So what will 2012 bring? As one who has been involved in connecting bloggers with brands for many years, I’d like to proffer these projections:

• Wheat and chaff. Brands will become more selective about whom they work with. No longer will they blast out information and product samples to mass lists of a thousand or more moms, many of whom don’t cover relevant topics, reach the right target audience or have enough posting frequency or readership to make even the most minimal effort worthwhile. Instead, companies will be discerning in the numbers and quality of the bloggers they contact.
• Defining influence. These same brands will look beyond UVMs and even Facebook and Twitter numbers to more closely identify true influencers.
• No need to apply. Brands will get increasingly frustrated with the lack of professionalism among many mom bloggers – leading to a further narrowing of the field.
• Raising the bar. As bloggers partner with brands for more paid activities, the cost of hiring these moms to serve as ambassadors, host special events or create content will rise.
• Fear factor.  When blogging was young, many companies feared doing or saying “the wrong thing.” For 2012, companies will feel more comfortable about making their expectations clear.
• Analyze this. Brands will take a much closer look at measurement. Most companies have moved beyond the “gotta be in social media” stage to the “what does this get me” level. Eventually, bloggers will have to demonstrate that they can drive traffic or accomplish other key corporate objectives. Right now, only the top few are succeeding in doing that. At some point, visibility and buzz alone will not be enough.

 Marketers, what have your experiences been with mom bloggers this year, and what are your own predictions for 2012? Mom bloggers, do you agree or disagree with the points above?

 HANDLING THE CHANGING SPACE OF MOM BLOGGING

For anyone out there who still thinks “mommy blogging” is all about caring and sharing – I’m a mom, you’re a mom, let’s help each other – it’s time to wake up and smell the freshly minted greenbacks. Yes, diapers, deadbeat dads, poop and puke are still covered daily in what was once called the momosphere. Yet the focus of blogging moms has evolved in recent years to the point that for many, blogging is no longer a form of expression or community but instead a means to a monetary end. One of the most discussed topics at mom-focused blogger conferences these days is monetization – specifically, how moms can turn their blogs into bucks. Some of those conversations center on requiring brands to pay bloggers for posting reviews — not something that I support. In fact, building both an audience and credibility by reviewing products or otherwise posting about brands for no charge should be simply the point of entry for mom bloggers who want to be considered for future, profitable business partnerships.

What to do once that baseline has been built and those blogger-brand relationships established? As the social media mom-space matures, companies need to find ways to reward those who support their business. In my point of view, bloggers who regularly provide quality visibility for a client’s brand for free should be recognized whenever possible with other, paid opportunities, as the natural progression of that corporate or agency connection. These can take the form of hiring moms to:

• Serve as “Brand Ambassadors.” The term has a number of possible definitions. It can encompass creating a planned, ongoing series of branded blog posts – very different from an occasional mention. It might involve promoting a company at a blogger conference by talking up the brand and handing out samples and materials, or serving as the brand’s official spokesperson in any number of other capacities.
• Write content for your Web site. Many of these women are bloggers because they like to write and are good at it. If you’re targeting moms, why not enable them to hear from other moms like themselves, against the backdrop of your brand?
• Act as advisors on everything from SEO to Facebook design. Many of these moms are more deeply involved in certain aspects of social media than most publicists will ever be. Consider tapping their expertise.
• Host virtual or live events. Mom bloggers like to connect with other mom bloggers, whether virtually – say, via a Twitter party — or live and in person. They may be more likely to do so if it’s a popular mom blogger inviting them to gather together.
• Participate in Advisory Boards. What does a mom want? When it comes to your business, why not ask the experts? We did that not long ago via our social-media mom Parkbench Panel, for a family-focused Hewlett Packard project. As in that case, the feedback can be both surprising and productive.

Of course, when embarking on any such formal relationship, both bloggers and brands must disclose that it is a paid one.

Today’s moms are pitching not only for a chance to review your product or take that free trip to Disney World or get invited to that unbelievable event, but also to have companies recognize them in a bottom-line way for what they have accomplished and what they could achieve for brands.

Not that all mom bloggers are worthy of such recognition, however.

Some have difficulty grasping the concept of a post that’s not simply cut-and-paste, the significance of deadlines, proper grammar, the correct spelling of brand names or the idea of actually doing what they promise they are going to do (review the product they are sent; attend the event to which they have RSVPd). Others believe that, by virtue of the fact that they are mothers and have a blog – period – they are deserving of, indeed entitled to, an array of perks and privileges, and they will complain, across all social media channels, if their experience is less than what they consider perfect. It is these bloggers – the irresponsible ones and the ones whose expectations are not based in reality– who give the whole social media mom-space a nasty name.

