The Punchbowl Trends Blog

For social media marketers, the Mom market is the holy grail of online audiences. Moms have become one of the largest, and most active, demographics on social media. A study completed earlier this year reported that moms used Facebook 260% more often than the average person. When it comes to most purchases for the household, moms are deciding which brands they will purchase. They do their product research, enquire with other users, and comment on their brand experiences – all online.

Brands have increasingly become more creative with initiatives that not only generate content for their social media efforts, but also at the same time develop an opportunity to create genuine interactions and build loyalty with moms. Here are a few brands that are getting it right:

1. WhattoExpect.com: From the experts at What to Expect.com (who brought every pregnancy-related answer to virtually every new mother ever) comes a new site that helps new moms-to-be set up their baby registries.  What To Expect's new "Love-it Lists" takes the guesswork out of what products expectant parents actually need. It crowdsources top products from its online community of moms and dads who have "been there, and bought that." To get inspiration on what they need for their baby, expectant parents can browse Love-it Lists of parent-chosen products by category. They can browse by product, like nursery and car seats, or based on various lifestyle themes that best fit their own consumer profile – from suburban or urban mom to budget-conscious or fashion-forward. This site works because moms and moms-to-be trust the What to Expect Brand. Crowdsourcing content from the site’s large list of community moms leverages the top tips and advice from the trenches and new moms appreciate that.
    
2. Real Simple: The everyday woman’s Bible, Real Simple, has built a series of user-generated content campaigns that allow readers to be a part of each issue. Simple Snapshots is a section of the website where users can upload photos based on a given theme and have it displayed on the Real Simple website. Further, users are invited to submit a photo via Instagram or Twitter using a hashtag, which is used to populate this section on the Real Simple site. Users get further traction of their own photo and engage with the Real Simple brand across multiple social media platforms. What’s more, the clever folks at Real Simple invite readers to like their favorites on Facebook.  Not only do users who submit a photo get involved, but those more passive users also contribute to the content by voting on favorite photos. Themes revolve around holidays or themes for each issue – December was “Post your Holiday Card”, and January is “Share your Favorite Paint Color” to inspire decorating ideas. User-generated campaigns like this one dive into the minds of the most important readers – moms – and capture the attention of moms at various engagement levels.
    
3. Lay’s: Lay’s launched a crowdsourced contest, “Do Us a Flavor,” to come up with the next big potato chip flavor last year. Between celebrity-laden commercials and diverse chip ideas (Chicken & Waffles?!), customers had fun seeing the ideas evolve and picking the winner. This light-hearted campaign really let customers feel their voice was heard and impacting the product they see on the shelves.
    
4. Old Spice: After a very successful run of traditional TV commercials featuring Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice Guy, a social media response campaign was launched based on user feedback. Mustafa responded to tweets and Facebook posts from Old Spice fans in over 186 videos.
   
   Due to the remarkably quick turnaround time on the videos, Old Spice saw a huge spike in its social media influence. According to iMedia reports, Twitter followers increased by 2,700 percent in a two-day period, and OldSpice.com experienced a 300 percent spike in traffic.
   
   Old Spice gave the audience the response it wanted (customized video messages) when it wanted it (immediately) and where it wanted it (on social media). The campaign serves as a great example of responding to the connected consumer. According to Nielsen data provided by Old Spice shortly after the campaign launched, the campaign resulted in a sales increase of 107 percent. The brand’s campaign harnessed real-time interaction with its buyers, which ultimately increased engagement and drove sales.
    
5. Fisher-Price: Last year, Fisher-Price undertook a global refresh of their 84 year-old-brand including new tag lines, updated website, and renewed Facebook page.  Fisher-Price took a specific approach to make the brand more relevant to Gen Y mothers.  The results included a website that features 30% more mom-to-mom testimonials, reviews, and peer points of view.
   
   Fisher-Price has a growing network of parenting bloggers – known as their Play Ambassadors – whose blogs are often syndicated across other media and have active communities. These ambassadors will receive a first look at new products, programs, experts, and partners. “What’s pivotal about the Play Ambassador program is that it is a consistent, ongoing initiative, helping to tell our story broadly by reaching various networks across key markets the country,”  said Lisa Mancuso, SVP Marketing Fisher-Price said in a recent interview.
   
   “Babies haven’t changed, but moms, dads, and the world around them have - so at Fisher-Price we’re changing with them. Listening to Mom is the way we do business,” Mancuso added. This is a classic case where a trusted brand re-identified with a new generation of users.  The company leveraged their brand loyalty amongst trusted expert users to build their presence with a new market.
    
6. Rent the Runway: Rent the Runway’s entire business model is built on the idea of sharing, which allows women to rent high-end designer dresses and accessories for special occasions. The brand found a way to really practice what it preaches when it began a campaign to encourage their users to upload photos of their Cinderella moments to their site. Rent the Runway found that their consumers were already uploading their photos to Facebook and Twitter, so it harnessed this organic crowd-sourcing effort via a branded "Our Runway" campaign to celebrate the fashionable moments.
   
   Additionally, the campaign built a user-generated database of images aimed to help each renter find a dress that works well for her body type. All renters are encouraged to upload an image and provide details about what dress they wore, their measurements and any additional comments or feedback about the outfit. Prospective renters can then search to "find women like me" in order to determine what dresses look best on women with similar body types.
   
   And, the campaign works. According to iMedia, Women who have viewed these UGC photos are 200 percent more likely to rent than those who have viewed a standard dress shot on a model.
    

For brands that focus on the mom market, it’s become increasingly more important for them to focus on cultivating the consumer. Mom bloggers, brand advocates, and moms who use social media are creating their own content and other moms are listening. Rather than spend time and money on creative that doesn’t work, follow these brands’ experiences with crowdsourcing and user-generated content to make your brand stand out in a sea of competition. 

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Posted by Carrie Nash