Posts Tagged "Social Networking"

Just got back from the Type-A Mom Conference in Asheville, North Carolina, where I and my colleague, Team Mom Director Marie Baker, had the best of times. Following are five things I loved about the conference:

1. Seeing so many members of our Team Mom network of review bloggers and of our Parkbench Panel, including Debbie from Mamanista and Bloganthropy, Connie from Brain Foggles, Beth from Plus Size Mommy, Kim from Crafty Mama of 4, Jill from Musings from Me, Jen from One Moms World, Sarah from Real Life and Stacey from Tree, Root and Twig. Some of these wonderful folks I’ve spent much time with at past Child’s Play Bloggers Brunches and client-sponsored trips, others I had the opportunity to (finally!) meet for the first time.
2. Reconnecting with other terrific ladies we’ve worked with in the past including  Jennifer of The Vacation Gals,  Carol of NY City Mama, Katherine of Postpartum Progress–winner of the 2010 Bloganthropy Award, Kimberly of Mom in the City and Leticia from Tech Savvy Mama.
3. Meeting some blogger rock stars for the first time, including Katja of Skimbaco Lifestyle, Jennifer of The Mom Bloggers Club, Janice of 5 Minutes for Mom   and Kim of Hormone Colored Days.
4. Walking the streets of Asheville with a big group of moms I had just met and having a blast.
5. Meeting their kids. Mom bloggers grow THE most adorable children.

More on the Type-A Mom Conference coming soon.

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!

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.

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.

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