Fortunately, there remains a pool — albeit a small one — of real professionals, many of whom in a former life (or also in this one) are themselves marketers. When it comes to brands recognizing and rewarding bloggers with business opportunities, these moms’ names will be mentioned over and over again. Brands and agencies must understand that working in an ongoing manner with women who can partner with them in a professional way to achieve business goals will ultimately be more effective than the increasingly common mass outreach to every mom blogger in the universe. The cream will eventually rise to the top, and the rest will simply curdle.

Brands, how are you interacting with mom bloggers right now? Moms, what are you doing to make yourselves appealing to brands?

Now I’d like to talk about what bloggers can and should do to position themselves for those opportunities. In fact, that was the topic of a panel presentation I participated in at last week’s BlogHer, called  “Minding Your Own Business: Bad Blogger Pitches (The Other Side of the PR-Blogger Relationship).”

The most important thing a blogger must do to be taken seriously by a brand is: be professional.

In an effort to best illustrate what agencies and brands consider professional, I’d like to share 5 examples of what is NOT:

1. Complaining in social media about PR people. I mean, REALLY. Fact is, you never know where we may wind up — one day a lowly publicist at an agency, the next head of PR at a company you’d kill to work with. We’re your gateway to opportunities. Don’t slam the door.
2.  Grousing about 1) not being asked to review a specific product 2) not being invited to an event 3) everything. Do the math. There are thousands of mom bloggers out there. We can’t send you all products and we can’t invite you to every event, unless they all take place at Madison Square Garden.
3. Opting in to review a product and then not reviewing it. And not bothering to tell us you’re not going to review it. Or why. Or not returning our email or call when we ask, politely, for feedback. Or reviewing it in March when it was sent to you for Christmas. And is no longer on the market. Making your post worthless.
4. Posting a review and getting all the facts wrong. Minor points such as the spelling of the client’s name, the price or the link.
5. RSVPing to an event and then not showing up, with no notice beforehand or apology afterward. Which is even worse than cancelling the night before, after all the arrangements have been made, and all those extra meals, products, massages, etc., have already been paid for, in advance, as you would for a wedding. Dropping out is not only unprofessional, but just plain rude.

To the professionals out there — you know who you are.  Keep it up–we love you and will bend over backward to find great opportunities for you. To the rest, my best advice is: Follow their lead.

One of the most popular topics at mom-focused blogger conferences is monetization – how bloggers can turn their posts into cash. Some of the conversations center on getting brands to pay bloggers for posting reviews—not something that most brands are inclined to do or that I support. To me, building an audience by reviewing products for no charge is simply the point of entry for bloggers who want to be considered for future, profitable brand partnerships.

That said, as the social media space matures and bloggers’ focus shifts from simply enjoying blogging to wanting to profit from it, companies need to find ways to reward those who support their business. In my point of view, bloggers who regularly provide visibility for a client’s brand for free should be recognized whenever possible with other, paid opportunities, as the natural progression of that corporate or agency relationship.

Following are some ways companies might consider working with mom bloggers:

Brand Ambassadorships. Although an ambassadorship can take many forms, it generally means engaging a mom blogger to serve as the official spokesperson for your brand. This could involve, for example, an ongoing series of blog posts (yes, more than one or two posts becomes a paid scenario) or promoting your brand at a blogger conference in return for you sponsoring her trip.

Content.  We have more than once hired bloggers to create content for clients’ Web sites. For Canadian toy company MEGA Brands, we ran a search for MEGA Bloks Moms, who regularly contribute to the MEGA Bloks Family Club, a membership-only section of the brand’s Web site.  For Music Together, a global network of music classes for kids and the adults who love them, we are recommending mom bloggers we know to be qualified and reliable.

Counsel.  At Child’s Play, we have compensated bloggers for a number of advisory roles, from explaining certain technologies to designing Facebook pages.

Hosting.  Consider asking mom bloggers to host Twitter parties, as we have, or live brand events.

Advertising.  Bloggers would really like you to advertise on their pages. Why not follow up a great review that generated traffic with a “thank you” ad that produces additional traffic?

Jobs! There is a great pool of talent out there. Keep it in mind.

Whether or not brands consider you to be influential boils down largely, but not entirely, to numbers.  How many people are reading your blog, friending you on Facebook or following your tweets?  That’s step 1.  Step 2: How many of those who are there, care? I.e., engagement – how many comments are you getting on your blog or Facebook page? How many replies or RTs on twitter?

So, you may ask, what IS the magic number? Unfortunately, there is no ”right answer” to any of the above: Every company seems to have its own minimum, every measurement service its own formula for defining influence.

Here at Child’s Play, we look at all those numbers, but also at other factors. We love moms who regularly attend blogger conferences and, especially, speak on panels. It means they have a) additional visibilty b) the respect of the blogger community that has invited them to speak and c) the chance to meet other bloggers in person, and personal connections go a long way in creating credibility and ongoing relationships.

