As CEOs of their households, Power Moms wield more influence than ever:
Nielsen Online reports that moms between the ages of 25-54 who have at least one child under the age of 18 within the home represent 19% of the total online population. Power Moms influence online purchase decisions for foods, beauty and household products, projected to grow to $12 billion in 2011.
Power Moms leverage digital applications to stay organized, connect with their families, friends and mom networks through Facebook and micro-blog platforms like Twitter, as well MomBloggersClub.com and TwitterMoms.com, and paying the bills, ordering groceries, downloading coupons and hunting for ideas for the next family vacation. Power Moms are also mobile enthusiasts who are 35% more likely to use text messaging/SMS on the go.
According to M2Moms, 68% of African American mothers are more likely to read articles online, and 45% more likely to listen to music. 45% of Caucasian mothers are likely to frequent social networks, and 43%, message boards. Blogs were the top choice among 55% of Hispanic Moms, followed by social networks at 42%.
Understanding the Power Mom's online behavior enables precision in online targeting for optimizing media plans. For example:
Mothers aged 25-35 with at least one child at home are also heavy online shoppers, but the role of social networking is much more prominent. In addition to email, they are:
While Power Moms aged 39-54 are only 23% more likely to post comments on social networks:
Jessica Hogue, research director, Nielsen Online, concludes that "Established Moms gravitate to online shopping destinations... receptive to highly relevant promotions... to... indulge herself while saving on her family's needs... (but) marketers shouldn't rule out... social networking sites among this cohort... "
Top Sites Visited by Power Moms Online (Index, Average = 100) | |||
Site | Moms 40-50, HH 3-4 | Site | Moms 25-35, HH 1-2 |
Shopzilla | 192 | Target | 276 |
Target | 160 | Craiglist | 253 |
Walmart | 155 | Blogger | 227 |
Glam Media | 147 | Walmart | 190 |
Amazon | 135 | Amazon | 187 |
AOL AIM | 129 | 185 | |
AOL Media | 122 | Wikipedia | 184 |
Wikipedia | 121 | eBay | 178 |
Yahoo! Mail | 117 | Yahoo! Mail | 162 |
eBay | 116 | Myspace.com | 160 |
114 | YouTube | 142 | |
Myspace | 112 | AOL Media | 140 |
Source: Nielsen Online, Winter 2008 (HH=Household) |
Nielsen research, in January through March 2009, identified Mom Bloggers' value systems through thousands of online conversations about personal values touching on morality, integrity and ethics, as well as topical conversations pertaining to the new administration and the economy. The subtext association map also reveals the relationship of aspirational goals related to parenting, love, responsibilities to work and the community, as well as the environment, and the very attainment of these pursuits.
Top 10 Activities of Moms Online | |
Activity | % of Moms |
Checking/Sending email | 85% |
Paying bills/Online banking | 64 |
Reading news | 57 |
Checking weather | 56 |
Researching products/prices | 49 |
Playing games | 46 |
Shopping for children | 45 |
Shopping for self | 44 |
Planning travel | 39 |
Researching healthcare info | 38 |
Source: Marketing to Moms Coalition survey, 2008 |
Additional findings about moms and technology show that, overall, full-time working moms use technology at the highest rates.
Maria Bailey, CEO and founder of BSM Media, concludes "Mothers, now more than ever, are using technology... to multi-task through their busy days... 2009 stands to produce a record number of tech-savvy mothers... "
And, in a separate study, Moms Annual Media Survey, Nielsen reported daily media habits of moms, finding that the media that moms are using daily the most are television and email, closely followed by cellular phones/PDA and internet websites.
Everyday Media Habits of Moms (% of Moms) | |||
| Age Range | ||
Medium | 18-24 | 25-44 | 45+ |
Television | 74% | 84% | 75% |
Radio | 35 | 57 | 46 |
Newspaper | 13 | 23 | 36 |
Magazine | 13 | 10 | 12 |
Cell Phone/PDA | 62 | 69 | 63 |
Internet websites | 67 | 64 | 52 |
Internet chat rooms/message boards | 17 | 9 | 9 |
Internet blogs | 17 | 8 | 4 |
73 | 87 | 79 | |
Source: Nielsen Moms Annual Media Survey, 2008 Report |
For additional information, please visit BrandWeek here.
Good to see a research company like Nielsen finally producing reports on the mom market, just as BSM and Lucid have been doing for years now. To go beyond the numbers and keep up on moms who are active in social media, try http://MomsWhoBlog.com