As a consultant, I’ve been saying to my clients for at least the past five years what has now been proven by social media analytics: “Your online target market is me. As a woman and mother I am the purchaser of goods and services not only for myself but also my spouse and my children; and further, I learn about the products, goods and services that I purchase through social media — directly from businesses that market to me as well as from my social media ‘friends’.”
With 2015 wrapped up for the history books, we can see that I was right and I am getting “righter” with time. Analytics show that in 2015 females, generally, and even more specifically females with children, became hands down and statistically speaking the social (as in media) target market for retail and consumer goods and, those brands that focused their social campaigns on women saw crazy, insane growth.
According to the leading authority on audience intelligence, competitive benchmarking and actionable insights for social media, Shareablee, in 2015 women accounted for 74% of the 6.4 billion social actions captured by retail and consumer goods brands. Further still, the numbers were double their show in 2014. Partnering with comScore, an internet technology company that measures what people do as they navigate the digital world, Shareablee studied the engagement data across social media — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube — including likes, shares, comments, retweets and dislikes and discovered a 52% growth from similar activity in 2014.
Women accounted for 74% of the 6.4 billion social actions captured by retail and consumer goods brands.
“While some brands in the retail and consumer goods industries have targeted social campaigns at mothers specifically, they are in the minority,” says the report. Bottom line: those not active with campaigns targeting mothers are missing out on a massive opportunity. Says Shareablee’s founder and CEO, Tania Yuki, “Several brands that have implemented mom-targeted social campaigns have seen massive success, often capturing more social engagement through these posts than their average branded posts receive throughout the entire year.”
As we leap into 2016’s Leap Year, all brands need to learn from these successful mom-brand social campaigns. In an interview with by Holly Pavlika for mediapost.com, Yuki listed 5 of the top mother-friendly social media campaigns that were game changers for their brands:
- Co-branded Content
The Vitamin Shoppe utilized its new partnership with Honest Company to capture moms’ engagement on Twitter through contests promoting and giving away the company’s products. These tweets captured 283% more likes and retweets than The Vitamin Shoppe’s other content posted during the 2015 summer promotion period. A partnership between brands is a great way to expand your audience and introduce it to another brand.
- Connecting Families
Duracell saw social success on Facebook and Twitter this summer by focusing on engaging parents via Twitter to connect their families through the power of Duracell. This family-centered content accounted for 42% of Duracell’s Facebook and Twitter content, and it captured more than 92% of the brand’s Facebook and Twitter engagement during June and July. Duracell not engaged families, but by including a military dad in its campaign, the company captured the U.S. military spouses, as well.
- Tips, Tricks and a Helping Hand
Ziploc scored big with moms on Facebook this year by showing how Ziploc products can be used for school, snacks and entertaining kids. The company also cross-promoted videos from its YouTube page, showing moms how to “pack accordingly” and efficiently by using its products. This content captured 15% more Facebook engagement than Ziploc’s average post in 2015. Tips and tricks are always a great way to win over moms who are looking for ways to make their jobs easier and quicker.
- Back-to-School with Teachers
For parents and teachers, nothing is more stressful than back-to-school time. Staples used Instagram to successfully engage moms through its #101Ready campaign, sharing DIY projects, sales, organization tips and gift ideas for teachers to take stress out of getting ready for the school year. This social strategy implemented during the back-to-school season made up 78% of Staples’ Instagram content posted during the summer, and it drove 85% of its likes and comments on Instagram.
- All about the Kids
Scholastic harnessed the real-time nature of Twitter to tweet out quotes and data from the Kids and Family Reading Report (#KFRR). Scholastic’s tweets promoted these #KFRR stats and urged parents to #readaloud with their children, as well as quoted kids about why the love reading. This content accounted for 11% of the brand’s Twitter content and 20% of its Twitter engagement during the first half of 2015.
2016 prediction from social media pundits: moms will continue to embrace harder (as only a mom can) traditional social media venues and go where their children are — to Snapchat and even where their children may not be yet, Periscope.