playing with the kids outside), he decided to take matters into his own hands in the most unbelievable way.

He went online and looked up videos on YouTube on how to drive.
After he felt like he knew enough from watching the videos, he took action:
He stood on his tippy-toes and grabbed the van keys down from where they were hanging.

Then he got into the family van, with his 4-year-old sister in the passenger seat, and drove to McDonald’s!

And this is the amazing part of the story.

According to witnesses who saw the young boy driving, he must have been a fast learner!

The witnesses said that the boy followed all the rules of the road, stopped at all stoplights, and even kept within the speed limits – all within the mile and a half that he drove.

(Did He Get His Cheeseburger?)
When the the boy pulled up to the drive-through window with his piggy bank, the McDonald’s workers thought it was a prank. They thought that his parents were hiding in the back.

It wasn’t long until the police finally arrived at the McDonald’s, because they had received multiple calls from the people who saw the young boy driving.
The boy burst into tears when he found out that he had done something wrong and told the police officer that he just really wanted a cheeseburger! 

A family friend who was eating at McDonald’s recognized the kids and called their grandparents.

The GOOD NEWS is this…
1. No charges were filed.
2. They got to eat a cheeseburger while waiting for their grandparents to pick them up! 

THE Factor That Either Frustrates or Liberates Content Marketers and Marketers
So what does this have to do with the factor that either frustrates or liberates content marketers and marketers?

Let me explain…
I am preparing to teach to an Intro to Marketing class for UC Berkeley Extension this summer in Belmont, CA (See “BUS ADM X460.1 – 076″) and I’ve been thinking deeply about marketing.
In particular, I’ve been thinking about:
What marketing is (and what it’s not)
What marketing can do (and not do)
And what effective marketers know that others don’t
And when I read this story, I realized that it reveals an important factor that effective content marketers and marketers understand that ineffective content marketers and marketers are unaware of.

Let me explain.
Who Would You Rather Market To?
Who do you think would be harder to market a McDonald’s cheeseburger to?
1. People who are like the 8-year-old boy in the story above and who would do anything to get a McDonald’s cheeseburger
2. People who don’t like McDonald’s cheeseburgers, but prefer In-N-Out cheeseburgers
3. People who are like my niece, who hates cheeseburgers of all kinds, because she hates the texture of ground beef

If you were on McDonald’s marketing team and you wanted to pick a group of people to market to, so that you could have the most success, then which one would you choose?

That’s a pretty easy choice, isn’t it? It’s group #1.
Why is it such an easy choice? Because you know that that group of people loves McDonald’s cheeseburgers. And the others groups? Well, not so much!
Well, THAT’S the factor that effective content marketers and content marketers take into account and that’s why they experience better results than ineffective content marketers and marketers.

They understand that one of the most important factors in effective marketing of any kind is doing everything you can to target the people who are most likely customers.

When you do that, everything else becomes easier. (I didn’t say “easy,” just easier!)

When you do that, your results are much better. (I didn’t say that the results would be amazing, but they will be better.)

The Importance of Effective Marketing
Effective content marketers and marketers know…

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