• by Stephen Reily , Columnist, November 11, 2013

I was reading the results of a recent survey by Burst Mediaon “The Online Mom”  and two notable facts stood out. First, I had never seen a study like this that presented segmented data on Moms of all ages; the research was divided between Moms aged 18-34, 35-54 and 55+. Second, it turns out that the Moms 55+ are not only online as much as younger women; they are online even more.

The Super-User

Major brands and agencies still ask me, with surprising frequency, whether Boomer women actually use the Internet the way younger women do. Burst Media’s research should bury these questions. It turns out that the Boomer Mom is online even more than her younger peers. By almost every measure of time spent online, Boomer Moms outrank their younger peers.

Over 10% of Moms 55+ spend 10 or more hours per day online, while only 8% of Moms 35-54 do so, and only 4% of Moms 18-34. And for Moms who spend 1-3 hours per day online, Boomers match or exceed the levels of younger Moms as well.

Boomers are Reviewing Moms, Too

According to Burst Media’s research, almost half of all Moms say they have posted a review, comment or question online about a specific brand-named product or service.  And for those who have, Boomer Moms are doing the same things as younger Moms. In some content categories (like blogs), Boomer Moms are more likely to post their own reviews and comments. While somewhat less likely to post on e-commerce sites than younger Moms, Boomer Moms are more likely to post reviews on social media generally than Moms 35-54 and almost as likely to do so as Moms 18-34. 

In our own research, and in our work, we see that women 50+ are actively using blogs to share and receive wisdom from their most important resource: other women like them.    

Boomer Moms are Making and Influencing Purchases Family-Wide

Moms of all ages are making and influencing their families’ purchases well beyond the food and cleaning products that advertise to them most. I have written here before about the Boomer Mom’s role in paying for and influencing purchase decisions for four generations of her own family. Burst Media’s research also confirmed that Moms of all ages are managing their families’ banking, financial and retirement products (77%), home maintenance tasks (66%), travel (82%), and auto purchases and repairs (76%). In some of these categories (like financial services and travel), almost 50% of Moms are actually making the purchase themselves – but you wouldn’t know it from ads that speak to men, and to women of all ages as extras.

Conclusion

Just as marketers have often made women 50+ feel invisible, they have also made too many women feel that they stop being Moms at age 50. Just this year I’ve seen a number of brands – from Amex to Keurig to Bausch & Lomb– recognize that Moms stay connected, and keep buying products for themselves and their adult children, as they age. 

Who knew that marketers wouldn’t appreciate Boomer women until they realized they are also Moms?