5 things about marketing to millennial moms you should know

We’ve written about marketing to moms and dads before. It’s an important topic as the parenting and baby market will keep growing. That being said, with growth brings change, especially when it comes to age groups.

Millennials have been a hot topic for a while now. In fact, the overall trend is shifting to discussions of Gen Z and how brands can best reach this up and coming age group who are increasingly making more and more purchase decisions as they get older. While Gen Z might take over the bulk of the conversation, one thing brands can’t ignore is that Millennials are growing up and moving into new life stages of their own. One of those life stages is becoming a parent. Specifically, 46% of women in the Millennial age group (born between 1978 and 1994) are moms. In fact, 22% of all moms are Millennial Moms – that’s approximately 9 million people!

While you might think that you can “just target moms” in general, common sense would tell you that that strategy might not work. Millennial Moms tend to have young kids while Gen X and Boomer moms have older kids. This can, and should, drastically affect your marketing strategy.

There are other factors that set Millennial Moms apart from other niche mom groups. Here are 5 things you should know about marketing to Millennial Moms.

THEY ARE DIGITAL EXTROVERTS

While older Millennials grew up in the shift to digital lives, for some younger Millennials, digital life is all they know. In either case, Millennial Moms are very comfortable with digital behaviour. They tend to work across multiple devices (sometimes simultaneously), and if they’re kids are old enough, they will monitor multiple devices. In terms of purchase behaviour, the digital world has increasingly affected how Millennial Moms shop. Mobile has become an important channel with 8 in 10 Millennial Moms choosing to use it to make purchases.

Millennials in general found a home on social media and through selfie culture. They have a natural tendency to overshare, which makes them feel like they have a stronger sense of community and connection.

THEY ARE WELL-CONNECTED

The sense of community and connection Millennial Moms feel stems from comfort with digital channels. However, it is also because they spend so much time on social networks and other digital forums. With a presence on an average of 3.4 social networks, Millennial Moms spend 17.4 hours on social media per week, which, on average, is four hours more than any other mom niche.

The time spent in the digital world also means that Millennial Moms are well-informed. They tend to connect with other moms and influencers on digital channels to learn and to share opinions. Approximately 90% of Millennial Moms share information about brands online.

While Millennial Moms live in a very digital and connected world as the overall Millennial tendencies, their behaviour changes when they become moms. They actually spend more time connecting with other moms via digital channels. Brands should sit up and take notice because the forums and blogs that they are sharing information on and connecting on hold the trust in the purchasing relationship. When it comes to who they listen to more, 74% of Millennial Moms find blogs and digital communities more trustworthy than brand advertisements.

THEY FIND THEIR IDENTITY AGAIN THROUGH CAUSES

Being able to feel connected with your own identity is a big part of finding yourself as a mom. Thirty percent of Millennial moms feel that motherhood has caused them to lose part of their identity. One way to really find yourself again is to identify the values and ethics that made you you in the first place. That is why brands that support causes or charities are so important to moms. In fact, 92% of moms prefer to buy products that support the same causes they identity with.

THEY ARE BRAND LOYAL

Whether to save money, build points balances, or just plain “go with what you know,” Millennial Moms are brand loyal when it comes to the products and services they use.

Brand should sit up and take notice because loyalty programs and convenience are two key factors when building brand loyalty in this group of consumers. Eight out of ten Millennial Moms prefer to join loyalty programs, mostly to save money over time. While this might mean they could jump ship to a competitor, it will help keep brands on their toes to make sure they are giving Millennial Moms what they want in a loyalty program.

The other thing that might surprise some brands is that nostalgia or familiarity are key factors in brand choices for Millennial Moms. They might gravitate to products that their family used when growing up. However, it really comes down to “you don’t know what you don’t know.” If your marketing/outreach to new moms is really effective, they might feel a connection to your product because they are familiar with it.

THEY EMBRACE DIVERSITY

Millennial Moms have grown up in a generation that isn’t confined to historical norms. They aren’t confined by traditional familial structures. For the most part, they embrace gender creativity, single parenthood, and interracial family life. Many brands haven’t figured out how to market to this diverse a group of consumers, or they don’t feel it’s as important as it is. As a result, 42% of Millennial Moms believe that brands just simply don’t understand them.

Millennial Moms are fast becoming an important niche within the Millennial market. Brands need to figure out their wants and needs when it comes to marketing to effectively reach them as a target audience.

If you’re stuck, or you’re not sure you’re even targeting the right niche, be sure to give us a call!