A recent study Nielsen did for Women of Tomorrow highlighted the growing influence women have on purchasing decisions. The fact that women control the majority of purchasing decisions in a household is not surprising to anyone who has ever been married but online marketers should pay close attention to this group’s online and social media habits. Nielsen defines a “Social Mom” as females with at least one child who actively participates in social networking, and they are quite influential.

Habits of the Social Mom

• 50% of all moms access social media via mobile devices. This is in comparison to 37% of the overall population in general.
• Moms are 56% more likely to download coupons than general population. They are also more likely to purchase Consumer Package Goods (CPG) products online and 86% more likely to purchase cosmetics online.
• Moms are 81% more likely to become a fan of a brand. Social Moms are very active online in social media groups and are 86% more likely to post a status update and 84% more likely to comment or post content online.

Message to online and mobile marketers

Social Moms are highly engaged online and use mobile devices such as smartphones to both do research and shop. 38% of Americans own a smartphone while 50% of Social Moms use their smartphones to access social media. Social Moms are twice as likely to download coupons than as the general population. When faced with such strong social habits it is clear why Macy’s invested so much into their Macy’s Backstage Pass campaign this past spring and fall. When shoppers scanned the QR Code inside the Red Star a :30 second video was delivered to their mobile phone with fashion inspiration, advice and tips by celebrity experts such as Sean “Diddy” Combs, Tommy Hilfiger, and Jessica Simpson. In addition shoppers also had a chance to win daily shopping sprees worth up to $500.

As businesses that depends on the purchasing decisions made by the Social Mom you need to seriously think about your marketing campaign. You need to have an online presence that includes Facebook, mobile ready web pages and deals and coupons that can be downloaded unto your customer’s mobile smartphones. You can reach them through instant text messaging programs and through QR Codes. When you do a QR Code campaign take a page from Macy’s play book. Don’t ask them to “like” your Facebook page, give them something valuable that will make them want to come back and get engaged.

Are you trying to reach the Social Mom? What are you doing to reach her? Tell me about your ideas and what you are trying to do in the comments section below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit: J. Walter Thompson