By Maria Bailey Wednesday, May 27, 2009, Source: Engage: Moms Media Post E-newsletter
A lot has been written about “mommy bloggers” — a term, by the way, that most moms who blog dislike. Marketers clamor to sites with trips, product samples and incentives by the thousands. Rightfully so, marketers recognize the powerful influence these women have on their peers. It is a 180-degree move in the right direction and a long way from where companies were when Marketing to Moms was published a decade ago.
However, there is risk involved in extremes, and focusing too narrowly on mom bloggers as your moms strategy can be dangerous. Before I go any further, I want to say that I believe wholeheartedly in the power of mom bloggers. In fact, I proudly count myself among the population of mom bloggers. But beyond being a blogger, I am a mom Vlogger, a Mom Tweeple, a Mom Webmaster, and a Mom Podcaster.
Successful marketing in any segment of consumers requires an integrated approach of delivering relevant messages through multiple channels of communication. It is no different in the mom market. Marketers solely focusing their efforts on mom bloggers not only execute a partial marketing plan, but also miss two-thirds of the overall U.S. mom market.
Consider the numbers. Respected social media groups estimate between 23 million and 26 million moms are in the blogosphere. Sounds like a huge group; however, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 83 million moms in our country. This means that only about one-third of all U.S. moms participate in blogging. If marketers are speaking to mothers only via bloggers, they are leaving two-thirds of their target audience untouched. To be successful, marketers must utilize a variety of channels to create a meaningful dialogue with mothers:
1. Video and Vlogging: According to BSM Media research, 90% of mothers have watched an online video in the past week. Yahoo says it’s even higher. Moms visiting Newbaby.com, www.newbaby.com, a YouTube for moms, view 11-15 videos per session and they currently have over 500 mom Vloggers. Video is fun, and a mom can watch a three-minute solution-based video while cooking chicken tenders. Brand videos don’t have to be fancy. They can even be B roll. Simply upload it to one of many mom video sites, or while you are sending product to bloggers, look for mom bloggers who do video.
2. In-Home Parties: Moms love to socialize and share. In-home parties or mom mixers are a great way to put your brand in the conversation. Moms invite their peers to share in themed gatherings that include product samples and fun activities. We’ve found that 80% of the moms who attend will tell three to five other moms about the sponsor brand. Another 10% will tell five to ten other mothers. That’s powerful word of mouth at work.
3. Radio and Podcasts: There is no other communication medium that keeps up with the pace of mothers better than radio. Moms spend up to 75 minutes a day in their cars with radio. Podcasting takes it even one step further because it allows moms to enjoy selected programs as they push strollers or shop for groceries. Producing a podcast allows a company to connect with moms on iTunes or other podcast directories. If you aren’t into broadcasting your own branded show, there are plenty of great Mom shows out there to sponsor.
Today’s mothers are carrying on hundreds of conversations a day and receiving information from numerous sources along the way. As a marketer, it’s important to establish a meaningful dialogue with your consumer through multiple channels — in blogs but also in their homes, in their cars and even face-to-face.
Note Upcoming Webinar:
Join Maria Bailey, author of Mom 3.0: Marketing With Today’s Mothers by Leveraging New Media and Technology and CEO of BSM Media for an hour-long interactive discussion with popular mom video bloggers as they share their enthusiasm for the latest social media trend- Vlogging.
In Mom 3.0, Maria Bailey predicts that vloggers will outnumber mommy bloggers by the end of 2009, as moms begin to see the ease of distributing and consuming information through video. Recent BSM Media research points to online video as the next preferred media among Moms. In fact, 82% of moms have watched 2 or more videos in the last week, versus 35% who have read blogs in the last week.
When: Tuesday, June 9th, 1:00 PM EST
Where: In the comfort of your office, conference room or the nearest Starbucks
(Log-in information to be provided after registration)
Who: A panel of social media Mom trailblazers who vlog regularly and influence other mothers via online video
This Mothers Day we decided to do something a little different. We know that Moms like a good laugh and thought these insightful cards from Speckles & Weeds would make an appropriate Mother’s Day greeting. Only a Mom could create these cards. We hope you enjoy it. Feel free to share with the Moms in your life!
Recently my natropath recommended I use this homeopathic medicine called “oscillococcinum”. Luckily I knew what she was referring to because I’ve seen it at the store many times. When I asked my husband to pick it up for me I had to say “You know, the one with the long O name and yellow stripes…”. If you are in the process of developing a name for your company or product, please read this! There is a lot to think about when choosing a name for your company or product.
This made me think of the importance of choosing a great name for your product or company. A name that is easy to remember and unique enough that it doesn’t get confused with other names. This is so important in marketing, particularly for word of mouth marketing. If your customer cannot remember (or pronounce) your name, how will they tell their friends?
In the marketing to Moms arena, I come across a lot of companies offering products for babies. Many have names that are similar and try as I might, I get them mixed up from time to time. Very embarrassing! Do your homework and look at the existing companies and products out there and BE DIFFERENT!
Lastly, if you are choosing a name that does not have an obvious meaning, make sure it has a good story behind it, because people will ask. Acronyms are tricky and usually leave your customers guessing.
When evaluating possible names, ask yourself:
Is this name easy to pronounce?
Is this name unique?
Is it memorable?
Is it relevant to the product or company?
Can I register the web domain name?
bugaboo strollers is a great example of a unique and catchy name. The name alone gets your attention. Do you have any other good examples? Please share here.
If you need help developing a name, please contact Glow Marketing. We work with a variety of Calgary and Vancouver copywriters experienced in developing unique product and company names.
Sign-upfor the Glow Marketing E-Report, free tips and trends on marketing to Moms.
Attracting customers is a little easier when owning a franchise as a business thanks to marketing materials and brand awareness that head office often has already established. This competitive advantage also saves owners time and money on marketing, but it doesn’t mean that marketing ends with head office initiatives. The wise franchisee will go beyond head office marketing materials and campaigns to expand their local customer base and increase their chances of success. Read the full article published in the March/April issue of The MOMpreneur Magazine
What head office offers
A franchise head office will usually develop a number of high quality marketing materials for brand identity, including the corporate logo, store design, company website, ad layouts, and point-of-sale materials. To develop marketing materials and campaigns, franchise owners are typically required to contribute two per cent of their gross projected revenue to head office as part of an “advertising fund”. In return, marketing materials may be offered at a fraction of the cost to each store. By contrast, independent businesses have creative freedom to create their own marketing materials, but they absorb the entire development cost and don’t always end up with high quality or effective tools.
A franchise head office may also have created brand awareness within the target market. Brand awareness is like “warming the door” so that when customers are approached with a promotion, they already know how the franchise can benefit them. An independent store might skip developing their brand and jump straight into offer-based advertising, such as a product discount. Skipping over brand awareness can result in missed opportunities to help new customers identify with the store and learn how the store can meet their needs.
Numbers count: Supplement head office marketing
Marketing a franchise effectively means doing more than just contributing to head office’s advertising fund: the two per cent required payment may only go towards a seasonal campaign, but a franchise typically requires customers over the entire year. Industry standards recommend that an established franchise with a good track record increase it’s marketing budget to at least five per cent of the gross projected revenue, and a new business with limited awareness should budget 20 per cent to fund additional marketing efforts.
Individual marketing efforts can dovetail with head office initiatives. One example is a franchise owner taking a brand campaign that head office is advertising on billboards and applying the same image and message in a direct mail flyer or community newsletter advertisement. The idea is to increase the amount of times potential customers consistently see and hear the message to move them to action.
Franchise owners will benefit from knowing what head office’s plan is for marketing and then supplement those initiatives with their own. Creating an annual plan empowers franchise owners by ensuring that critical selling seasons aren’t missed.
Localize franchise marketing
While owning a franchise usually means having a corporate brand and materials readily available, basic marketing principles still apply, including the importance of knowing and reaching the local market which is critical for success.
