• by Lisa Mabe-Konstantopoulos , Op-Ed Contributor, January 8, 2016

Nearly everyone associates cravings with pregnant women. And you’d be right, but we’re not talking about wanting pickles and ice cream at 3 a.m. We’re referring to a first-time mom’s deep craving for information. 

It is accepted practice in advertising circles that Millennials are constantly expecting fresh content at their fingertips, but when a first-time mother is preparing for her first child, she’s also embarking on one massive, hunt-and-gather style quest for information. As a first-time Millennial mom myself, I speak from recent personal experience, research compiled from several mother’s groups, and nearly a decade as a marketing-to-women expert.

This search for the latest and greatest baby information manifests itself in a variety of ways: searching the blogosphere, reading baby books, asking friends and family for advice, and, of course, pinning ideas on Pinterest. And while this phase of searching can end up all over the map, it is increasingly beginning in supermarket aisles, and starting precisely with what “new mom” is eating.

Key Insight: 

When one becomes pregnant, everyday items, from food to cosmetics, suddenly are subject to increased scrutiny. A mom-to-be is constantly asking herself, “is this good for me” and “is this good for the baby?” Taking care of oneself and the baby become priority number one. As marketers, here lies an incredible opportunity for us to offer up those healthy solutions that moms are specifically looking for.

Key Actionable Takeaway:

If brands can reach women on the cusp of this new life stage (motherhood), they could potentially keep them as loyal consumers for a long time to come. Nearly all of the women in a recent mother’s group session said that once they “switched” to a new brand during their pregnancy, they continued using it after their child was born. 

So how can your brand win with new Millennial Moms? Here are just a few ways that savvy brands can help women enter into a healthy motherhood.

• Foster her desire to shop healthy

Retailers, consider curating healthy mom and baby-friendly products for a shop healthy promotion. Brands, make it easy for moms to find the health information they are looking for, on your website and your social media pages. Bring your social feeds to life with lifestyle photography focusing on healthy living, such as puree ideas for making organic baby food.

• Shop with her

If you want to know what moms want more of, shop with them, observe and ask. I frequently conduct shop-along research for clients who want to uncover how health-conscious moms shop, digging deep to identify how they think, behave and buy in a particular category.

• Offer her resources

Once you’ve learned more about your moms, implement some programs targeting them. If you heard that they want classes on how to make healthy, organic baby food, work with a partner to create a class. If you learned that moms want wider aisles in the store for strollers, try to make that happen. 

• Keep the dialogue going 

Once you start a relationship with shoppers, it’s important to keep the dialogue flowing. Learn how and where shoppers want to interact with your brand or retail company. Will moms engage with you on your website, blog, or social media? If so, find out which ones and continue the relationship there.

I often say that marketing to moms can be the gift that keeps on giving. There is always a constant flow of new women entering into motherhood and thus taking interest into several new product categories.

How are you getting your products into Millennial women’s shopping carts? What’s been successful in your case? Let me know by commenting below or tweeting to me at @LisaMabe.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on April 24, 2015, in Engage:Moms.