A new day has dawned in digital marketing to moms - or should I say, yet another new day has dawned, with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest all announcing big format changes in the last 30 days. That of course follows the sudden explosion of Pinterest, the ridiculously fast adoption of tablets and "second screens," and, of course, the cautious, but now seemingly real, end to this economic downturn.

Next week marks the official start of spring. With the weather warming up and buds starting to bloom, we were curious to better understand how spring affects moms nationwide. As expected, we heard themes such as spring is a season of love, a "mood-lifter" and delight over the flowers and birds chirping.

There is this really great line in Bridget Brennan's book, Why She Buys, that states, "Whether it's Disney or Dusseldorf, women plan vacations for themselves and their families," which makes mom an ideal target for travel and destination brands. As we head into the busy spring break season with summer vacation planning in full swing, I wanted to give you some tips for marketing travel to moms.

Apple announced its newest iPad yesterday, an improved tablet that boasts a slew of enhanced features. Among the heaviest tablet users, moms are already planning to hand down their original iPad or iPad2 to the kids and upgrade to the new model for themselves on March 16. In an online survey we conducted of 1,500 moms, 47% said they'd be in line to pick up the newest tablet for $499 despite tough financial times.

More and more, we are reading articles and blog posts about the changing roles of fathers in today's family. Recently, an Engage:Moms blog post focused on dads. Everyone seems to agree that today's fathers are more involved and active in their role as parent and caregiver. Last month, in cooperation with the Marketing to Moms Coalition, we fielded a survey of 100 social media-savvy dads to get a sense of how technology played a part in daily fatherhood. Here are some of the results.

One of the most important things to remember in communicating with moms and via social media is simplicity, and it is often the most difficult thing to achieve. Human nature causes us to complicate things. Yet time and time again, simplicity is what wins. So often we try to come up with brilliant marketing campaigns with a multitude of channels, platforms, and technologies interwoven, only to find them fail in comparison to simpler programs.

From ever-present smartphones to increasingly sophisticated gaming consoles to on-the-go electronic devices, today's families rely more heavily on technology than ever before. Where families once functioned with essentially a desktop computer and a gaming console, they now view technology as integral to their daily lives and have incorporated a succession of computers, tablets, mobile devices, apps, games, and social media platforms that allow them to work and play in ways never imagined.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or so the saying goes. For busy moms, a picture might very well be worth a whole lot more. Images are fast, easy ways to communicate. They simultaneously show, demonstrate, inspire, prompt and start a conversation without the need of a single word. Remember the first picture your toddler drew and handed you so triumphantly? It probably left you speechless. Images have a way of doing this.

While moms, without question, remain the major decision makers when it comes to household purchases, dads are becoming more involved in the process than in the past.

Moms value the opinions of other moms because they all face the same types of experiences-the good, the bad and the very messy. Marketers employ the use of celebrities for many products, especially those directed at moms and her family. It made us wonder about how celebrity moms are perceived and valued by real moms. Are moms becoming de-sensitized to the portrayal of celebrity moms in the media, or do they welcome it? We turned to our global community of moms in the Moms Human Experience Center to if celebrity moms are welcomed into the "real moms" world.