Franchise owners need to ask the same questions that an independent business asks: who are my customers? Where do they live and what do they like to do? What other business are they likely to frequent and what media are they regularly exposed to? How are they likely to find my business – through the Yellow pages, a friend, driving by the store, seeing community newsletter advertisements, or searching the Internet? Profiling local customers helps determine how to effectively market to them.
Trying new marketing initiatives tailored to local customers also helps to ensure success. For example, a franchise dog grooming owner could visit a dog park and hand out dog treats with franchise information to dog owners. That same franchise owner could partner with a complimentary service or company, such as a pet store, to provide a preferred rate to the store’s customers, resulting in a win-win situation for both businesses. Another idea may be for the franchise owner to sponsor a fundraiser for the local Humane Society.
The Internet is another forum for localizing marketing efforts. The “world wide web” can be reigned in through search engines which many customers use to research products and services. Google Ad Words can put a business front and centre in a local market. Additionally, Google can place advertisements on well-known websites that only appear to viewers in the local market. Placing advertisements on related websites, such as a local car dealership promotion on a car enthusiast website, is another way to target customers.
Consistency pays off
Attracting new customers is important, but keeping existing customers happy is vital. Existing customers influence new customers through word-of-mouth referrals, so consistency in the customer experience is crucial. For example, if a spa offers herbal tea and fresh fruit, they need to always do this, regardless of how busy they are. Customers feel let down when there is a deviation in their experience and can communicate this to potential customers or decide to abandon the business themselves.
Consistency in marketing is also important, including times of trying out new and different initiatives. New initiatives need time to grow and be used frequently. A potential customer may be exposed to a marketing message five times but be too busy and forget the message or tune it out. However, it may be the sixth time that that potential customer receives the message and decides to become a new customer.
Calculating marketing’s worth
Finally, tracking marketing efforts determines which marketing initiatives attract new customers. Marketing is an investment that takes time and can have a delayed, but lasting, effect. This means that marketing initiatives and their costs won’t necessarily correlate with monthly or direct sales. The math doesn’t add up – the amount of a sale doesn’t equal the value of a new customer. Calculate the long term worth of a customer, and the investment in marketing can be exponential.
Sharole is President of Glow Marketing, Western Canada’s leading marketing consultancy specializing in marketing to Moms. Glow Marketing is currently working with franchises such as Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids, Marble Slab Creamery and Milkface Nursingwear.
Sign-up for the Glow Marketing E-Report, free tips and trends on marketing to Moms.
Read more on the latest developments in the Canadian marketing to Moms media landscape.
yoyomama, the weekly email for Vancouver-area Moms has recently launched yoyobelly for “Moms on the grow in the know”. The site and e-blasts offer more targeted advertising to reach the highly coveted and hard to reach pregnant crowd. Fit Parent is a Canada/US magazine that will be hitting stands later this year. Watch for more exciting details on this opportunity to reach active parents through their site, magazine and local events. Yummy Mummy continues to grow with the addition of high caliber writers and also their Yummy Mummy broadband channel. Wee Welcome seems to be on the right track with continuing with their printed guides and “Mama Mingles” local events. The Vitamin Kids Daily Dosedishes out high fashion finds for funky parents and kids and now covers Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. MommywearDaily.com recently underwent a redesign and continues to help Moms everywhere go beyond their Momiform.
I started twittering just before Christmas 08 and quickly became a twitter-evangelist. Within 24 hours of creating a profile, I was “followed” by two Mom PR experts (based in the USA), made direct contact with a woman who runs a number of mom blog networks and within 48 hours I connected with two new (prospective) clients. It became quite apparent that twitter is the place to be to engage with peers, clients and like-industry influencers and monitor the competition.
For those companies who want to connect with the mom-market, twitter is the mom-mecca of social networking. As long as you are honest, transparent and actively engaged in the community, you will experience significant results.
