Moms’ In-Person Recommendations Outweigh Social Media

If you’re retailing to moms, you should be aware of how these key consumers recommend your products. A recent article in Retailing Today noted that there is a difference in how and where moms make these recommendations. Depending on what you’re selling, this can affect your media mix and message.

According to a recently released study, "The Mom Next Door: How and Why Moms Make Recommendations," 83 percent of moms will recommend brands in person as opposed to 53 percent of moms who do so via social media. In fact, 59 percent of moms rated in-person recommendations as being most trustworthy, contrasting sharply with just 14 percent of moms who rated social media recommendations as most trustworthy.

In the study, released by 360PR MomSquad, a national network of influencer-moms, 71 percent of moms recommend brands, products and services to other moms at least once a month, with half the moms making brand recommendations on a daily basis.

"We call these moms the recommender-moms, and it's clear they're looking to connect offline, though social media plays a role, too," said Laura Tomasetti, CEO at 360PR. "Brands need to get to know the mom recommenders in their sphere and balance online activity with high-touch opportunities to engage these uber-influencers."

The study also found that online social networks are important communications vehicles for Gen Y moms with infants. These moms rely on Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram. Pinterest, incidentally, is hugely female and can be an effective retail messaging outlet.

"Social media has an important role to play, especially with younger moms," stated Jyl Johnson Pattee, CEO of Mom It Forward. "Fifty-eight percent of moms use social media for more than one hour daily, with Gen Y moms indexing the highest. Interestingly, Facebook and Twitter are popular across the board, with no generational differences among moms."

In marketing your brand, the power of "the mom next door" can’t be understated. A whopping 93 percent of moms are influenced by other moms' recommendations. Moms will interact with other moms at day care/school drop-offs, at a friend's house, working out or shopping. Those with older children tend to recommend products during conversations at work with other moms. Online recommendations occurr more often with moms of younger children. Moms are most active in recommending special offers, and depend on online reviews, typically by bloggers and especially for major purchases.

The Mom Next Door study included interviews with over 1,000 moms using a Web-based survey of 964 U.S. moms of children 12 years of age and younger. It also included several live events with 95 moms and in-home events in six cross regional markets and one online event.

In structuring your marketing efforts to moms, the right mix of social media and promotional messaging can be key in motivating these key influencers.

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