Mom Market Trends » Social Networking

Finalizing Guest List for Dinner’s On Us!

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:42:05 +0000

On August 5th, Child’s Play Communications is hosting Dinner’s On Us. Like our past social media events, the dinner, scheduled to take place in NYC the evening before BlogHer, is designed to be an intimate gathering of leading bloggers and a select list of top sponsors, which this year include Nickelodeon, Cuisinart, Baby Boom, Cold Stone Creamery, K’NEX, Hershey’s/Kraft, Giddy Up, Backyard Safari Outfitters/Zillionz, California Strawberry Commission and Toyota.

Most importantly, at Dinner’s On Us we are presenting the first annual Bloganthropy Awards, to recognize those who have used social media to help a worthy cause. The event will also feature drinks on the rooftop at a location convenient to BlogHer as well as a lovely meal.

SPACE IS LIMITED. If you have received an invitation and have not yet RSVPd, please do so now. If you have not received an invitation and would like to be on our waiting list, please send your name, the name of your blog and your contact information to childsplay@childsplaypr.com.

Dinner’s On Us will be a very special event, and we look forward to seeing you there!

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18% of Social Media Moms = 78% of Influence

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:20:23 +0000

Yesterday, I posted the highlights of an intriguing study just out from BabyCenter. Today, some more details…

The study maintains that there are five unique segments of social moms and that these five are broken down into two categories

Influencers: Field Experts, Lifecasters and Pros

Influenced: Butterflies and the Audience

According to the study, these Influencers make up only 18% of social moms, but account for 78% of the influence. The research defined influence based on how often moms post or comment on social networks, along with the size of their networks. The study defined those networks as including “e.g., BabyCenter, Twitter, Facebook or blogs.”

Following is a summary of how BabyCenter breaks down its categories:

Field Expert. A young stay at home mom who uses social media to share parenting advice, typically focused on a specific topic (e.g., raising twins, breastfeeding issues), with a large network of moms who seek her out for advice. She is defined as being most active in “parenting-focused social media environments.” According to the study, Field Experts make up 8% of social moms and have a 33% share of influence overall.

Lifecaster. A Millennial mom of young children who is very active in social media. She has a strong need to stay connected and enjoys being recognized as the person to go to on many topics, not just parenting. She has a large number of connections in social media. Lifecasters make up 8% of social moms and 34% percent of influence overall.

Pros. Gen X mom bloggers who have turned their passion for social media into a profession. “She posts opinions and advice on a wide variety of topics including parenting tips and product reviews and giveaways.” Often, she has been compensated in some way for writing about brands on her blog. Pros represent 2% of moms in social media and have an 11% share of influence overall. BabyCenter explains: “While they are incredibly influential individually, they account for a lower proportion of the influence overall due to their small size.” Pros are most influential on blogs, where they have an 89% share of influence and on Twitter with 68%.

And who are the Influenced?

Butterflies. Young professionals expecting their first child. She has a lot of friends online and off, but little time, so she tends to only post important updates and primarily uses platforms such as Facebook. She also seeks advice about her pregnancy on parenting-focused social media networks. She tends to be more on the receiving end of advice and recommendations rather than a dispenser of such information. Butterflies represent 16% of moms in social media but only wield 7% of the influence overall because of their low level of activity.

The Audience. This, the largest group of social moms, is listening to the other moms. This group ranges from expectant moms to moms of older children. They have fewer online friends and comment less frequently in social media, but are highly influenced by the other segments. “Moms in this group use parenting-focused social media environments…to find useful information, ask questions, get product recommendations or receive support. They use mainstream social sites to keep in touch with friends and for consuming entertainment. They are there to observe and obtain information – not to comment.” At 66% percent of moms who use social media, the audience makes up the largest group but wields little influence relative to their size at 15% overall.

Moms, do you feel these categories make sense? Into which group do you fall? Marketers, what is your reaction?

For more details on the “2010 Mom Social Influencer Report,” visit here.

