Top 5 tips for marketing to mums

With Mothers’ Day on the horizon we thought we’d put together our top five tips for marketing to mums.  The biggest issue we encounter when companies market to mums is that they don’t really seem to understand where mums are right now  - what is going on in their lives, what plays on their minds when it comes to making purchases, where budget would be best spent to get mums to buy. 

1. Know mums. That may sound an incredibly obvious statement but think about it for a minute. If you are a marketing manager and not a parent are you really sure you can relate to mums – do you understand their fears and worries? Do you shop in the same way they do? Do you know what they want from your product or service? Do your research – use focus groups, social media and surveys (on and offline) to dig into what mums want. 
2. Mums don’t always follow the rules. The common approach when it comes to research and marketing is to break down a target audience into segments – often working on the basis that they will purchase in a certain way based on socio-economic or geographic factors.  But it’s different for mums – we’re hard to segment.  Mums 'with money' can be penny pinchers who shop in charity shops because they don’t have their own income. Mums with little income will go without so their children can have the best.  It can be useful to look at targeting mums based on grouping such as having children of a similar age but segmenting might not always give you the best insight.
3. Be aware of where mums are. We’ve seen some statistics this year that have told us all mums are online, spending hours on facebook. This isn’t a true reflection of what’s happening out there.  Mums over 35 often don’t use social media at all. Think about where mums HAVE to be everyday – schoolgate, children’s clubs or in their own social circle.
4. Word of mouth still rules. Whether it’s face to face or amplifying through social media, word of mouth is still the most powerful and long lasting way to connect with mums.  That’s because mums trust other mums.
5. Give mums what they want. The easiest way to get mums to buy is by giving them what they need. You can identify gaps in the market by carrying out research and then sense checking concepts with mums. That way you’ll know you are on target to a good product.

If you’d like to know more about research or marketing to mums give us a call at MumPanel.

Living socially - the next step in connecting with mums

A few months ago a conversation started in the MumPanel office about brands focussing a little too much on social media and in the process forgetting about where they could connect with mums every day. 

 

I’m an early adopter of technology.  Most of my friends aren’t. Most of my friends are mums. If you take notice of the media and rafts of marketing information coming your way you might be convinced that every single person (including mums) are spending their entire life on facebook and twitter. They’re permanently attached to their smartphone and asking all their parenting questions on forums. 

But this isn’t the whole story. I know most of the mums in my daughter’s class pretty well now and only about a third are on facebook (even less use it every day), I’m one of a handful on twitter and many don’t own a smartphone. Some even share an email account with their husband. 

Surprised? We aren’t.  We’re hearing the same story from mums across the UK, irrespective of their location, income or ethnicity. As the trend to push brands online has grown we worry that marketers have forgotten that mums HAVE to connect in real life, every day and in many different ways. 

If you have children, regardless of the amount of time you may choose to spend online, you have to do the school run, go and buy new shoes, do drop offs and pick ups at classes and organise outings to keep them occupied at the weekends. That doesn’t mean to say we don’t use technology – I’m often checking directions to somewhere on my smartphone or asking a question of mums on Facebook. 

But every single morning I stand with 10 other mums and we share information – this morning it was personal recommendations about where to buy a new kitchen table. And because I know and trust these mums then that word of mouth recommendation sticks. I’m much more likely to act on this than on a tweet. Mums take social media to the next level – they integrate it with their day to day social interactions – turning it into social living. But what does that all mean for brands? Firstly social media is great  - if your audience is there (and you should test this). Secondly don’t let social media or online activity stand alone – you are missing the opportunity to connect with mums on a wider and deeper level. Finally, never forget where mums are everyday – in the supermarket, at the school gate, living socially. Find ways to connect and build on natural word of mouth recommendation.

Drop me a line to me at nicola@mumpanel.co.uk if you’d like a copy of our Soreen case study on integrating spreading the word marketing online and at the school gate. 

Nicola