Back to School: Moms are using Mobile devices and Social media to make life easier

by | Oct 2, 2012 | Advertising, Children, Families, Marketing, Moms, Parenting, Social Media, Technology | 1 comment

 


By now, most Moms have settled into their back to school routines but this fall’s season was busier than ever. Struggling to balance it all, moms are searching for tools to keep the transition smooth and less stressful. Given this dynamic, trends show that mobile devices and their ability to rapidly connect to social media are helping moms manage their daily lives more than ever.

  • 85% of moms who have smartphones said they helped make back to school less stressful (EMI survey 8/12)
  • Nearly 9 out 10 said having a smartphone makes being a mom easier (EMI 8/12)
  • 50% of moms participate in social media via their smartphones in comparison to women in general or the general population (Nielsen 8/12)
  • 55% of women are more likely to purchase from brands they interact with on social media (Mashable).
  • 1 in 5 moms use their smartphone to shop on-line ( EMI 8/12)

This fall, Twitter and Facebook helped us to research new brands that our children wanted for back to school supplies. Then, we used our Verizon iphone to map out store locations and plan our shopping lists. My husband loved trying new retailer shopping Apps. Obviously, our experience is not unique.

The key learning from the Back to School retailer season with estimated sales of over $83.8Billion (NFR survey) is that Brands need to design creative campaigns to engage moms both in social media and on their mobile devices. This is especially important for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

As marketers, let’s never forget a mom’s role as a strong brand influencer. Why not speak to her about ways to help her “balance it all” or make life easier? This holiday season could be a great time to experiment with new social media and mobile strategies.

What do you think?

Many related articles give excellent facts and statics to prove these trends:

 

1 Comment

  1. Don
    Don on October 19, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    The statistics you cite put social media and the innovations that made it possible into a context that is perhaps given somewhat insufficient weight in current macroeconomic discussions. For example, an August 2012 NBER Working Paper authored by Northwestern University Professor of Economics Robert J. Gordon observes, “Invention since 2000 has centered on entertainment and communication devices that are smaller, smarter, and more capable, but do not fundamentally change labor productivity or the standard of living in the way that electric light, motor cars, or indoor plumbing changed it.”

    When one defines the quality of life in a fashion that is broader than trends in macroeconomic variables concerning labor productivity or per capita GDP, the still growing impact of social media looms larger relatively larger than what is implied in Dr. Gordon’s assessment of post-2000 invention. Moreover, much potential may yet remain to be unlocked. With social media still closer to its infancy than maturity, it is probably too soon to try to estimate social media’s overall impact on the course of economic and social history, much less with any degree of precision.

    Finally, with its potential to make quality information more accessible in an ever more timely fashion, social media could play a meaningful role in mitigating one of the headwinds to innovation cited by Dr. Gordon: ‘Poor secondary student performance.’ If so, even if it did not directly enhance labor productivity and the standard of living, it could play a critical supporting role in doing so, much as sound corporate finance can play an invaluable supporting role in strengthening a company’s value chain.