Posts Tagged "Social Media"

Moms love Pinterest.

The hottest new social media program around, Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” that allows users to create online collections of things they love and share those graphics and accompanying content easily with others. Moms can create “boards” on the Pinterest site, then “pin” original graphics they have created or “repin” graphics found on others’ Pinterest boards or elsewhere online.  The program enables them to discover, group and share everything from crafts to home décor to favorite fashions.

TechCrunch recently crowned Pinterest 2011’s “Best New Start Up,” and in February alone, Pinterest saw 16.23 million unique users.  TechCrunch also reported that 80% of Pinterest’s user base is female.

With that as background, at Child’s Play, we decided to go a step further and see exactly how interest in Pinterest played out specifically among moms.  Feedback from 250 moms across the country not only showed that many moms were using the program, but how and why. Key findings:

• 96.7% of moms surveyed (all active bloggers) said they were using Pinterest.
• Top 5 reasons why:
  • It’s just fun (90.0%)
  • I like organizing my interests (67.8%)
  • I like looking at beautiful things (67.0%)
  • Makes my blog, Website, Facebook or Twitter stream more interesting (55.7%)
  • It helps me drive traffic to my blog or Web site (53.5%)
• About the same number (68.0% vs. 65.3%) said they used Pinterest on their blog and on Facebook, respectively.
• The number of Pinterest boards each mom had ran from a low of 1 to a high of 83, averaging out at 18.
• “Food/recipes” was by far (91.4%) the category/subject moms pinned the most. Others in the top 5 were “Crafts” (74.5%), “Home Décor” (55.5%) “How-To” (52.7%), and “Fashion” (39.5%).
• Fewer than half of moms (42.3%) used Pinterest to plan events, with 78.7% of that number planning a child’s birthday party.
• Interestingly, of the moms surveyed, only 4.1% just pinned original graphics, 5.5% only repinned others’ graphics, and the vast majority (94.5%) did a combination of both, with a quarter (25.1%) also creating original graphics specifically for pinning.
• About two-thirds of moms (66.5%) both pinned when they came across something of interest and pro-actively searched for items to pin.
• Moms’ top sources for repins:
  • Blogs of friends (65.5%)
  • Craft sites (49.0%)
  • Foodies (45.0%)
  • Their own blog (40%)

For marketers, Pinterest presents an opportunity to connect with moms by offering tantalizing visuals for them to pin and repin and creating Pinterest-based contests and other interactive activities to further engage this audience. This approach not only develops an additional social media connection but, because pins link back to their source, also drives incoming links to the brand’s online presence, impacting SEO.

Asked who was doing the best job among companies currently engaged on Pinterest, moms mentioned Land’s End, Kraft Foods, Real Simple, Totsy, Home Depot and Disney Family Fun, among others. Kudos were given to those who pinned a variety of topics both from their own sources and others, who offered helpful recipes and who added great photos.

It’s been the year of the mommy blogger, as companies of all sizes have fully recognized the potential impact of blogging moms on consumer purchasing decisions.

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?

Here at Child’s Play, we keep our fingers on the pulse of what moms are doing, especially in social media. For that reason, last month we launched a study to understand specifically how moms are using Twitter. The results made their debut last week in Engage: Moms, and I would like to share that article with you here.

How are moms using Twitter?

Earlier this month, Child’s Play Communications asked that question of our Social Savvy research panel, comprising moms active in the social media space.  We are announcing the results here. The responses, from 317 moms, provide a clear indication of what moms like about Twitter and when and how they prefer to use it. Marketers trying to reach moms via Twitter may want to consider these key findings:

• Moms tweet a lot. The highest percentage — 36.3% of moms — report tweeting 10-20 times a day.
• Midday means more conversation. Most moms indicate that the hours from noon-3 are the most popular for both tweeting (30.5%) and reading others’ tweets (24.8%). 
• Information is queen.  The No. 1 reason most moms tweet (43.2%) is to share information about products for kids and other moms – a fact that should be of considerable interest to companies and agencies alike. This is followed most closely by moms’ wish to interact with other moms (21.8%). The response shifts just slightly when moms are asked why they read other people’s tweets:  While 63.0% do so to get information about products for themselves and their kids, more – 67.5% — read tweets to interact with other moms.
• Moms want to see you tweeting. Asked how they decide whom to follow on Twitter, the vast majority – 78.2% — said they follow companies that interest them. Furthermore, 95.7% of moms who follow those companies do so to find out about new products, discounts and coupons.
• Tweets drive sales. The best news for those marketing to moms is that 73.1% of moms indicate that they actually purchased a product as a result of another mom’s Twitter recommendation.

 Other research questions looked at the types of products purchased following a Twitter recommendation, the popularity of Twitter parties and their impact on purchasing, what moms think of sponsored tweets, and moms’ specific Twitter experiences, positive and negative.

The conclusion: Today’s moms look to Twitter for information in a major way, and smart companies will use the space to reach this important demographic effectively.

Moms, do you agree with the results of the survey? Marketers, what has been your experience reaching moms through Twitter?

Does social media make you  more social — and a better friend — in real life?

A  growing body of research indicates that “widespread use of texting, emailing or posting on social media sites may help people become more empathetic and make more friends in real life,” according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. Several recent studies have shown that digital communication can lead to “more and better friendships online and off, greater honesty, faster intimacy in relationships and an increased sense of belonging.”

As you may know from previous posts, I’ve long been intrigued by whether being active in social media makes people more social offline as well as online. According to one expert, technology may enhance real-life relationships because people use it primarily to interact with those they are closest to offline, not strangers, and those online communications tighten the bonds between them.  Another expert maintained that online communications could serve — for those who are shy or anxious in real life situations — as “practice” for live social interaction.

For more on the WSJ article, visit here. 

Moms, has social media made you more social in real life? And a better friend, too?

 A few weeks ago, I posted about how companies can and should recognize bloggers for good work by considering them for paid opportunities, whether blogger ambassadorships, content-writing gigs, consulting projects, or fulltime employment. The post made the point that after a blogger has established her street cred by blogging well about your products, for no charge, it’s time to look for ways to validate and expand that relationship.

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.