How to Build Your Brand’s Mombassadors: Pinterest, Coupons and Mobile!

With Mother’s Day flowers still on the kitchen table and the card still taped to the fridge, I can’t help but reflect on the “mommy” demographic, which has always been a critically important target audience for marketers. It’s no secret to Dad, the kids and the rest of the family (including the dog!) that Mom is the decision-maker, not just at home, but also in the marketplace. In fact, with $2.1 trillion in spending clout, a mom’s brain is “built for shopping,” says Forbes.

And in many ways, digital shopping is built for moms. Digital moms are empowered with mobile devices, and they’re no longer a segmented group reached only through niche sites. Whether it’s searching for a healthy recipe, finding reviews on a local repair shop or looking for medical insight, moms are heavily dependent on search engines. In addition, “mommy bloggers” are now thought leaders, and many moms find information in online communities like CafeMom and Cool Mom Picks.

Moms as “Mombassadors”

According to another new study by Performics, moms are active and engaged users of social networking sites, compared to other women. They’re more likely to visit these social media sites regularly, trust what they read their about their favorite brands and make a purchase – such as a car, clothes or travel – based on social media recommendations.

What’s more, moms are recommendation engines. Once a mom discovers a brand or company she likes, she is more likely to become a brand ambassador. Mothers were 34 percent more likely to recommend companies and brands through social networking sites and 25 percent more likely to talk about companies and brands they follow. This is probably a reflection of the finding that almost two-thirds of moms believe they can influence companies by voicing their opinions on social networks.

Let’s face it: moms like to talk about their likes and dislikes, including passing on brand information. (“You should see this deal I got today!”) Thousands of women are online generating brand buzz and acknowledgement, but remember: This kind of WOM doesn’t happen overnight. It takes an integrated media approach to fully understand what makes moms want to engage and how best to get them talking up your product/service.

Moms are Most Engaged on Pinterest

Pinterest is a rising star and already has the attention of top brands across the board. Moms have taken to Pinterest quickly as well and according to Nielsen, they’re 61 percent more likely to use the network than the average American.

Better yet for marketers,

Four in Ten US Mobile Subscribers Now Use Smartphones

With the increasing sophistication of smartphones, the growing popularity of tablets and the ever-expanding ubiquity of wi-fi, the future of mobile marketing is not only bright, but blinding.

In its most recent annual report on this topic, comScore highlighted a number of factors that point towards nothing short of a mobile marketing groundswell.  Take a look at these key findings:

• The number of people who use mobile devices to surf the internet, download information or access apps continues to grow.  More than four in ten American (42 percent) and EU5 (44 percent) mobile phone subscribers now have smartphones.
• During 2011, growth in the use of mobile apps in the US and EU5 (comprised of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK) exceeded growth in mobile browsing, with the retail category coming in second only to health-related apps.
• More than 50 percent of US smartphone owners used them for retail research, such as price comparison while shopping at a brick and mortar store, demonstrating an increasing comfort level with the technology at their fingertips.
• Speaking of comfort level,

Social Networking Now the Most Popular Online Activity Worldwide

This week, as we head into the new year, it’s the perfect time to pause for a minute to consider how far social media progressed over the past twelve months . . . and what lies ahead for 2012.

comScore’s new report, It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed, is a ideal backdrop for this kind of reflection.

The 27-page report is packed with important insights about how social platforms are influencing the digital landscape and changing the way marketers engage with consumers. For example, after analyzing social media activity around the globe, comScore concluded that:

Mobile Social Media Use Increasing in Europe, Most Engage with Brands

Consumers want to access social networking sites while they’re on-the-go.

Researchers at comScore, Inc. looked at mobile social media usage across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) during the month of September 2011 and found that the audience for mobile social networking in the EU5 region grew a full 44 percent over the last year.

All told, 55.1 million mobile users in the EU5 –that’s 23.5 percent of the total EU5 mobile audience –accessed social networking sites or blogs via their mobile devices that month.

The study also found that:

• Nearly half (46.8 percent) of the mobile social media users reported accessing social networking sites on a daily basis. Interestingly, the growth in daily social networking use from the previous year outpaced that of mobile social networking access as a whole (67 percent vs. 44 percent), indicating that the mobile platform is proving to be conducive to very frequent social networking use.
• Most mobile social media users (31.3 million) accessed social networking sites via a mobile browser (31.3 million). But, the number of people using mobile apps grew, too, doubling over the previous year to 24.2 million.
• Facebook boasts the largest mobile social media audience in the study (71 percent), followed by Twitter, Tuenti.com (a Spanish social network) and LinkedIn.
• Nearly three in four mobile social networking users reported reading posts from people known personally, and more than 60 percent posted status updates on their mobile devices.

Marketers take note: The data showed that mobile social networking users engaged with brands on their mobile devices.

Mobile Social Media Audience Growing, Most Interact with Brands

The US mobile social media audience grew 37 percent in the past year, according to study results released last month by comScore, Inc.

The research found that 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 percent in the past year. The study also provided new insights into how mobile users interact with social media, finding that: