• by Holly Pavlika , Columnist, October 4, 2013

The power of today’s social media connected moms is never going to go away. If anything it will continue to grow. According to a study by comScore and BabyCenter, more than 90% of moms use social media regularly and of course, those are moms with children under the age of 18. Last Year, eMarketer estimated this group to be an astounding 35.7 million women. Many of today’s Millennial mothers have grown up digital. Together, they represent an estimated $2.4 trillion dollar market. But despite the focus on mom as a demographic and her spending power, most brands are still not getting it right when it comes to connecting with her. Insights in Marketing i-on-women conducted research that showed only about 9% of women think advertisers are marketing to them effectively. 

1. Work with moms to get it right.

You’re never going to get it right unless you talk to and ideate with moms. You need to solicit their ideas. The beauty of social media is it’s easy to find them and to connect with them. Research and studies will give you clues, but not the rich real conversation moms will bring, bring them into your headquarters and ask for their contribution and collaboration. 

2. Keep it real.

Sure you’ve heard this before but look around at some of the marketing to moms. Real, is real inspirational stories. Relatable content. Relevant content. Useful content. Not manufactured, retouched or artificial. 

3. Answer her when she’s reaching out.

Engage with your audience. A study by Acuity Group showed 73% of customer tweets go unanswered. What a missed opportunity. RedBull, a brand more associated with Millennials and daredevils, is terrific at listening and responding. My daughter was mugged for her latte and it blew up Twitter for a few minutes with 100+ tweets but not a word from Starbucks. Two other brands, on the other hand, responded with $5 gift cards because they wanted my daughter to know there were still good people in the world. If you take a look at the brands moms love, they typically are ones who are listening and responding.

4. Follow the moms that follow you back. 

Ratios, schmatios! When it comes to connecting to moms, brands need to follow the moms back. Stop thinking you are a celebrity or is part of the cache and get real with your advocates. It's the first step in the relationship particularly if you want to grow an audience of moms. 

5. Always layer in authentic conversation around your traditional campaigns.

The days where brands can just rely on traditional advertising messages are gone. Today, a blog post or tweet a mom writes mentioning your brand is an ad. These organic, authentic real stories and conversation need to be layered in along with your traditional media. These are the messages she trusts. 

6. Never market to them as a niche.

There’s no one-size-fits-all mom. You can’t say, “Here’s something all of you will like.” There are Millennial moms, Boomer moms, second-life moms, Latina moms … moms of every imaginable kind. Don’t stereotype and lump us into a singular “mom” bucket or you’ll miss the mark every time. 

7. Remember she’s intelligent.

Many stay-at-home moms are educated and have chosen family over career in many cases. With the economy being what it is, many moms are the primary breadwinners in their families. We like to talk about more than diapers, potty training or children. We have interests beyond gardening, cooking and reading books. Look at the types of blogs that are out there–everything from politics, business, women’s health issues and more. 

8. Keep it beautifully simple.

When you’re busy, you need simplicity, and moms are hyper-taskers. Make it complicated, and you’ll lose them every time. One of the reasons Pinterest is popular with women is its simple design and the curation of relevant content, but it’s also because it’s pleasing to the eye. We appreciate good esthetics.

9. Balance emotional messaging with pragmatic information.

She still wants to be inspired, but she’s also pragmatic. She does her homework before making a purchase. It’s part of the job of being a mom – making informed choices. Over and over, the Dove campaign comes up because it does such a beautiful job of combining the emotional with the rational.

10. Remember it’s about story-selling.

Place the information within reach, and let her make a decision. Marketing to moms is about telling stories, not selling. Tell how it fits in her life, layer in people’s stories, give the back story on the product – she likes details, showcase testimonials and reviews. Sprinkle in lifestyle photos of the product in use, not just beautifully lit photos of the product. All of these tell a story.