• by Katie Petrillo , March 15, 2013

The celebrations industry is estimated at more than $38 billion. People spend their budget on party supplies, decorations, groceries, and alcohol. In addition, party hosts spend money on household supplies and home improvements in preparation to welcome guests. And when it comes to celebrations, these hosts tend to buy larger quantities and buy on impulse. With all of the money spent on celebrations, don’t let your brand miss the opportunity to market in this industry.

As you might expect, women plan the majority of celebrations, from holidays to birthday parties to family reunions. In fact, moms spend 23% of their free time planning parties and get-togethers. Commonly called the CEO of the household, Moms have a total combined wallet of $2.7 trillion. These party-planning moms are a valuable target audience for brands. 

Here are a few specific strategies to reach moms who plan parties: 

Create custom advertising. 53% of moms say they rely on technology to plan holidays and birthdays. Use digital advertising to get your brand in front of party-planning moms at exactly the moment when they’re planning a celebration. Consider custom or co-branded content that allows moms to engage with your brand without seeing it as advertising. Custom advertising generates greater brand awareness and fosters long-term engagement with your product.

Use social retargeting. The explosion of social media networks and bloggers has changed how party hosts look for ideas. In 2012, a Child's Play Communications survey reported that 42% of moms turn to Pinterest for planning events and 78.7% of those events are kids birthday parties. The tricky part is converting social activity into a lead or conversion. Through social retargeting, brands can track moms after they’ve viewed content on social media and bring them back to the site through targeted ads. This gives new hope to the idea of social ROI.

Be relevant and SEO-friendly. If you are looking for consumers on Google, keywords aren’t as important as in the past. To optimize your content for Google Author Rank, content from your brand needs to be both SEO-rich and relevant. Your brand’s website already has an established ranking. Use its search reputation to post relevant content on the site, include specific keywords, and focus on celebrations topics. As moms scour the Internet for party-planning tips, ideas, and products, your brand will show up as a resource.  

Optimize your site across devices. Moms use laptops, tablets, and smartphones. As many as 62% of connected moms use a retailer’s shopping app, and 93% of moms shopped significantly more on their smartphones and tablets in 2012 than they did in 2011. Moms go from checking their phone in line at the store to browsing their tablet while waiting to pick up the kids to making a purchase at home on the laptop. Marketers should work with their development teams and publishers to ensure moms experience a seamless transition from phone to tablet to computer while using their site. 

Party hosts typically start planning their events four to six weeks ahead of time. Right now is the ideal time for mom-focused brands to identify their strategy in the celebrations market. The graduation and summer party seasons are right around the corner – moms will start their preparations soon.