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Motherhood #1 Trigger for Social Media Use

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:54:33 +0000

BabyCenter just released the results of a fascinating new study that dug deep into the kinds of moms who are involved in social media, how and why they spend their time there, and — most importantly for marketers — their varying levels of influence. I’d like to share their findings, in two parts.

First, a summary of key messages:

Motherhood is the #1 reason for social media usage. According to the research, pregnancy and birth motivated the vast majority of mothers in social media — 94% — to seek out information and share opinions with others online.
Just 18% of social moms wield an astonishing 78% of the overall influence.
Mom bloggers — as compared with all moms in social media — make up 16% of the audience but are responsible for a huge percentage — 67% — of the influence.
Not surprisingly, moms use different social sites for different reasons, from socializing to gathering information.

Moms, what motivated you to get involved in social media? What do you use it for? Where do you like to go, and why? Marketers, how do these findings impact your plans for reaching moms through social media?

For more on the BabyCenter “2010 Mom Social Influencer Report” visit here. or check out tomorrow’s post for more on the subject.

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50 Mom Bloggers Attend Our LA Brunch!

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:41:16 +0000

What a day in LA!

On April 13^th, Child’s Play Communications hosted its third annual Bloggers Brunch – and its first on the West Coast. The Los Angeles event, designed to connect companies with mom bloggers in an intimate atmosphere conducive to conversation and personal connections, featured a panel presentation by leading West Coast mom bloggers, titled, “Connecting with Moms in Social Media.”

Speakers included Jill Asher, Silicon Valley Moms Blog; Ciaran Blumenfeld, Momfluential; Caryn Bailey, Rockin’ Mama and Maryanne Conlin (MC Milker), The Not Quite Crunchy Parent. I had the opportunity and the distinct pleasure of serving as moderator for this great group of women, all of whom offered terrific, thoughtful and highly useful advice to an audience of corporate representatives mixed with other mom bloggers.

The morning presentation was followed by an elegant brunch in the sun-filled courtyard of the Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, where 50 West Coast bloggers enjoyed each other’s company and engaged one:one with top-of-the-line sponsors including Bandai, Cold Stone Creamery, Dyson, Nickelodeon, PajamaJeans, Pottery Barn Kids, Summit Products and Toyota. Temptress, meanwhile, provided makeovers to all our guests. The sponsors offered wonderful giveaways and an amazing array of raffle prizes, from baskets full of toys to shopping and spa gift certificates to vacuum cleaners to a year’s worth of free ice cream. Guests also had the opportunity to test drive cars.

We were so pleased to have such a great turnout of bloggers and sponsors alike, and I would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to speakers, sponsors and guests. Based on the numbers of bloggers who attended, the quality of the sponsors and the feedback from both—in person and on Twitter — I’d have to say this was our best Brunch ever!

For photos of the Los Angeles Brunch, please click here. Video coming soon!

We’ve got more Bloggers Brunch events and other great mom-focused social media activities planned for 2010. Be sure to get in touch if you’d like to know more about them (sa@childsplaypr.com). Hope to see you there!

Stephanie Azzarone

President

Child’s Play Communications

135 W. 29th St., Suite 701

NYC NY 10001

Specialists in reaching moms

Phone: (212) 488-2060 x 11

Email: sa@childsplaypr.com

Website: www.childsplaypr.com

Blog: MomMarketTrends.com

Twitter: ChildsPlayComm

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What If You Had to Pay For Social Media?

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:08:17 +0000

No surprise: Blogs, Twitter and Facebook are increasingly popular with moms, as they share experiences and information on all kinds of subjects.

According to a recent Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) survey conducted by BIGresearch, women with children at home are more likely to use Facebook (60.3%), MySpace (42.4%) and Twitter (16.5%) than average adults (50.2%, 34.4%, 15.0%, respectively). And 15.3% maintain their own blog.

Research from SheConnected Multimediafound that one-third (36%) of online U.S. and Canadian women would give up chocolate, their Pradas, or their mother-in-law before they gave up their social networks (OK, that last’s one’s a given…). But interestingly, only half would be willing to pay subscription fees to continue using social media channels.

