Don’t Market to Moms, Market with Them

March 29th, 2010 by Julie Wegman

When you hear the phrase “multi-tech, multitasked mom,” you may see visions of Jane Jetson working with Rosie to complete daily chores, but actually, this is a pretty close definition of today’s average mom. According to BSM Media, a firm that specializes in marketing to (and with) mothers, 65% of millennial moms are using five or more forms of technology daily, including video, blogs, and wireless devices to multitask. Moms utilize technology to manage their schedules and tasks and to stay in touch more efficiently. There’s even an app for keeping track of baby’s feeding schedule and diaper changes!

So why should marketers care about the tech behaviors of this new mom generation?

First, millennial moms (those born between 1977 and 1996) contribute 79% of all first births and 68% of all births, according to The Parents Network. Second, Nielsen data shows that moms between 25 and 54 represent 19% of the total online population. This group is expected to spend $12 billion online by 2011.

And, as a whole, moms control 85% of household spending. This, of course, holds true for health care decisions. In particular:

• 92% of moms are responsible for their own health care decisions
• 65% of moms influence health care decisions for their children
• 59% of moms influence health care decisions for their spouse or partner

Moms want answers before they go to the store. In addition to time spent online visiting blogs and social networks, a Razorfish survey shows that digital moms are researching, seeking advice, and purchasing health-related products. This includes a percentage of time and/or money spent on the following categories:

• Baby/Parenting – 26%
• Medication/Medical Condition – 20%
• Health/Fitness – 18%

Keeping up with today’s mom is dependent upon one key strategy. The days of marketing to moms are over. Today, you market with them:

1. Entrust your brand to your consumers—let it go, let it go (while responsibly listening). Conspicuous absence and lost opportunity abound otherwise. They will go to other moms for advice.
2. Build trust—72% of moms said that sharing a similar experience and having children the same age are the two biggest factors enabling them to trust other moms. So start socializing, blogging, and tweeting—73% of moms trust online communities focused on specific interests for information. Only 16% trust television.*
3. Don’t give up on traditional media. Despite being one of the least trustworthy sources, television topped the list of media that moms use, tied with email and followed by websites. Interestingly, radio, newspapers, and magazines ranked higher than chat rooms or blogs in the amount of time moms spend with media.
4. Enlist your loyal customers to tell your story online. To generate word-of-mouth, start with an aggressive public relations effort to get moms talking at soccer games and with discussion groups.

* Nielsen’s Moms Annual Media Survey

— Julie Wegman

This entry was posted by Julie Wegman on Monday, March 29th, 2010 and is filed under Blogging, Brand Strategy, Health Care Marketing, MF, Marketing, Media, Success, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.