25th August 2010 (0 Comments)

By Sarah Engel (A Mom)

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Moms are spending more time than ever on Facebook, and many are undecided on how they feel about that
• Etiquette and privacy are hot topics for the Facebook moms, across ages and work status
• It’s not just about connection anymore. The way moms use Facebook is changing

Sure, I’m on Facebook every day. Whether I am checking to see if a friend’s baby was born yet, telling everyone I know about the most brilliant/creative thing (in all of history!) that my toddler just did, or looking for my free bagel coupon from Einstein Bros., my day is not quite complete without a quick glance at Facebook on my iPhone, or on the good ol’ trusty computer. Almost every mother I know would say the same. Or would they?

In talking recently with Thomas Roth, the president and founder of Community Marketing and arguably the pioneer of LGBT market research, he issued a clear reminder, “There is no ‘gay demographic.’ Just like there is no Hispanic or youth demographic. There are specific niches within these groups, and multitudes of individuals who make up these groups.”

As a marketer, a mom, and a champion for our female-marketing clients that range from Cole Haan and Neiman Marcus to The Container Store and The Gap, I couldn’t help but relate this to a plethora of industry articles and social media agency reports I’ve seen lately with new stats, facts, and figures about marketing to moms and their use of social media.

Facebook claims (Facebook Market Research, Q4 2009) to reach 65 percent of all moms online in the U.S., and to have 17 million mom users who have kids at home. They tell us that 94 percent of moms use Facebook at least once a week, and 53 percent of Facebook moms have children under the age of 5.

Furthermore, eMarketer reports that since having a child, U.S. mom internet users use mainstream social media 33 percent more than before, and mom-centric social media 68 percent more since bringing little ones into the world. (BabyCenter and novaQuant, “21st Century Mom” as reported by eMarketer, June 29, 2009.)

From a marketers’ perspective, these stats are interesting, and they provide one more reason why we should be beyond the point of “dipping our toes” into the social media waters and should be having authentic, two-way conversations with our customers in these arenas. And if your Facebook friend list looks anything like mine, the prevalence of moms on social sites is no real revelation.

However, where I see marketers getting sidetracked when trying to reach moms online is in treating these statistics as a basis for their campaigns. Sure, they are guidelines, and it’s nice to have some reinforcement for our assumptions about moms’ social media consumption patterns, but to look at all moms as one of the 17 million referenced above would be a campaign killer, as well as a gross misunderstanding of your customers.

To paraphrase Thomas Roth, “There is no mom demographic.”

In an effort to let moms speak for themselves, and tell us what they are doing while their kids are watching “Dinosaur Train” or squealing over Justin Bieber, I decided to make a bold move… and simply ask them. I created what I’ll call a “Facebook Mom Feedback Forum.” Now this study is far from statistically representative — around 70 moms — but the point is not really about statistics, it’s about the individuals who connect, play, and parent on Facebook.

Here are some of the key findings from the Forum:

Moms are spending more time than ever on Facebook, and many are quite torn on how they feel about that:

When asked how many hours they spend on Facebook now compared with when they joined (almost 88 percent joined in 2008 and 2009), 33 percent said they are on the site more often now, and 8 percent said they were on “significantly more.” Yet, 14 percent of the Forum Moms also told me that they feel Facebook detracts from being a mother in the sense that it takes time away from being with their kid(s), and 46 percent said it did not “enhance” being a mother for them.

Danielle from Texas, a mother of one “tween,” even joked, “I think Facebook from a parent’s perspective causes stress because you know one day soon your own kids will be involved in some form of social networking. Time to get that kid in a cave!”

It’s not just about connection anymore. The way moms use Facebook is changing:

More than 82 percent of the Forum Moms said their original reason for using Facebook was to connect with friends, family, and other moms. Seventy-five percent still cite “connection” as their main reason, but almost 16 percent have shifted to using it for entertainment. And, yes, most moms consider reading others’ posts and playing games (even when networked with other users) to be entertainment.

And when moms are using Facebook for “connection,” it is much more complex than just swapping recipes and sharing junior’s latest homerun:

Almost 10 percent of the Forum Moms said that Facebook “gives them a sense of identity,” and almost 13 percent are actually using the site to “monitor their children’s online activities.”

Catherine, a mother of a toddler and a grade-schooler in California, has a core need for using the site to connect, “I’m a marine wife. It has become a sort of support system when the hubby is deployed, since we are far away from everyone who matters.”

While Becca from Georgia, a mother of two, says, “Originally, I joined to connect with old friends, but now I use it for links to coupons and to learn about activities for our family.”

And then there’s a mother of one college-age child who works outside the home full-time in Texas. She counts herself as a member of a unique mom-specific group on Facebook, “Moms who drink and swear! That’s terrible, but sometimes you need a break!”