• by Lolita Carrico , November 11, 2011

As Tina Sharkey shared in her column on Wednesday, moms are armed with a variety of tools to help them get their holiday shopping done more efficiently and cost-effectively this season than ever before – with social and mobile gaining as her go-to resources. “Never pay retail” is the mantra for moms this shopping season. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals aside, mom became savvy with mobile and social media shopping apps this year and she’ll be using them to find the best deals and snag hard-to-find must-haves to get through her holiday lists.

How many plan to use these new shopping tools? A recent survey by Shopper Sciences found that 48% of smartphone users plan to use their phones to help with holiday shopping and 61% of shoppers will use social networks to research the perfect gift -- with 72% preferring Facebook.

So, as a brand or retailer, how can you maximize your visibility with the social media and mobile savvy mom? Here are my three tips to engage the savvy mom this holiday shopping season:

1. Reward and Engage Fans: With 72% of social media users turning to Facebook first for deals and product information, retailers like JCPenney and Lands’ End reward fans with exclusive coupons and sale information. Engage with Facebook fans, comment on their feedback and offer “shopper’s choice” discounts to fans on their favorite items.

2. Make Sharing Easy: Deloitte’s Annual Holiday survey found that 44% of shoppers plan to use social media to check family and friends’ wish lists. Moms will not only browse wish lists – she’ll create them for her family to make gifting easy for her network. SkuLoop, a technology partner for retailers, offers a “Most Wanted” application which seamlessly enables retailers to allow Facebook fans to publish and share their holiday wish lists within Facebook and beyond.

3. Get them On the Go: Emarketer found that moms are spending significantly more time browsing on their mobile devices than on their PCs, 6.1 hours a day vs 4.1 hours day, while the general population is spends about 2.1 hours a day on the mobile web. Since she’s so frequently on the go, mobile shopping apps like Yowza and Shopkick that enable brick-and-mortar retailers to send rewards and coupons through push notifications, can mean the difference in getting her in your store.

This season’s savvy mom has already begun holiday shopping – the time to engage her is now! By connecting with her across a variety of platforms, you’ll not only gain her cover coveted loyalty but demonstrate you’re savvy enough to keep up with her.