A Face(book) only a mother could love: How social are moms?
When Facebook first began, it was a tool for students to connect with one another, typically within a limited age range of about 20-30. Later, when Zuckerberg opened up the Facebook forum to people of all ages, more people learned about the value of reaching out to one another using what is now the world’s largest social network. What was once seen as cool and limited to a select group of people who were “in the know” became open to everyone. A college student would cringe to open up his friend requests to see, smiling back at him, an image of his own mother. But these days, it’s the norm for mothers of all types to connect with their children and with other moms using Facebook, Twitter and other popular social networks. As women are seeing the benefits of technology, more of them are also investing in tablets and smart phones, which provide ways for them to stay connected. Facebook is a revolutionary tool for mothers, who often post pictures of their children and families to share with friends. In fact, many young mothers make their living from blogging and working remotely in social fields, as doing so allows them the flexibility to stay home with their children while still allowing them to earn a living. Older mothers have found the value of using Facebook to help them stay connected to business contacts. [quote]For advertisers, moms are a highly coveted demographic, as they are often the ones who have the power to make purchasing decisions for items such as diaper brands, video games, and children’s cereals, among other things. [/quote]It seems like a no-brainer that these mothers would engage in significant social sharing activity – through social networking sites, they stay connected. At a recent BlogHer conference sponsored by a number of mommy-friendly companies like Diet Pepsi and Johnson & Johnson, hundreds of moms got together to discuss trends in social media and digital networking. These aren’t your traditional soccer moms – many of these moms were urban professionals who make a living in the digital media industry, networking to reach out to other moms to create and maintain a community. Sites like Babble.com cater to what they call “a new generation of parents,” writing articles with titles like “18 Ways to Keep Yourself Feeling Sexy During a Dry Spell.” In essence, this ain’t your mama’s website…. Except actually, it is! So, back to the core question – how social are moms? In a word, incredibly. Neilsen reports that moms are some of the biggest influencers out there, and use social media to stay connected to one another. They are: – 81 percent more likely to become a fan of or follow a brand online – 86 percent more likely to post a status update – 84 percent more likely to comment or post content than the general population. Of course, there may be demographic shifts due to the age of the parent, location, household income and a host of other factors. But, the mother of one four-year-old I know has hundreds of connections on LinkedIn, due at least partially due to her propensity to use LinkedIn as a networking tool to help her grow her small business. As social media continues to grow and expand, so too will the ways in which mothers reach out to one another through social media. To learn more about how you can market to moms in order to create brand preference and instill brand loyalty, check out our Florida marketing agency’s recent whitepaper on marketing to moms, which discusses strategies for segmentation, creating appeals and assessing your own brand to determine the right moms for your business. Are you a socially savvy mom? Connect with us on Facebook!
Multi-screen generations & how to properly market to them
In a world where children aren’t being taught cursive (because, frankly, who needs it when you have a tablet?), it’s getting harder and harder for marketers to stay in touch with the younger generation. Back in our day, we didn’t have to worry about chargers and crashing devices – in fact, we could just tell our teachers that the dog ate our homework. The digital age marks a time where children are growing up with Facebook and using electronic devices to learn through interactive games. Remember the years that parents spent questioning whether it was appropriate to sit our children down in front of the television for hours on end? Looking toward the future, we’ll have the same questions about the tablet, in addition to things we never had to worry about such as cyberbullying, internet predators and other as of yet unknown cyber threats. But, there are also a lot of positives – children who are learning how to use devices at a young age are also testing higher in certain academic subjects, at least in part due to the fact that their parents are treating their devices as tools in the education process. So, how can this information help a marketer who is trying to reach a multi-screen generation? First of all, it is important to remember that things are much different than they were back then. As much as we were dazzled by cereal commercials and Smoky the Bear, children are living in a different world than we did. Technology has changed everything; even the idea of a smartphone would have been a fantasy when I was ten years old. A marketer who is trying to reach a multi-screen generation can work to do so by creating interactive games that create an engaging experience for a child. Obviously, there are privacy restrictions, particularly when it comes to collecting information about children and advertising to them. But games are typically a safety net – a company-sponsored game using augmented reality or other features helps reach a child with its high levels of stimulation. You can also reach them by having a fun and interactive website. [quote]Though I mostly focus on the use of technology in the digital space, hand-to-hand marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach children. [/quote]At our Orlando marketing agency, we often advise clients to market at events catered to children and teens, and to tie it in with a digital strategy. If children have smartphones, there may be ways for a child to directly engage with your brand through the use of social media. Perhaps they can unlock rewards with their Facebook check-ins, or by offering testimonials as to your product that you can post on YouTube and other media outlets. Because our adolescents and teens have grown up in a digital world, they are practically socialized to do these things, which is why they are of special interest to marketers. If you do engage in good old-fashioned television advertising, it may be beneficial to integrate your campaign with an interactive digital component. Nokia’s recent Work for Will campaign, featuring Up All Night’s Will Arnett (also of Arrested Development fame), invited people to log online to create a digital product, in order to be given the chance be Will Arnett’s personal assistant for a day. Marketing to a multi-screen generation means thinking like someone with multitude of screens. If your advertising and marketing campaign doesn’t reach your younger audience on all screens, then allow our Florida advertising agency to design one for you that will!
