Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Marketers Rev Up Relationships with Blogging Moms
The marketer-mom blogger love affair is getting stronger and stronger. Pioneered by companies such as Walmart, with its Elevenmoms program (now called Walmart Moms), marketers have realized that moms who blog can be very powerful allies.
The frenzy reached fever pitch at last month’s BlogHer ’10 conference in New York, which had 2,400 attendees—many of them moms. Brands sponsored special events for female bloggers, gave away merchandise and conducted impromptu surveys and focus groups. Among the activities:
- Pepsico, a lead sponsor, offered the Tropicana Breakfast with an appearance by Bruce Jenner
- Gold’s Gym Manhattan invited all attendees to work out for free during the conference
- Clothing retailer Ralph Lauren hosted an event for selected bloggers to preview “The RL Gang,” a children’s book and online clothing store
- Procter & Gamble’s Tide brand hosted a series of exclusive dinners for bloggers and introduced attendees to a new fabric-care brand, Tide Swash
What benefits do marketers see from creating relationships with moms who blog? Which marketers are doing it right? And how are the recently updated Federal Trade Commission guidelines on disclosure impacting the ways marketers work with mom bloggers? Those are subjects I’m researching for an eMarketer report that’s publishing in October.
According to a Retail Advertising & Marketing Association study conducted in December 2009, 13% of US moms of tweens (ages 8 to 12) maintained their own blog. And more than half (52.2%) said they read blogs.
Although reaching blogging moms seems easy, it’s not. As Jen Drexler, principal at marketing consultancy Just Ask a Woman, wrote in an Adweek column recapping the BlogHer conference: “The blogger universe wants to play with like-minded brands that get it.” There is still a lot that brands need to learn.
Do you market your brand to mom bloggers? Are you a mom blogger who has relationships with brand marketers? I’m seeking interviews and case studies for this report. Please leave a comment or ping me at dwilliamson@emarketer.com.
Image via KelbyCarr.com
Companies that don’t pursue mom bloggers are missing the boat! Moms are the world’s best communicators, and if they like your product, they’ll recommend it to their friends. The same is true on the flip side: if they have a bad experience with your brand, they won’t hesitate to talk about that either! While interacting with mom bloggers is very important, those efforts must support stellar customer service, or all marketing efforts will be in vain.