Mobilizing Moms With Social Media

Think moms aren’t a force to be reckoned with? Try weaseling your way out of volunteering when cornered by a PTO member. Or just ask Motrin, which felt the wrath of mothers online after their “Wearing Your Baby” viral campaign offended mamas all over the Internet. E-Centric recently chatted with Maria Bailey, author of “Mom 3.0: Marketing With Today’s Mothers by Leveraging New Media & Technology” about whether marketers are doing a good job reaching maternal girls online. Bailey—a mother of four herself—is founder of BSM Media, which specializes in marketing to moms.

E-CENTRIC: So, are marketers going a good job of connecting with moms via social media?

BAILEY: I field that exact question to the mom market every six months. And the number has risen. When I wrote my first book “Marketing to Moms” 10 years ago, only 30% of moms said marketers were doing a good job of targeting them. The number now has gone up to 60%, and early returns of our most recent survey are up to 80%. I think they’re doing a better job of trying to understand her and trying to lump her under “women” or “female marketing.” But where marketers are kind of lagging behind is that they’re still thinking about marketing “to” moms instead of “with” moms, which is what you have to do with social media. Moms are empowered now. It’s not just about taking your brand message and feeding it to her and hoping she regurgitates it to other moms in the same way. Now, moms are taking brand messages and customizing them the way they see it.

E-CENTRIC: Do you think marketers aren’t catching on to how quickly moms can mobilize? The Motrin controversy from a few months ago was a good example of that.

BAILEY: Yes. I think the large majority of them are still applying the old metrics—what’s the CPM? How many impressions am I going to get? What’s the reach? In reality, the most effective way to get to moms is to mobilize them. Unfortunately, a lot of times we see that mobilization when it’s something negative, like the Facebook/breastfeeding photograph controversy that’s going on right now. I think most marketers know that moms can mobilize quickly, but they get stuck in the rut of trying to get to the masses quickly with the tools they’re used to using, like TV or radio, rather than really trying to engage with her.

E-CENTRIC: How should they measure that engagement?

BAILEY: I’ve got a saying that not all impressions are equal. When I look at engagement, I look at how many of those moms want to talk back to the brand. How many take the message and broadcast it to others? How many other moms are posting against it? For example, traditional marketers will call and say “we want to create a buzz like the Motrin buzz. Get us out to the bloggers.” So we’ll connect them to 200 bloggers and they’ll say “but that woman only has 2000 followers.” We’ll have to explain that yes, but she got 700 other moms engaged with her and talking about your brand. And then those 700 put it on their blogs, which each might have another 2000 followers. So my measures of engagement are the secondary and tertiary impressions that also draw. It’s the loyalty of the audience to the delivery mechanism. I’m not as loyal to USA Today as I am to [another mom’s] blog, because I have no emotional connection. And that’s part of our measure of engagement.

E-CENTRIC: Do you see video an emerging trend for moms?

BAILEY: Vlogging is going to be the emerging trend of 2009. Only 34% of moms blog right now. But 80% of mom watch video. And video is the perfect mechanism for moms who are trying to make mac & cheese and chicken tenders at the same time they’re trying to learn how to cure colic. Or they’re looking for a new type of stroller. They can go to newbaby.com (http://www.newbaby.com) and click on links to moms who are doing video new product reviews and watch a three minute recommendation. Video is going to hit quickly.

E-CENTRIC: What about mobile? Do you see a lot of moms using iPhones and the like to communicate with brands and other moms?

BAILEY: When we were researching the book, we asked moms about their most used device, and it was the cell phone. But they were using it to stay connected with their family. However, 61% did say they were using their mobile devices to gain recommendations for products and services. I see more of the mom content online being fit to mobile devices through RSS feeds and Twitter. What I’ve found is that moms aren’t as welcoming to advertising on mobile devices. That’s something they want on their laptop rather than their mobile device.

E-CENTRIC: Are moms using social networks like Facebook?

BAILEY: Yes, but they’re using those sites to connect with old friends, socialize with girlfriends and share photos and videos with family members.

E-CENTRIC: Have you looked at the profiles of moms who are using social networks or other media? Are they moms who work outside the home or stay at home moms?

BAILEY: Two thirds of all the moms in our research that are in the home are generating some sort of income, even mom bloggers who characterize themselves at stay at home. So we characterize moms as either in-home mom or traditionally working moms. The out of the home working mom is more likely to use her mobile device, rather than blogs or social networks. In-home moms are using social networks and blogs to promote their business and socialize. Younger moms tend to be more into the blogging and social networks than older moms, who tend to work outside of the home more.

E-CENTRIC: What are the next big trends?

BAILEY: It’s time to reconsider podcasts, now that over 90% of moms have some kind of MP3 player. They’re rediscovering the format. For example, Whirlpool has a podcast called “The American Family.” It’s done by their marketing director from her desk. Moms can take your message with them—it’s a mobile way to talk to mom. Vlogging will be huge. And there’s a huge opportunity to incorporate digital photography, because it’s a very strong motivator and it’s something that moms enjoy. Ninety-two percent of all moms have uploaded a digital image to a computer in the last two weeks. It’s something moms are doing a lot of and it engages them. Allow consumers to share their experiences with your brand—it’s a huge opportunity.