• by India White , Columnist, September 9, 2016

As marketers in this content-centered world, our goal is to break through the noise and make meaningful connections with our consumers. Reaching Moms has never been as easy or as challenging as it is today. We have an abundance of channels in which to reach our target audience, but attention spans are shorter than ever. 

To make a noticeable impression, marketers need to have an in-depth understanding of their audience. Personas have been something that marketers have relied on in the past to create strategies and drive content. A lot of the time, these personas are made up of demographic data and gut-based assumptions that speak to the target audience in a very broad sense.

Moms are an incredibly influential audience, as they make the majority of buying decisions. To reach and engage them, you need to relate to and understand them. While creating mom-centric strategies is the obvious choice, what about their interests in addition to being a mom? What else interests them? What else makes them unique?

Grouping Moms into general target personas is a great first step, but stopping there is a great first step, but stopping there will hurt your brand. Our interest-based segmentation analysis on anyone who self-describes as “Mom” and lives in the USA r revealed 12 distinct interest-based clusters. These interest-based audience segments included "Authors + Bloggers," "Country Music Fans," "Christian Conservatives," and "Real Housewives Fans." 

The best way to relate to each segment varies, but there are at least three core ways to connect with Moms on a deeper level:

1. Understand their interests
While Moms most definitely have parent-related interests, everyone is unique and has other interests as well. To learn more about their culture and what they are passionate about, dig into the celebrities they love, their favorite TV shows, the music they listen to, influential individuals the follow, their preferred news outlet, etc. Use these insights to relate to people through something that is familiar to them.
For example, a high-end pen company may look to engage the “Country Music Fans.” To do this, they might engage a high-affinity country music singer to use their pens while signing autographs at the Grand Ole Opry. On the other hand, if they were looking to engage “Authors + Bloggers,” they might look to engage a niche influencer to do a review of their favorite writing tools. 

2. Know how they communicate
Creating content using the same tone and language that your target communities use will make you more relatable. Understand the content they engage with, and the hashtags and keywords they use regularly. 

Let’s say the high-end pen company is looking to create engaging social content that resonates with the “Real Housewives Fans” Moms. By understanding the hashtags that they use in the context of their interests, the pen company can join in on the conversation without being seen as a “noob.”

3. Read the content they read
Know where your target audience goes to get their content, then go read it. Understanding the content that your target audience consumes regularly will help inform a personalized, data-driven strategy that connects with consumers.

Let’s say the pen company is looking to create a blog post that will resonate with “Christian Conservative” Moms. By going to the same sources they do to get their content and information, you can understand the tone and subject matter that they find valuable. You can then match your tone and subject matter what already resonates with this community.

By knowing your ideal consumers on a deeper, cultural level, you will be able to create content strategies that break through the noise and make meaningful connections. Know that there are many definitions of “Mom” and understand that they want to feel appreciated as individuals. Go beyond basic demographic data to understand who your target audience truly is.