And let’s not forget the moms whose social media role also lands them in traditional media, as spokespersons for a brand or on the subject of blogging itself.

That said, I’d love feedback from mom bloggers and brands alike: How do each of you define someone who is influential is social media?

Here at Child’s Play Communications, we knew from our experience connecting companies with moms in social media that the answer was yes, but we wanted to offer greater insight into how and to what degree social media influences what moms buy. Toward that end, we commissioned The NPD Group, a leading market research company, to conduct an in-depth survey of moms across the U.S. based on a series of questions we developed.  The just released  “Social Media Moms: How Networking Impacts Purchasing Behaviors” provides a comprehensive understanding  not only of  what motivates moms’ purchasing decisions but also of moms’ overall use of social media. Following are some key finding:

•  79% of all moms in the U.S. with children under the age of 18 are active in social media
•  Of these moms, about one in four (23%) said they have purchased a children’s product as a result of a recommendation from a social networking site or blog. 
•  Online recommendations have even more impact among the most frequent social media users: 43% of active social media moms who use these sites on a daily basis have purchased a children’s product as the result of a recommendation from these sites.
•  More than half (55%) of these moms said they made their purchase because of a recommendation from a personal review blog.
• 40% of these moms made a purchase because of a  Facebook recommendation.

 The NPD Group fielded an online survey to members of NPD’s online panel and to members of the Child’s Play Communications online panel. The two different sources provided data to create both a holistic view of U.S. moms and their interaction with social media, as well as a deep-dive into the behaviors and preferences of social media moms. The complete survey is available for purchase from NPD.

 Clearly, moms nationwide are making purchasing decisions as a result of the information and advice other moms are providing through social media.

How about you? Have you made a purchase as a result of a social media recommendation? Was it from a blog? What did you buy and why?

The morning portion of the event featured an informative panel discussion with noted Chicago-area mom bloggers including Kris Cain, LittleTechGirl; Amy Mueller, ParentSphere; Maria Ramos, MyChicagoMommy and MJ Tam, Chicagonista.  I was delighted to moderate a lively conversation regarding the most effective ways for companies and brands to engage with bloggers today. There were an abundance of “takeaways” for the audience of corporate representatives and other bloggers, covering everything from how to pitch bloggers to tips for maintaining a positive, reciprocal relationship.

Following the panel discussion, our blogger guests enjoyed a tasty brunch in the sun-kissed Lakeview Terrace room, overlooking the harbor. Conversation was plentiful among the bloggers and our sponsors, including Playtex Baby, MEGA Brands, Backyard Safari Outfitters/Zillionz, Toy State, Restaurant.com, Cold Stone Creamery and In Zone Brands. Holiday makeup applications provided by Mary Kay Cosmetics put everyone in a celebratory mood as did sponsor giveaways and a slew of fabulous raffle prizes including a $250 Target gift card, a deluxe diaper disposal system and holiday toy gift packs. Everyone got to savor the decadent new Cold Stone Creamery layer cakes which topped off the brunch on a sweet note!

Special thanks to all of our sponsors for their support and to the dedicated bloggers with whom we work so closely year round. We’re so pleased about the positive comments that have already come in from bloggers and sponsors alike.

Click here for photos and videos of the Child’s Play Communications Chicago Holiday Bloggers Brunch.

We have a full slate of Bloggers Brunches and other terrific, mom-focused social media activities planned for 2011. Potential sponsors, don’t hesitate to drop me an email if you would like more information (sa@childsplaypr.com). 

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

It’s going to be one BUSY event:

On Friday morning at 10 a.m., I’ll be answering questions about marketing to moms for a panel discussion hosted by ChiTAG.

On Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m., I’ll be making a presentation about moms and social media to the Chicago Midwest chapter of  Women In Toys.

Then — at 10 a.m. on Saturday– I’ll be moderating a panel of mom bloggers that we at Child’s Play are presenting, as part of our Bloggers Brunch. The presentation is titled Marketing to Moms in Social Media: How to Most Effectively Promote Your Brand. We have a great group of panelists planned:

• MJ Tam, Editor, Chicagonista.com
• Kris Cain, LittleTechGirl
• Maria Ramos, MyChicagoMommy
• Amy Mueller, ParentSphere

We’re still signing up guests to attend the panel presentation, so any companies that are interested, please register here. Moms who are attending our Bloggers Brunch may also attend the panel presentation, at no charge, but must let us know beforehand.

