Commentary

Targeting U.S. Moms

by Maryanne Conlin , August 15, 2012

Without getting into a discussion on the importance of making and growing products in the United States (we should), or the politics of buying local (as much as reasonably and practicably possible one would think), let’s agree that we live in a global community. In that global community, moms are all the same (they love their kids) and very different.

In the United States, women influence over 80% of all buying decisions. And, as I discussed in “The Many Flavors of Moms” last month, they are not a homogenous group. With fewer than 25% of moms with the role of stay-at-home-mom, most American moms have income and influence out of the home. With the vast majority of the World Wide Web in English, one might argue that American moms have much greater access to information on products and lifestyles than their compatriots worldwide. And American moms are key influencers of these products, whether or not “mom” is a word used to define the target market.

For companies importing products ranging from gourmet food products from Europe and Asia to fresh produce from the Southern Hemisphere in the U.S. offseason, to luxury goods, marketing in the U.S., more often than not, means marketing to moms.

But reaching consumers in the United States is much more digital than anywhere else in the world and the digital mom is more sophisticated and perhaps one might say, capitalistic. Compared to the 53% of European bloggers who write about brands, almost 95% of American bloggers do. One-third of U.S. bloggers are paid for their work and that is growing with the plethora of small and large companies offering blogger outreach, Twitter parties, Pinterest posts, social media mom outreach and ambassador programs.

Defining the right segment of moms, crafting a message that is emotionally appealing to the mom - in her role as “mom” or perhaps even more often in her role as consumer of luxury or lifestyle goods, can be challenging for U.S. companies, but perhaps more so for those exporting to the U.S. But, the key to understanding the U.S. market… is understanding U.S. moms.

moms

3 comments about "Targeting U.S. Moms ".

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Charles Pearson from EasyInsites, August 16, 2012 at 9:38 a.m.
Agree, moms in the US and across the world are influential and unique. This is the reason why researchers want to access this important segment of the population, and it is difficult to find them without a dedicated panel comprised of expectant and new moms at the various pregnancy and parenting stages. At EasyInsites, we have built and manage two of the largest dedicated moms panels in the research industry. In the UK, the panel is called the Bounty's "Word of Mum" Panel, in the US, the panel is called Mom365's "Nurturing Opinions". For more information, contact charles@easyinsites.com or visit our website at www.EasyInsites.com
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Lisbeth Kramer from Identities, August 16, 2012 at 10:58 a.m.

I am a huge advocate of the power of the MOM market as consumers and influencers, and reaching them where and how it matters. However, my two issues here are one, WOMEN even if not moms are still powerful and more important, the key to success with any target market is "understanding" your target, is it not?

Maryanne Conlin from RedRopes Digital/4GreenPs, August 16, 2012 at 3:07 p.m.

I completely agree Lisbeth. My point is targeting "gourmets" or "luxury consumers"more often than not means targeting a segment that includes a large number of moms - who may be big purchasers of a gourmet or luxury product, but get to the purchase decision a different way than a consumer sans children under 18.