Marketing To Moms Archives - Page 3 of 11 - Millennial Moms Marketing

The Un-Mother’s Day

No Engage:Moms post would be complete without talking about Mother’s Day on May 8th this year. In 2015, over $20 billion was spent on cards, flowers, jewelry and other gifts according to the National Retail Federation. But what do moms really want and how can marketers reach them for a new holiday I’m calling the “un-Mother’s Day”?

Here’s the back story. At a mom blogger conference a few years ago, a conversation among attendees turned to Mother’s Day plans. Every mom in the discussion said they certainly loved the idea of Mother’s Day: a day to relax, be pampered and feel special. As we talked more, the reality proved much different.

Every mom said that while they loved the holiday, they usually ended up planning the celebration and taking care of their own mothers, mothers-in-law and aunts. I asked other groups of moms and even fielded a survey to gather more than anecdotal evidence. The results validated the feeling that while it was a fantastic holiday, in theory, most moms felt that Mother’s Day was a lot of work.

The survey asked moms how they really wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day. Not surprisingly, more than 70% said a mom’s night out, meaning out of the house and not having to cook dinner or fold laundry, was the best way to celebrate motherhood. With this knowledge, I created the first un-Mother’s Day event called National Mom’s Nite Out, celebrated every year on the Thursday before Mother’s Day. It’s a chance for moms to meet up at local events and online and get a much-deserved break.

Focusing on Mother’s Day is certainly important considering the billions in spending. However, I challenge marketers to think about un-Mother’s Day opportunities as well. Reach out to moms with a gift and messaging that recognizes their jobs as “moms,” but also their desire for a night out. Send your product, add in a restaurant and movie gift card, and you’ll be speaking their language. If you’re reaching the right mom influencers, they’ll send you the best thank-you note ever with lots of # love on social media.

If you’re a mom, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day and I hope you get a chance to round up your girlfriends and take a night off. If you’re a marketer, look for opportunities to reach moms for un-Mother’s Day.

Comment here or tweet me @momtalkradio to continue the conversation.

Spending Is Hopping This Easter

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail with billions of dollars in his basket. In a survey report released this week by the National Retail Federation (NRF), an Easter 2016 spending estimate of $17.3 billion will be the highest in the survey’s 13-year history. Who is leading the charge to store cash registers and online checkout buttons? Of course, it’s moms, who are giving marketers a clear direction on the importance of all holidays to earn their business.

Focusing on the November/December shopping season is certainly a top priority. However, knowing how much millennials love any reason to celebrate, don’t overlook any holiday that can be a major boost to sales in traditionally slow seasons.

Moms love holidays (most of the time), regardless of generations or the stress often associated with the many holiday-related tasks in already busy schedules. However, I would point to millennial moms and their love of celebrations for taking special occasions to another level.

Finding new and unique ways to celebrate is a defining trend for this generation of mothers, from half-birthdays and babymoons to bump and baby milestones. It’s no surprise that a traditional, religious holiday has become not only food and candy purchases but also clothing and gifts in Easter baskets. Consider these numbers, especially if your product and brand falls in food, clothing, gifts, candy or flowers.

The NRF survey estimates Easter consumer purchases at $5.5 billion on food, $3 billion on clothing, $2.7 billion on gifts, $2.4 billion on candy and $1.2 billion on flowers. $2.4 billion in candy? That’s a lot of Reese’s cups.

Not only are moms buying special-occasion clothing for the family, they consider Easter a good time to shop for seasonal clothing for the kids and themselves. Along with the candy in baskets, moms will add in a swimsuit, flip flops, beach towels and other warm weather attire.

Gift giving is not just for birthdays and the December holiday season, as noted by the NRF’s $2.7 billion spend on gifts at Easter. In a separate survey of moms and digital toy purchases, 34% of mothers say they buy kids tech items for “other” holidays like Easter.

If the holiday spending trends continue, the most important of all holidays in my opinion – Mother’s Day – is right around the corner. Along with Father’s Day and even July Fourth, consider tactics that leverage the millennial mom’s love of celebrations of any kind. Send a group of mom influencers a surprise-and-delight basket to start a conversation about your brand. Send age-appropriate baskets to their children, too. Update your Pinterest boards with easy and healthy recipes, decorating tips, crafts, etc. Post short videos on YouTube, Amazon and social sites that highlight how your product makes their holiday celebrations even better. Your Easter basket will fill up quickly.

Post here or tweet me @momtalkradio to continue the conversation.

Millennial Moms and Mealplanning

Maria Bailey, mom marketing expert and CEO of BSM Media, speaks about millennial moms and food/mealplanning.

The Characteristics of Millennial Moms

Maria Bailey, mom marketing expert and CEO of BSM Media, speaks about the characteristics of millennial moms.

Millennial Moms Are Creators Of New Holidays

’Tis the season for fall holidays, and it seems like they keep arriving earlier every year! For Millennials, holidays and special occasions are not just about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah anymore. Even “Hallmark holidays” like Boss’s Day (today, coincidentally) have nothing on the trends that Millennials have created to celebrate milestones, particularly once these women become moms.

Millennials can take credit for gender-reveal parties, half-birthdays, baby moons and push presents, to name a few. The generation that spent their childhood with parents who marked ages and stages with celebrations and praise has discovered ways to keep themselves in the spotlight. The Millennial generation has created reasons to gather as expectant couples to reveal the gender of their unborn child or to travel on a “baby moon” as one last, child-free vacation before their babies are born.

The following facts speak to the Millennial-made holidays that present golden opportunities for marketers:

30% of Millennials create and send “expecting” announcements as a formal way to share their pregnancy news.

15% of these new mothers have enjoyed baby moons and received push presents, and this number will continue to grow as only one-third of Millennial women are mothers thus far and the trend is not going away. (In case you’re not familiar with the term, a “push present” is a gift a mom receives after delivery in appreciation for giving birth.)

Almost 20% plan gender-reveal events, big and small, as well as monthly events celebrating baby’s first year.

These new traditions provide smart marketers with the opportunity to be part of the celebrations and open new channels for sales. Baby moons present travel services and destination resorts a whole new market of consumers with slightly different needs and goals than that of the honeymoon market or the family clientele. Tapping into the baby moon market might lead a travel destination to offer foot massages, elongated pillows for comfortable pregnancy sleeping and nonalcoholic specialty drinks.

When it comes to celebrations focused on baby, there’s almost no limit to what Millennial moms will do for their sons and daughters. The interesting question is, “What will Millennial moms think of next?”