• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, October 13, 2010

As the leaves turn colors and the temperature falls, it's time for marketers to think seriously about their holiday marketing efforts and how to turn connections with moms into sales. It's not too late to reach the powerful Mom Market. To help you prepare, BSM Media recently surveyed over 800 moms from across the country. Their responses offer valuable insight into Mom's anticipated spending for Holiday 2010.

To consolidate the survey results into a reasonable space, a glimpse of the results and tactics are outlined with the five W's plus one: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

The "Why" is fairly easy. It's the holidays, and Moms handle most of the shopping for gifts and food, as they do most of the home purchases throughout the year. The other "W's" and "How" reveal an interesting look at Moms' intentions when they hit the stores.

• Who is Mom shopping for? Almost everybody. Close to 99% of Moms surveyed will be shopping for the kids' gifts, 92% will buy gifts for a spouse, parents and in-laws and almost 70% will shop for siblings. The in-laws take the top spot in the "hard to buy for" category, with 54% of Moms indicating the in-laws as a gift-buying challenge.

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Retailers should note that this gift idea quandary is solved by websites and blogs, with 71% of Moms relying on websites and 62% using blogs to find the "perfect" gift. If your product or brand is unique and fits the "in-laws" demographic, reach out to top bloggers and websites with a sample of your product. Many bloggers publish gift guides or suggested gift lists. Remember to seek out bloggers who have a popular social media presence, as almost 70% of Moms will look for product reviews on Facebook or LinkedIn.

• What is on Mom's shopping list? With a shopping budget over $100 per child for 63% of respondents and a majority of the number (24.6%) intending to spend $200+ per child, there is plenty of opportunity to get your share. Electronics and entertainment topped the most popular gift categories. Many of last year's top ten gifts for children are listed in the survey responses.

• When will the shopping get done? For moms, their shopping lists are still being made, which is good news for retailers. A whopping 90% of Moms have not started shopping for holiday gifts, or have only picked up a few things. Almost 40% indicated that they would shop after Halloween and on Black Friday, which means there is still time to place ads, recruit bloggers for product reviews or schedule a Twitter party.

• Where is Mom looking for gifts? An overwhelming majority of moms in our survey are planning to buy online. An even 66% of Moms surveyed said they plan on purchasing more than half of their gift items through online retailers, with Amazon and eBay leading the list.

• How will Moms get their shopping done? "Word of Mom" and social media are in a tug-of-war for the most popular form of communication among Moms for gift ideas, coupon codes and product reviews. Social Media and online tools ranked highly among Moms with blogs as king (or should I say queen).

Close to 93% of survey respondents favor "Mom Blogs," 83.1% like websites and 61% and 69% name Twitter and Facebook, respectively, as the preferred choice for holiday gift information. However, while social media remains the popular tool and a hot news topic, Moms still love hands-on, face-to-face contact to share information.

Survey responses totaled 75% for Moms who would seek the advice or recommendations of other Moms about a specific brand or gift idea. Moms love to socialize and spread the news about best prices, gift ideas and more. Companies can capitalize on "Word of Mom" marketing with customized events like MommyParties.

• Presents aren't the only items on Mom's Holiday Shopping List. Don't forget the holiday dinners, office parties and get-togethers. Food retailers should take note that the majority of Moms will try a new product when offered a coupon. Fifty-six percent of Moms would "always" try a new product with a coupon and 40.9% would "sometimes" try a new product when enticed with a coupon.

• Finally, in what I'd consider one of the most surprising results, the roller coaster of economic news has not changed the majority of Moms' budgets. From gifts for immediate and extended family to gifts for teachers, coaches and caregivers, an average of 55% of Moms reported the intention to spend the same amount on holiday gifts as last year.

These results are just a glimpse of the Moms Holiday Survey results. Join me on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. ET for a free, one-hour webinar on MomTV.com. I'll cover more of the survey results and tactics to reach the Mom Market. I may even divulge inside information on how I attack my holiday shopping list with military-like precision so that I've finished most of my shopping by Dec. 1 every year!