If you’re interested in marketing to women, you may be surprised to learn of all the different ways moms use social media. If your Facebook news feed is cluttered with kids’ artwork, graduation photos and proud report-card posts, the idea that moms use social media is not news to you. But according to recent studies, it’s not just for bragging anymore. And it’s not all Facebook and Twitter.
Sure, moms use Facebook. In fact, according to a Nielsen study, one out of every three minutes that moms spend online is spent on Facebook—connecting, exploring, and yes, bragging. Young mothers, dealing with dependent infants and toddlers and craving adult interaction, spend a whopping 260% more time on Facebook than the average user.
But according to a survey conducted by Child’s Play Communications, when moms want or need to buy something, they’re most likely to check out a blog. According to the moms in the survey, blogs impacted their purchasing decisions more than any other social media platform. And toy manufacturers, take note: toys were the number one kids’ product purchased by moms as a result of social media recommendations. If you want to sell something that’s important to moms, start making friends with influential bloggers.
It’s a mistake, however, to focus on only one form of social media in marketing to moms. Across all forms—YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google Plus– moms are more likely users than the general population. They’re using it on all devices: phones, tablets, home computers. They’re also handing their tablets and phones over to their kids to keep them quiet in the car or in stores; according to the Nielsen study, 71% of moms who own a tablet let their children use it.
And just because moms are heavy social media users, it doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned traditional media, either. Moms still watch TV. They’re just far more likely than the average viewer to watch it later, by DVR-ing their favorite shows or watching them on Hulu or other sites. On their tablets. Or their phones. Or their computers. Or even their Wii game systems.
So what does all this data mean for marketing to women? Any campaign that wants to reach women needs to span across all platforms, and encompass an array of media approaches. A campaign that shows up on a mom’s phone, tablet, AND computer is more likely to get seen. Moms are constantly on the move, so expecting to reach them with just one platform is unrealistic. Got a TV spot? Put it on YouTube. Put it on your mobile site (you have one, right?) Post the link on Facebook. Then get some friendly blogger to write about it (and your product). And so on.
Given moms’ love of social media, future marketing to women may start with social media and “trickle down” to TV. Or will TV even be a relevant marketing tool a decade from now? What do you think?
