In small business, or any business really, determining your audience and knowing them like a book is instrumental to success. I recently read a whitepaper from the Association of National Advertisers, or ANA, which pointed out really useful research to be used when reaching out to Modern Moms online. Here are a few key takeaways:
- 84 percent of moms are adopters of emerging technologies. My first thought? Mommy bloggers. What mom hasn’t taken to Word Press to offer her experience or looked to a mom’s blog for guidance? In fact, according to the ANA, moms are sharing product experiences via e-mail, mobile devices and of course, their own blogs.
- 49 million households are identified as multi-generational, which is nearly double the amount in 1970 (26 million). ERA Real Estate recently brought this new homebuying behavior to light. With more than one family under a roof, moms now have the task of purchasing for not only themselves and their immediate families, but also for others within their home (i.e. grandparents, adult children, grandkids, etc.)
- 53 percent of moms purchased a smartphone as a result of becoming a mom. According to BabyCenter, the need for phone cameras, video cameras, apps and calendars now trump the need for contacts / address book, text messaging, email and Internet browser functions. Keep this in mind when marketing to your mom audience – moms are most interested in capturing daily moments and making the most of motherhood, with convenience top of mind.
- Moms are 248% more likely to prefer to text than call their friends and moms are 15% more likely to use their smartphones while shopping than the average consumer. According to the ANA, marketers should streamline their paths to purchase and leverage platform capabilities to create immediate connections between information and actions, i.e. purchasing.
- Moms are also 40% more likely to use their smartphone for social media than the average adult. As a mom, I use social media to ask about products, services, travel ideas and also share my views from time to time. As the ANA points out, a social media strategy should be a part of any integrated marketing plan. Fish where the fish are swimming.
- Family time is focused on four areas: routines, rituals, traditions and reliving moments. Determine how your brand can serve up one or all of these family must-haves. Can you make a routine such as dinner planning simpler? Or, can your product help keep memories for moms to savor?
- According to Yahoo!, 90% of moms go online regularly for “me time,” and nearly all their online time is spent on either content or connection with others. In a word, engagement. A marketer’s key objective should be to engage with their audience, in this case, moms by presenting them with valuable, relevant content. According to a study by Yahoo!, the top reasons for connecting online are “care of self” and bargain hunting. And, advertising can also be considered a part of moms’ online content experience as 44% get marketing information such as ads, product reviews and promotions while online.
Now, while I do not think the point of this white paper is to persuade marketers to go all-online, all the time with their advertising dollars, I do think that the point is to carefully know your audience and determine your integrated strategy accordingly.
When it comes to moms, make sure to include online and mobile marketing and keep it conversational and relevant so that your engagement levels increase, thereby increasing trust, then loyalty and if you’re lucky, viral marketing by way of online conversations i.e. a facebook status, tweet or blog post.