Most exciting is that, at noon on Saturday, I and my Child’s Play team — Julie Livingston, who manages our event programs; Marie Baker, who heads our award-winning Team Mom review-blogger network; Erika Sanchez, an old hand at our blogger events, and Fiona MacLeod, who just joined Child’s Play to help with special projects – will host the Holiday Bloggers Brunch, where we’ll have the opportunity to connect 50 mom bloggers with event sponsors including: Cold Stone Creamery, now sponsoring one of our Bloggers Brunch events for the third consecutive time,  Backyard Safari Outfitters, also back for the third time, Playtex Baby, In Zone Brands, Road Rippers, MEGA Brands,  Zillions, and Restaurant.com. Mary Kay Cosmetics has signed on to provide pampering to our mom blogger guests.

The best part for us: connecting in person with all the moms  we’ve been working with over the years through Team Mom and meeting other mom bloggers for the first time.

So, to all our sponsors and all our mom-blogger guests: Can’t wait to see you there!

On Saturday, November 20th, Child’s Play Communications will hold our first Holiday Bloggers Brunch, as part of the Chicago Toy & Game Fair (ChiTAG), a major family event that serves as the Windy City’s kick-off to the holiday season.

This event is a prime opportunity for 50 leading mom bloggers to meet one-on-one with 10 sponsor companies in an intimate atmosphere, conducive to conversation and forming personal connections. Sponsors as of today include Cold Stone Creamery, Restaurant.com, Toy State, MEGA Brands, Playtex Baby and In Zone – with more to come.

The Chicago Holiday Bloggers Brunch follows on the heels of our successful New York City Dinner’s On Us (August, 2010) and Los Angeles Bloggers Brunch (April, 2010).  The Holiday Bloggers Brunch is our fifth major blogger event, and it includes two distinct components:

That morning, the event will open with a panel of leading Chicago mom bloggers, who will discuss best practices for reaching moms through social media – including blogs, Twitter and Facebook. They will share their insights and answer questions on how to work with this target market most effectively. They will also discuss how social media has evolved, as well as current trends and issues that impact their interaction with companies and brands today.

The morning presentation will be followed by a noon brunch at which sponsors exhibit their products to bloggers for review consideration. It’s a great opportunity for sponsors and bloggers to connect live and in person and communicate how each can benefit the other. It’s also a wonderful way for bloggers to meet other mom bloggers – and to have an afternoon of fun, complete with great food and some much-needed pampering. Bloggers who attend the brunch will also receive free passes to the ChiTAG exhibit.

Here’s what sponsors are saying about Child’s Play Communications’ blogger events!

Toyota:“Toyota was pleased to have the opportunity to speak with bloggers about some of our exciting new products, such as Sienna, as well as share information on our latest safety initiatives that continue to make Toyotas some of safest vehicles on the road today.”

California Strawberry:“The California Strawberry Commission was a sponsor of the “Dinner’s on Us” event held this year in NYC. It was a great opportunity for us to connect with dozens of influential mom bloggers. Child’s Play Communications did a great job organizing a fun, engaging and social event.”

Cold Stone Creamery:“Through the Child’s Play bloggers events, we were able to build lasting relationships with influential mom bloggers for the Cold Stone Creamery brand. These events put our product in the hands of our core customers, and have been extremely beneficial in our social media outreach.”

Bloggers, if you are interested in attending and have not yet received an invitation, please send your contact information to childsplay@childsplaypr.com.

Companies, if you’re looking to reach influential social media moms directly this holiday season, contact Julie Livingston, jl@childsplaypr.com, (212) 488-2060 x 12 for sponsorship information.

Really?

Truth be told, the company then makes this valid point: The fact that mommy bloggers are such a diverse groups is “a benefit and a challenge for marketers.”

It’s a benefit, from my point of view, because it allows so many different kinds of companies to reach so many different kinds of  moms. It’s a challenge because identifying the right moms for the right topic then approaching them in the right way requires a great deal of time and effort. 

It all goes back to what we’ve been saying to clients  for years — to work with mom bloggers most effectively you have to understand what they write about.  Marketers, here are some questions to ask yourselves when pitching mommy bloggers:

How does the fact that they are moms relate to the topic of their blogs?

Are they personal bloggers, review bloggers, neither or both?

If they do reviews, in what categories, and for what age ranges? Do they focus only on travel or on food, on fashion or on entertainment? Or are their posts instead based on a personal passion, whether for politics or an important social cause?

How do they want to work with you? By:

• Receiving product samples, for reviews or giveaways?
• Learning about exclusive discounts, coupons and other special offers?
• Sitting down with you at your headquarters, connecting with you at a special event,  or going behind the scenes of your operation?
• Interviewing a celebrity spokesperson?
• Hosting a guest post from an expert?
• Partnering with you to create awareness about an issue that is dear to them?
• Not at all?

These are just a few of the many ways mommy blogs differ in their focus and in their approach. The more research a company does and the more genuine relationships it establishes, the more successful it will be in communicating with these social media moms.

Mom  bloggers, what would you like to add to the list above?