When I spoke to Annemarie Templeman-Kluit, founder of yoyomama.ca and yoyobelly.ca, about the impact twitter has had on her business, she cited twitter as one of the biggest referrers of website traffic (more than facebook, which they’ve been on for years). Her participation on twitter was also the reason she was recently interviewed by Canadian Family Magazine. “We’ve connected with people we would have never found any other way - we’ve connected across Canada with experts like Ann Douglas and Alyson Schafer, we’ve been interviewed by Canadian Parent Magazine about mums & technology, we’ve gotten advice on what we can do with kids with colds & coughs now you’re not supposed to give them kids’ cough medicine - and it’s all thanks to twitter,” said Templeman-Kluit.
Twitter also provides a porthole into the lives of mom bloggers around the world. There’s no way anyone can read the thousands of mom blogs each and every day but with Twitter, you can get quick updates on the daily lives of some of the top mom bloggers, engage with them directly by relating to their mom-life trials and tribulations, send them congratulatory tweets when they win something, and support them by re-tweeting relevant posts to my own followers. That’s one of the best first steps into developing a relationship with these key mom influencers.
Also consider that most media outlets are on twitter, especially those specializing in the mom-market. Twitter is providing a foot-in-the-door to your next media pitch! Most of the outlets use a logo as an avatar(something that does irritate me but that’s for another post), which gives them the freedom to have multiple people tweet and participate in tweet-versations however, in the rare cases like with @yoyomama_van, you will see a photo of the person behind the tweets. In any case, you learn nuances of the editor, writer or researcher that are almost impossible to obtain unless you personally know them. You will learn what they like/dislike, their own daily struggles and how they like to engage with their followers. I have seen media tweet a call for people to be interviewed and products to be submitted. I’ve also seen companies subtly pitch Annemarie and receive a warm response. Note of warning: do not spam the media by sending them a link to a press release via twitter! Twitter is about learning, sharing, and engaging with your followers. If you spam, you will quickly be blocked or un-followed.
Twitter is easily the best business tool I have found to network with peers, clients, influencers and competition. It does require time and effort but so does any aspect in building a company/brand.
What’s stopping you? Get on Twitter today and when you do, send me a tweet @limelitepr
PS - Having trouble getting started, read this post on “Think like a Toddler and find your voice on Twitter”, by Darren Rowse.
Special events may just be your ticket to cost-effective marketing.
Classes, workshops, seminars, special events are all great ways to reach out to new and existing customers. If you market your products or services to Moms, there are a ton of topics Moms are interested in. If you own a retail space, you can use your space during non-peak times to provide valuable information to your customers.
In this economy, Moms want value. Valueable information is one way to build loyalty and increase brand awareness. The best part about offering a seminar or class is that it attracts new customers and opens up the opportunities for free advertising through events listings. Many local media will promote community events for free.
In deciding on what type of seminar you will offer, think about what your customers are interested in. The topic does not have to directly tie to one of your products or services as long as it is relevant. The speaker may even donate their time to do the session in exchange for exposure for their company.
If your company is online and does not have a retail location, consider partnering with a complimentary retail partner and co-produce the event together. For online companies, this can be a very effective way to build presence within key markets and create a personality for the company beyond just another dot com.
Just for the fun of it
Moms like to have fun too, so you could also hold a class or workshop that features a fun activity for them and their children. As Mother’s Day approaches, this may be something to consider offering just prior to Mother’s Day as an opportunity for Moms to bond with their kids. Again, think of partners that might want to join in the fun to help offset the work and costs involved with hosting a special event.
Etsy is an online community that helps artists promote and sell their handmade goods. The site is an excellent opportunity for smaller start-ups with the gift of craftiness.I see Etsy has an excellent way for Mom entreprenuers to test market a new product idea and create greater exposure for their company. It seems relatively easy to set-up an Etsy shop and Etsy is doing it’s part to drive traffic to the site. Recently Etsy announced it will hold another online baby shower which I think is brilliant.
