How Moms Shop Online

In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, I thought I'd take a look at what moms are doing online today. To do this, I turned to Digital Mom, a two-part report published earlier this year by Razorfish and CafeMom. Razorfish surveyed 1,500 digital moms — or moms who used at least two Web 2.0 technologies and actively researched or purchased online in the three months before the survey was conducted in October 2008. Razorfish and CafeMom’s goal was to learn more about the digital mom. How does she use digital technology? Do her habits differ by age? What are her motivations for engaging in social media and other emerging channels? How should marketers engage her? The report was chock-full of interesting and surprising information. One key finding from the report is that more digital moms today interact with social networks (65 percent) and SMS (56 percent) than with news sites (51 percent). And just as many can be found gaming online or via a gaming console (52 percent). Which technologies digital moms use, however, depends on factors such as the mom's age, the age of her children and motivation. Moms less than 35, for example, are more likely to use newer communication platforms like social networks, SMS and mobile browsing. Moms 45 and older are more likely to use online news, consumer reviews and podcasting. What’s more, online video consumption is highest among moms with children 12 and older — the group that's also more likely to be online monitoring their children. Online purchasing habits Compared to nondigital media such as magazines, newspaper and radio, digital channels continue to influence digital moms in their purchasing decisions, according to the survey. Answers to questions for digital moms who researched or purchased products online in the three months prior to being surveyed revealed the following information: • the gap between TV and digital channels in creating initial awareness of a product is closing; • Web sites, search engines and friends/family, along with social influence channels and magazines, are more used and trusted for research and learning than any other sources; • social activities play an important role in influencing digital moms; and • emerging channels like mobile and podcasting also influence different stages in the purchase funnel, although it varies by vertical, and penetration is still relatively low. What does this all mean? If you’re an online marketer targeting moms, understand that this group is pretty Web-savvy. In many cases, digital moms are using some of the newest Web 2.0 technologies to communicate with friends and family and help make purchasing decisions. So go ahead, test a variety of these Web 2.0 tools when marketing products or services to moms. You may be surprised by the results.

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How Moms Shop Online

Melissa Campanelli

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Melissa Campanelli