Your Brand Needs Moms – Moms are powerful consumers responsible for $2.5 trillion in annual U.S. spending. And, the mom market is continually self-renewing. According to eMarketer, approximately 4 million babies are born in the U.S. each year . . . 40% are to first-time mothers.
Moms Want Brands To Understand – Yet, only 20% of moms feel advertisers are doing a good job connecting with them. Another 70% indicate marketers aren’t focused on moms in their advertising and 30% report seeing ads that offend them.
Moms Want To Be “Connected With” . . . Not “Sold To” – So, it’s no surprise that a recent study, conducted by ContentPlus, indicates 70% of moms prefer to get to know a company or brand through original articles rather than ads. And, according to the Custom Content Council, 61% of moms indicate they feel better about a company or brand that offers relevant content . . . and, are more likely to purchase from them!
Embrace Behavioral Insights To “Connect With” Moms — You’ve probably noticed a lot of advice being bantered around about how to develop engaging content. However, to engage women and moms, your brand needs to embrace behavioral science.
5 Behavioral Tips To Engage Moms
By embracing female gender-specific behavior, your brand will pre-cognitively engage moms. This list of 5 tips are “must haves” to develop a motivating and engaging content marketing program for moms.
1. People First. Tap into moms’ orientation toward people as the most important aspect of their lives. Let moms see, hear and read stories about people and situations from people she’d like to have relationships with.
2. Help Others. Moms want to help other people. If your brand shows her you help others, she’ll bond with you and tell her friends. Make it real. Make it honest. Don’t do it just for publicity . . . she’ll sense phoniness, (women’s intuition), and walk away from your brand.
According to a Cone Cause Evolution study, 92% of moms want to buy a product or use a service supporting a cause and 93% are likely to switch brands to support a cause they care about.
3. Respect Her. Moms want your brand to listen to them and respond to what they’re saying. Remember when you were younger and your mom told you to respect other people? Well, today’s moms are demanding that brands respect them. Respect moms by understanding them and their needs.
This can only be accomplished by listening to moms! Conduct research and listen to their conversations on social media to hear what moms are talking about.
4. The “Girlfriend Factor.” Moms enjoy being with other moms – their girlfriends. It keeps them healthy, happy and sane. Did you know that when women are faced with a stressful situation, they don’t experience the same “fight or flight” behavior as men? Women will huddle with girlfriends, which biologically decreases stress levels.
5. Make Her Laugh. Doctors agree that laughter can reduce stress, lower blood pressure and even help improve memory. Funny videos account for some of the most watched videos on YouTube. Parenting comedy has risen in popularity with countless blogs, videos, books and TV shows all aiming to provide some humor on the subject.
Moms, in particular, are stressed and at times feel overwhelmed about their role as a parent. Use laughter to connect with mom and give her a quick break in her day.
Here are a few tips for taking the comedic plunge . . .
Know your brand — Is your brand all about making mom’s life easier? Or, maybe your products allow her to make healthier choices for her family? Bringing out the humor in everyday situations is a great way to connect with mom. Know your audience to make it meaningful, and keep on par with your brand to stay relevant.
Provide support — Comedy helps a mom realize she’s not alone out there and it’s OK to make mistakes. Motherhood is a journey with never ending lessons along the way.
Keep it tasteful — Don’t go overboard with anything too extreme or raunchy – you don’t want to risk alienating moms over a joke gone wrong.
Mom, Mom, Watch This! All moms have heard their kids shout this phrase repeatedly when they’re trying to get mom’s attention. If your brand yells, “Mom, mom, watch this!” it will alienate moms. Instead, get mom’s attention by embracing these 5 behavioral content marketing tips.
Fran Lytle is a behaviorist, brand strategist, author & co-founder of Brand Champs. Fran develops brand strategy, emotional brand storytelling, content marketing & social media programs that engage people by applying psychology & human and gender-specific behavior. She specializes in developing & implementing marketing-to-women programs. Contact her at fran@brandchamps.com connect with Fran on LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.