Etsy is also an excellent source for really unique items retailers. As more and more kid and baby boutiques open, it’s harder and harder to stand apart from the competition. Offering unique and different products with limited distribution or exclusivity is a key element of standing out.
Unique and different products are CRUCIAL, so consider this part of your marketing plan and don’t worry about how small the mark-up is. Without unique products you are no better than all of the other sites and stores out there. Good luck getting any kind of PR if you have the same stuff everyone else has.
Most importantly, Etsy offers Mom entrepreneurs an easy way to test the waters with a new handmade product idea prior to going into full steam production. If you had experiences selling on Etsy, good or bad, please share!
2009 is going to be a challenging year for many companies. Where do you turn when margins are tight and all signs say “proceed with caution”?
Here are Glow Marketing’s Top 5 Shoe String Marketing Ideas to help you market to Mom in a cost effective way to stay afloat in 2009:
1. Make the Customer #1
Forget new customers for a moment and focus on the ones you have. Treat them well and ask them what they want to see your company provide them in order to meet their needs better. A customer survey will reveal where you need to improve and possibly shine a light on new products or services that you could be offering. Customer retention and developing “greater share of customer” are more cost effective than acquiring a new customer. A happy customer will bring you more business in word of mouth referrals and has the potential to spend more if you offer more of what they need.
2. Strut Your Stuff with PR
Don’t be shy, use PR to get noticed and put your company in the spotlight. As scary as it sounds, the media are looking for innovative new products to share with their readers, interesting business people to feature and even articles to publish from industry experts. Dollar for dollar, PR can generate the awareness that a company needs at a fraction of the cost of advertising.
3. Pound the Virtual Pavement
Social Network Marketing is the use of online groups and discussion forums to get the word out about your company or product. Sites like Facebook and Twitter Moms offer great opportunities to talk about your company via starting a group, joining other groups or discussions.
4. Partnership Power
Partnering with complimentary companies can create a new source of customers for very little cost. Find other companies that have similar clientele and see how you can work together to build a larger customer base. Perhaps you exchange ad banners on your website, or trade prizes for draws. Their customers could become your future customers.
5. Plan Ahead
Lack of marketing planning leads to reactionary tactics that lead to ineffective or short-term results. Reactionary decisions are based on emotion, not reason. Planning ahead gives you the confidence and ammunition to say NO when “opportunities” present themselves that are off strategy. A one-year marketing calendar will allow you to prioritize when, where and how you will market. A template is available to download on the right hand side of our screen. Without a plan, you may spend all of your marketing dollars before you need it most and you may also miss opportunities and deadlines. It’s not too late to create your plan now. Consider adding the above activities to your plan as part of an overall marketing strategy.
If these ideas are foreign to you, please contact Glow Marketing to see how we can help your business shine in 2009.
Sharole Lawrence
Glow Marketing
Marketing to Moms in a meaningful way.
Sign-up now for our free Glow E-Report with ideas and inspiration on marketing to Moms.
Moms everywhere are ticked off at Motrin for creating an insensitive and dumb ad on their website about babywearers in honour of International Babywearing Week. They may pull it from their site, so here is a copy of it.
And on Twitter, the Twitter Moms are going crazy for this. Wow, Motrin really messed up. How hard is it to find a babywearing Mom and ask her what she thinks of the ad concept before producing it for a gizzillion dollars and turning people off.
Sharole Lawrence, President Glow Marketing
Marketing to Moms in a meaningful way. Sign up for our Glow E-Report for quarterly tips and trends on marketing to Moms.
Recently my natropath recommended I use this homeopathic medicine called “oscillococcinum”. Luckily I knew what she was referring to because I’ve seen it at the store many times. When I asked my husband to pick it up for me I had to say “You know, the one with the long O name and yellow stripes…”. If you are in the process of developing a name for your company or product, please read this! There is a lot to think about when choosing a name for your company or product.
By Sharole Lawrence, Glow Marketing
Special events may just be your ticket to cost-effective marketing.
