moms on social media - a fiskaz ebook

Moms On Social Media A FISKAZ eBook

Given the immense popularity and growth of Social Media it is no surprise that everyone and their mothers have found their way onto the big players. I still remember when my mom first sent me a friend request on Facebook. It took me nearly a week to begrudgingly ‘Accept’. At the time, Facebook didn’t really have the privacy options that it does now which meant that my mom would have unrestricted access to peruse everything I’d put up. When I asked my friends whether they have their moms on their friends list I got a fairly mixed response. A lot of them said they wouldn’t dream of it and just as many were quite happy to be digitally connected to their mom. A fair bit of time has passed since then and now that folk can choose what bits of their profile to share, I don’t think anyone minds having their parents on social media. All said and done, I set out to discover exactly what kind of use mothers were getting out of social media and whether it differed from the way that my contemporaries were using it. I spoke to a few moms and looked at some numbers and discovered something that may be a little surprising for some people.

1 | MOMS ON SOCIAL MEDIA -‐ A FISKAZ EBOOK

Are you still shunning your mom’s FarmVille requests? I’m sure everyone who has their mom on their Facebook Friend List has received an invitation to play FarmVille or some other such game. While most would just ignore it and move on with their lives would it perhaps be a better idea to take an interest on what your mom is playing? After the first few requests from my mom I decided to see how she’d react if she were introduced to games that weren’t on Facebook. Quite to my delight, she took to them well. Now, I should stop you before you start to picture a group of soccer moms playing Halo on X-Box Live.

I only introduced my mom to games on the iOS to which she now dedicates a happy portion of her day. In fact, a few of the people I’ve spoken to have had similar experiences with their mothers. Despite this ‘progress’ my mom still does find her way back to FarmVille and its equivalents on a regular basis. In fact a quick Google search on ‘Gamer Moms’ yielded some interesting results. A study conducted by the Entertainment Software Association shows that a staggering 74% of mothers play video games on at least one device. This shows that there is great potential for marketing geared towards the mother demographic to feature in such games. Perhaps you should consider getting your mom a brand new console this Mother’s Day instead of the usual card and chocolates.


Just how active is your mom on Social Media? While my mom isn’t active on every Social Media platform (she thinks Twitter is a polite way of calling someone a nitwit), the ones she is active on she knows inside and out. Whenever I log in on Facebook I can be certain to see my mom active. Whether she’s on her phone or on her laptop, she’s always connected. A study conducted on ‘Social Moms’ by Babycenter shows that this behavior isn’t unique to my mom. 84% of the moms in their test group show heavy activity on Facebook, spending around 8 hours a month on Facebook on their computer and an additional 22 hours a month on their Facebook mobile client. The combined total works out to around an hour a day. The same study shows YouTube being their second favorite platform with around 77% staying active whether uploading, commenting or just browsing. Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest only see about 25% of moms, which is still a good amount of users. A lot of moms have taken to checking their Facebook as soon as they wake up with text messages and e-mails taking a back seat in their interests. The potential for marketing to moms on Social Media is brilliant and these figures are only going to improve over time. As moms get more and more tech savvy, they’re broadening their horizons and as a result they’re starting to show interest in products and services not necessarily marketed towards them. Surely it’s time we started catering to these budding interests?


Is Social Media helping your mom experience new things? It would probably come as no surprise that your mom spends a lot of her time on Social Media going over your profile. One of the first things that my mom does when she gets online is check for my Facebook updates and then leaves my profile open on a tab as she goes about her digital activities. However, another thing to keep in mind is that by spending a good amount of time going over my profile my mom is being exposed to the things, which I share, and others share on my timeline. This in turn helps her learn more about what my generation is talking and what my generation is into. Owing to this, my mom has been introduced to movies like The Lord of the Rings and TV shows like Two And A Half Men. Moms across the globe are being introduced to a variety of new things through their kids activities on Social Media. So if you’ve got a campaign aimed at moms one way to get more exposure would be to get their kids involved, make it something they’re likely to share and you can be certain that their moms will discover it.


Is Social Media teaching your mom lifehacks? For all her knowledge on Social Media my mom still hasn’t figured out how the rest of Internet works. My mom avoids http://www.lifehacker.com since she believes it would result in her computer getting hacked. That doesn’t mean she’s missing out though. One way or another the communities she’s involved in on Social Media end up sharing these tips in some form or another. That’s not all; she takes a genuine interest in these tips and actively seeks them out on her time spent on Social Media Platforms. Whether it’s a spin on an old recipe, a way to keep your tea hot, a quick fix for a broken table leg or just about any sort of tip. She’s willing to learn and genuinely keeping an eye out for opportunities to implement her newfound knowledge. It’s not just my mom, she’s found herself numerous groups of moms that share these lifehacks and learn through one another. So if you want my mom to pay attention to one of your ads why not throw in a tip that she’d find handy? If you’re running a campaign for soap why not show her how to get the most out of one bar?


All in all, moms have found their way onto Social Media en masse and they’re planning on staying. In a way, it has improved their lives in several respects. It helps them keep abreast of what their kids are into and helps them stay connected, always a part of their lives, even when they move out. It’s also helped them find new ways to do the things they’ve been doing for years in addition to the new experiences they’ve had owing to Social Media. Given the time mothers now spend on Social Media Platforms it’d be folly for marketers to ignore this demographic online. It would also be worthwhile looking into the various avenues that have started to pique their interest, perhaps your products and services have found a new demographic. To conclude I’d like to leave you with a suggestion for this year’s card, don’t give her one. Make her a heartwarming new cover photo instead. Show your mom a bit of ‘Like’ on Facebook.


MOMS ON SOCIAL MEDIA A FISKAZ EBOOK

Corporate Office: 2, Silver Croft, 16th Road TPS III, Pali, Bandra Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050 T: +91 22 6531 4111 M: +91 8898 552 522 E: [email protected] W: www.fiskaz.com © 2014 FISKAZ-Digital Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd

moms on social media - a fiskaz ebook

Documents

social moms

mom active

mom isnt active

social media platform

growth of social media

gamer moms

moms farmville requests

group of soccer moms