Would subscription fees change social media? If social media outlets were to charge for basic monthly usage, would individuals using these forums for personal rather than business reasons be willing to pay? Most people sign up for social media sites to…well, be social! Paying to socialize may have a whole different feel. Meanwhile, businesses use social media to make a connection with their audience and pass along information quickly. If people stop visiting those channels, will companies stop using them as well?

Readers, would you still use social media if it cost you money? Where would you draw the line? What would subscription fees mean for companies trying to reach audiences in a more personal way?

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Are You a Conversationalist?

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:42:21 +0000

According to a Forrester Research study released on Tuesday, one in every three online Americans is a “conversationalist” — an individual who updates his or her status on a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter at least once a week.

Fifty six percent of these conversationalists are women, with household incomes slightly above average, and they are more likely to have a college degree than the average consumer. In terms of age, the breakdown for conversationalists, accorindg to Forrester, is as follows:

18-19: 36%
30-43: 37%
44-53: 14%
54-64: 9%
65 and older: 4%

Also, only about 17% of adults online DON’T participate in social media, and 59% of online consumers participate in social networks about once a month.

Readers, are you conversationalists? How much time do you spend on social networks? Why? And would you rather spend more, or less?

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Marketing to Women on Facebook

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:53:23 +0000

What to do and what not to do when marketing to women was a popular subject last week, with major posts on the subject appearing, among other places, on Mashable. Among the many points made, there were a few that I thought were particularly worth repeating:

From 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook:

“Create a series of posts that your fans can look forward to on a daily or weekly basis — something they will feel a real connection to and will teach them something they can use. If you run a fashion web site, for example, provide a piece of advice from a designer every Friday –- it will make it much harder for your fans to block your updates if they have something to look forward to.”

“Your Facebook Page is also one of the best “focus groups” on the web. Not sure if you should add a product to your line? Trying to decide which functionality to add to your iPhone app? Just ask your fans.”

“Not only do we like to be heard, we also like to know we’re actually being listened to. If a fan posts a question on your page, answer it. If she compliments your brand, thank her. And if she complains about it, address her concerns and reassure her that you’re working on fixing it. This is a great way to build trust and showcase the great customer service and support your company offers.”

Moms, do you agree? What do companies do on Facebook that you love…or hate? What would drive you to a company’s Facebook page–or make you ignore it completely? Marketers, what have you learned from your Facebook experience? What’s proven effective for you?

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Moms, College Students + Technology: New Study

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:47:27 +0000

Millennial Mom 101, a new study by Mr Youth and RepNation Media, compares moms’ and college students’ use of social media and finds that the two groups are similar in 4 key ways:

They multitask with multiple technologies. Both groups view technology as a way to easily integrate all the different aspects of their lives. Moms see technology as a solution for managing home life efficiently, and they welcome tech just as much as college students do.
They build communities to ease transitions. Those communities provide them with support systems, as students in one case and parents in the other. Interestingly, moms are more likely to be on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter than the general population, and the majority are likely to visit social networking sites several times a day.
They seek peer advice over experts’. According to the report, “Gone are the days when What to Expect When You’re Expecting was the definitive bible. Today, social sites have blown open the doors to more personal parenting advice and niche ideas.”
They overshare. Though they communicate very different types of information, neither group hesitates to convey very personal information to strangers. The report cites as an example moms’ uproar in response to Facebook’s effort to ban breastfeeding photos.

Yet along with the similarities between moms and college students come some notable differences which should be of particular interest to marketers. While college students “hardly ever” post a review about products and services, moms are “most likely” to do so “once a week.”

Moms, do these findings describe your experience? Marketers, what surprises you about these results?

For more on this insightful report, visit here.

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BAD, BAD Mommy Blogger, Redux

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:08:48 +0000

Last week, on the blog Everything PR, Phil Butler posted a rant on the subject of mommy bloggers. Apparently it was sparked by a news release he saw about tomorrow’s Bulldog Reporter PR University audio conference on pitching mommy bloggers. I am speaking on that panel, as a publicist who has successfully worked with this audience for the past few years.

He begins by blasting the organizers of the event for positioning the mom blogger, in their press materials, as the “holy grail” – his term, not theirs. Yet for most companies, mom is, appropriately, just that – the key target audience, the one responsible for 80-85% of household spending decisions. And these days, the way to reach her is through social media – especially, by means of mommy bloggers.

He goes on to say that “though many Moms who blog or use the Internet are still focused on their kids, some are wholly focused on the almighty dollar – period.” And if that weren’t enough, “I can tell the reader one thing about the Mommy blogosphere these days – marketing and PR money has turned many of these Moms into review slinging money grubbers whose only concerns are freebies and paid for positive reviews of products.”

Whew!

And let’s not overlook this: “I do not want to get into the specifics, or to hurt anyone unduly, but suffice it to say that large PR and marketing companies have pretty much “paid off” many of the most influential Moms out there.”

Hold on there. Paid? We don’t pay the mommy bloggers we work with. We never have. And it’s never been a problem.

He goes on: “We have people working on this very issue right now reporting all manner of “under the table” type operations.”

A little too cloak-and-dagger for me, Phil.

He then provides an example from his own experience, regarding a free service that he felt was valuable for families and that he pitched to the mom blogger community. The response:

“Out of about 50 Mommy Bloggers in our networks, and an untold zillion of others on Twitter and other networks, can you guess how many just told their readers about this wonderful kids tool? One.”

Hey, Phil. Maybe they didn’t like the service. Or maybe you didn’t approach them properly. Or maybe you just thought that they should be grateful for the information. Believe me, these days they get plenty of information. Did they not run it because it didn’t add to their bottom line or their kid’s toy chest? In some – repeat, some — cases, probably yes. The important learning here is that not all mom bloggers are alike.

“As for the ones who we have supported in their social media outreaches all these years, and offered to help in other ways so many times, not one even bothered to ask questions about this tool.”

OK. Now here – finally — we have something to agree on. Yes, when there is an ongoing relationship, and when an agency has gone out of its way to support a blogger, and that blogger simply refuses to review a product nonetheless and doesn’t even get back to the publicist to say why – well, yeah, that stinks. In fact it makes me crazy. But, really, much as I hate to admit it – how is that different from a reporter who may have covered your clients in the past, and then suddenly doesn’t?

Oh, and hey, Phil? Your “thing” in the article about the mommy bloggers’ ongoing use of the word “adorable”? Not so adorable.

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2nd Annual Bloggers Brunch is Nov. 11!

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child's Play Communications — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:24:22 +0000

There are 21 million moms engaged in social media on at least a weekly basis, and about 11.5 million of them are writing, reading and/or commenting on blogs.

On Wednesday, November 11, in New York City, Child’s Play Communications will hold its second annual Bloggers Brunch, an opportunity for companies to connect directly with leading mom bloggers in an intimate atmosphere, conducive to conversation and personal connections.

This year for the first time, the Bloggers Brunch will kick off with a panel of leading mom bloggers, who will discuss best practices for reaching moms through social media. They will share their insights and answer the questions you have about how to work with this target market most effectively. They will also discuss how the “momosphere” has changed, current trends, and issues that impact their interaction with the corporate world today.

The morning presentation will be followed by a noon brunch at which sponsors may exhibit their products to up to 50 mom bloggers, for consideration in time for holiday reviews. The exhibit area will be low-key and provide the ideal opportunity to create a relationship with our blogger guests. This invitation-only event will feature no more than 10 or so exhibitors.

Last year’s Bloggers Brunch event was a huge success. Please visit here for a description, photos and video. For details on the 2009 event, click here . We invite you to register now to secure a spot at 2009’s exclusive event. Child’s Play is offering a 20% discount to all guests and sponsors/exhibitors who register and pay in full by October 1.

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