In this blog—I’m gonna break down what you can learn about website design & marketing from Kim Possible.
You’ll learn:
- How the format of your content can produce different results 🤓
- Why you need to stand out from the crowd of your industry 📣
- Why your contact info needs to be easy to find on your website 📞
- How to not let Dr. Drakken take over the world 🌍
(Never watched Kim Possible before or need a refresh? Click here, here, here & here for the summaries.)
Let’s start with the marketing & launch for Kim Possible.
Kim Possible premiered in July 2002 & is ranked as the 4th greatest Disney Channel Original Series (I’d argue it’s #1—but I digress 😜).
When the writers created the show, they saw a gap in the market when they realized there weren’t many animated shows with strong female leads.
And while the animated series & movies had great ratings throughout the years…
The live-action movie was one of the lowest-rated DCOM’s. <<< My theory on this? Some things are better in animated format vs live-action.
The live-action movie wasn’t terrible compared to some of Disney’s other live-action adaptions—but it was missing some of the spark that the animated series had.
And what does that mean for you?
The format of your marketing content makes a difference in its success aka. whether it’s helpful to your ideal client or not.
For example, let’s say you’re trying to use Tailwind for your Pinterest marketing for the first time. Would you rather read an Instagram post with step-by-step instructions? Or would you rather watch a YouTube video that you can follow along with the tutorial?
^^^ Neither of those options are bad, but one of those pieces of content is going to resonate you more depending on your learning style. <<< But you know what probably wouldn’t work? A podcast on this topic because there would be no visual aids.
Just like all other Disney channel shows—most of the marketing for Kim Possible was “Please sit on your couch in front of the TV at 8/7 central every week”.
BUT unlike some of the shows, Kim Possible had a TON of merch—like McDonald’s toys, Barbie-style action figures & a cheerleader Halloween costume that I may or may not still own 👀
And it’s similar to how you want fans for your business, who will buy multiple things from you (aka. merch, different offers, etc.)—not followers who just want free stuff.
As much as the social media “gurus” like to talk brag about how many followers they gained in a month—your follower count means almost nothing (especially on Instagram since you don’t own it). Some even say that you only need 1000 true fans to earn enough money to live a normal life.
I mean really, when you think about, would you rather be in a room filled with “only” 20 people BUT they all buy from you more than once or be in a room of 5000 people but only a small percentage buys from you & then you have to go out again & try to reach a new group of 5000 people. <<< The room of 20 sounds better, doesn’t it?
Speaking of fans…
Kim Possible originally wasn’t going to have a 4th season, having been canceled after 65 episodes, because Disney channels only 3 seasons per show “rule”. But after the success of the Kim Possible: So the Drama movie—fans petitioned rigorously online & via email to get the show back for another season because they loved it so much.
And very surprisingly Disney listened & decided to renew for the 4th & final season, with 22 episodes instead of the usual 13-18 (which is kind of unheard of in the TV show space).
^^^ And what can YOU learn from this?
If your ideal client is asking for a service you don’t offer (yet)—you probably need to start offering it within reason.
Ideal client feedback is worth its weight in Nacos gold—so if a lot of people that you’d like to work with are asking for XYZ service you probably should start offering it.
^^^ Now that doesn’t mean you have to help them personally—this could be something as simple as joining an affiliate program of someone who does offer it & promoting it to your audience.
Let me give you an example, let’s say you’re a brand designer. A high percentage of your clients are gonna need help with their website. One solution would be to start offering website design to your clients. Another solution would be to promote another designer’s website template shop as a resource to your clients.
Here are some notable quotes & plot points from the scripts of Kim Possible that can help you with your website design & marketing.
Quote: Ron Stoppable: “You ever notice Mankey is a mere vowel away from monkey! Just an observation!”
Business Lesson: In the show Ron has irrational fear of monkeys. And while that’s silly & makes for good comedy—your clients are kind of gonna feel the same way before they work with you.
It could be simply they’re worried that you’re gonna send them anonymous emails from Sweden run off with their $$$, ghosting them & they never get the service they paid for.
Or it could be something to do with your process or the deliverables. <<< The key is to address this in your website copy—outlining the value you can bring your clients, how your process works with FAQs, testimonials from past clients, etc.
Quote: Kim Possible: “You can call me, beep me, if you want to reach me.”
Business Lesson: People will leave your website if you don’t make it easy to contact you. So you need to make it as easy as call-me-beep-me for someone to find your contact info on your website.
You need to link your contact page in your footer, write your email out for someone to copy + paste in your footer & on your contact page & include a form to fill out on your contact page.
Quotes: Kim Possible: “I can do anything.”, Ron Stoppable “Truth in advertising, Kim. Your website says you can do anything.” Kim Possible “Now it sounds braggy.” & Ron Stoppable “That’d be Kim Possible. She can do anything. Look us up online. We’re worldwide, baby.”
Business Lesson: DO NOT say you can do anything on your website! <<< Not only will this lead to not-so-ideal clients inquiring about your services (or services you don’t actually offer #beentheredonethat)—but it also makes you appear like a generalist.
In most cases people want a specialist to solve their problems (especially if you’re B2B)—so if you appear like a generalist it can potentially devalue your services.
Quote: Ron Stoppable: “Never be normal! That’s the Ron Stoppable motto.” & “I gotta be true to my essential Ron-ness.”
Business Lesson: Your website & marketing needs to be personality-packed with what makes YOU you—basically your UPV aka. what makes your business different than your industry peers. Blending in will devalue your services so you need to stand out as unique.
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