Special Feature - Toymaster

Indies – let’s get digital!

The £4b UK Toy & Games industry is lucky enough to be supported by a passionate, knowledgeable and agile independent sector that continues to provide consumers with a high-street toy shopping experience that’s as varied as is it welcoming. But with online retail giants continuing to grow, aggressive promotional activity and competition from larger chains and supermarkets, they also face a unique set of challenges. Here, Paul Reader, commercial director at Toymaster, outlines how the power of social media can be used to engage and inspire shoppers before they go elsewhere, and why digital marketing is an essential part of any retail proposition.

Our indie toy retailers are unrivalled, in my opinion. They’re switched on, hands-on and engaged, committed to providing a magical toy shopping experience and able to react much (much!) faster to emerging trends and crazes than grocers and chains are. Many a new toy or game range has found its feet in a Toymaster store, given the space and time required to bed in that is often not given elsewhere, and many a child has experienced the joy of toy shopping at their local independent specialist.

However, it’s tough out there, and indies can find themselves particularly vulnerable to the sorts of challenges seen in 2024: economic pressures and Budget-related impacts, low consumer confidence, the growth of online retail platforms - including the likes of Temu and Shein, who have announced their intentions to significantly expand their Toy offeringand the level of aggressive discounting and promotions, particularly at key periods, that have sadly become all too commonplace. If ever there was a time to adapt and evolve, to look at new ways to get your business out there and promote yourself as an expert, it’s now.

We’re always exploring new ways to help our members, from digital marketing templates that can be customised and shared on members’ own platforms to generic and branded window displays that grab the attention of passers-by and pull them in off the street. We’re also looking at fresh ideas for further promoting our amazing indie community, including new ways to generate excitement around the launch of the Toymaster Winter Catalogue and creating accessible marketing tools within our own suite of support options that members can tap into when it best suits them. But one of the biggest changes indies could make, right now, is to embrace the world of social media.

I know, I know. As a gentleman of a certain age, establishing a social media presence can seem overwhelming, even scary. That’s why Toymaster has put together some very simple advice on how to get started and how to make social media work for you.

Pick your platform

One of the most important decisions you can make is where – and how – to put yourself out there. There are various social media platforms to choose from, and which are most beneficial will depend on the nature and size of your business, who you’re trying to reach, and what you’re most comfortable doing. Of course, you don’t need to choose just one. A combination of platforms will allow you reach even more potential consumers. Here is a broad overview of the main platforms that would be useful to indies and the opportunities they offer.

Facebook: 55.9m Facebook UK users (as of November 2024)

Originally a place for people to stay in touch with friends, Facebook has evolved to become a hugely important platform for retailers and businesses of all sizes. Setting up a business page is relatively simple; if you have an existing Facebook profile, you can do it on your lunchbreak. Once set up, the page will display everything people need to know about your shop, including where it is, opening hours, contact details, photos and much more.

On the back end, you can create and schedule posts, and even adverts, that will show your page followers and other Facebook users what you are up to (and why they should visit your store).

Instagram: 35m UK users (summer 2024)

Instagram allows you to post photos and videos (AKA: Reels) with text captions beneath, use tags to drive traffic to other content and pages, and host links on your profile page (AKA: bio) which will take people to a designated website to buy your products. Instagram Shopping takes things one step further, allowing you to create a storefront where shoppers can browse products. You'll need a Business Manager account to set up a shop in Commerce Manager; there’s handy guides online that will walk you through how to do this.

Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, so content can be shared between the platforms and the two sites share many similarities when it comes to setting up pages and creating posts. If you can use one, I guarantee you can use the other.

TikTok - 23m UK users (May 2024)

TikTok skews towards a younger demographic (40% of users are 18-24 years old, so great for targeting Kidults) with content shared as videos within a feed. Users can search for keywords and hashtags depending on the content they want to see: there are 192.2k posts relating to #toytok, #380.4k for #boardgames, 425.8k for #toysforkids. Even though it was only launched in 2016, TikTok is a fast-growing platform. Like Instagram Shopping, TikTok Shop allows users to engage potential customers with Lives (livestreamed sales videos), Shoppable Videos and a dedicated Shop Tab within an app.

LinkedIn - 42.9m UK users (July 2024)

Ostensibly a business and networking platform, LinkedIn can nonetheless be a great way to share what you’re up to, stay up to date with your suppliers and discuss (or debate) industry news. LinkedIn is often where some of the most knowledgeable and experienced people in the Toy industry (John Baulch, Isaac Larian, Jeremy Padawer, Richard North, Dave Middleton etc.) go to share their views, in the form of articles, posts, videos, pictures and polls. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t join them. Setting up and managing a business page is simple.

Other platforms

YouTube - 56.2m UK users as of September 2024.

A community building platform, YouTube users can create and upload videos to their ‘channels’. Rules regarding videos aimed at children are controlled to ensure viewer safety.

Reddit - 56.2m UK users as of September 2024.

A community building platform, YouTube users can create and upload videos to their ‘channels’. Rules regarding videos aimed at children are controlled to ensure viewer safety.

X (formerly Twitter)22.1m UK users as of May 2024, but this number is declining.

Videos and posts allowed, with varying character limits depending on account status.

BlueSky16.7m users worldwide but growing very rapidly as an alternative to X. Users can post, comment, repost and like their favourite things.

Start small – social media doesn’t need to be complicated

Got a hot new line in stock and a smartphone in your pocket? It takes seconds to snap a quick picture and share it to your business page on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, along with the price and your opening hours. Your followers will see this in their feeds. Is it a Toymaster Exclusive? Even better! Always be on the lookout for ways to highlight that your store is the place to be, the first port of call for that best-selling new toy or awesome trading card game. You don’t have to jump straight into creating videos with special effects and music or invest in lights and microphones for quality. Begin with the basics and take it from there. And don’t forget – a single photo or video can be shared across multiple platforms. This doesn’t need to be time consuming or over-analysed.

If you have younger or more tech-savvy employees and/or colleagues, social media could be something they can take responsibility for. Sit down as a team and devise a strategy for where/when/how/why you want to start posting/advertising and go from there. Even if you only have help on the weekends, there are tools out there such as Hootsuite which allow you to create, upload and schedule posts to go out on the days and times you want. So, a few hours work at the weekend could mean you don’t have to worry for the rest of the week, as everything is taken care of.

Channel your inner American

A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to attend Learning Express’ annual convention in the USA. What really struck me was how ‘out there’ Americans are willing to be. If those retailers wanted something, they went after it in a big way and they seemed very comfortable to appear in social media posts too. If you don’t already, I highly recommend you follow Rick Derr from Learning Express Lake Zurich, whom many of you will know from his excellent Letter from America columns in this magazine. Rick’s TikTok channel (@learningexpresstoyslz) has an incredible 141.2k followers and some of his videos have racked up millions of views. Rick is funny, enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable, so viewers trust his opinions and this trust turns into sales.

In the UK, we can be quite a conservative bunch. Perhaps we worry too much about what we look like or whether we’ll stumble over words when on camera, but honestly, there’s no need. A few years ago, Toymaster started producing vlogs (video blogs) featuring suppliers that our members can access through our portal, and somehow, I ended up being the face of them. I actually really enjoy making the vlogs and really don’t think anyone cares about my appearance. What they care about is the information we’re providing and how it relates to their needs. So, practise in the mirror first if you have to, or record videos only you will ever see, but start to get comfortable with being on camera. Your social media followers and customers will really appreciate it.

Indie inspiration

Dave Middleton’s combined Midco Toys/Toy Planet/Freak Treat Facebook business page has a whopping 17,000 followers, his TikTok channel (@midcotoymaster_toyplanet) has 5,426, and his Instagram page (@midcotoystoyplanet) a further 1,533. Dave uses Facebook to fuel excitement for upcoming launches, pre-order opportunities and in-store events among his hugely engaged audience, to very good effect.

Emma Dadswell, from Toys ‘n’ Tuck Southend, has also mastered social media. Her Facebook business page has 11,000 followers, as does her TikTok channel (@toysntuck) and her Instagram page (@toysntuck) has 1,895 followers.

If you know of either Emma or Dave, you’ll know they both run very successful retail businesses that are beloved by their local communities. While a lot of this is down to their hard work, expertise and unrivalled toy ranges – Dave in particular has made a name for himself as the indie King of Kidult – much is also due to their social media presences. Please do check out their channels to see how even the simplest posts can drive real in-store or online traffic.

Hopefully this has been useful and given some of you food for thought. We’re entering a new year; why not make it the Year of Social Media for your business? Challenges lie ahead for whole toy industry, and we all need to adapt and evolve.

And remember, Toymaster is always here to support its members and suppliers in any way we can. If you need help or advice, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our entire ethos is that ‘We Are Here to Help’.