Marketing to Moms: Best Social Media Platforms

Choosing the right social media platforms to market to moms.First there was Facebook and Twitter and then came YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat…and the list goes on. As a marketer, it might feel like it’s impossible to have meaningful engagement on so many different social media platforms at once. If you’ve got limited time, resources and budget, how can you choose the right social media platforms to achieve your business goals?

Here are the four steps you need to take to choose the right social media platform for your business.

Determine your social media goals
The first step is to determine your social media objectives. Each social media platform can be used in different ways to fulfill certain objectives. For example, since you cannot include links in your Instagram posts, it won’t help your objective to drive traffic to your website or blog – making Instagram a better platform to drive brand awareness than drive traffic. Pinterest does allow you to link content back to your site, but because of its visual platform, it’s best used for companies that have enticing visuals to share, which will encourage users to follow them.

Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, can be used to reach a wider audience by engaging in Twitter chats, Twitter parties and using hashtags to ensure your message reaches a wider audience. On Facebook, however, you’ll need to compete for Moms’ attention amongst all the other posts she sees from family and friends (which is especially difficult for brands to do organically, thanks to Facebook’s algorithm changes) whereas on Twitter, every single tweet you send out has the possibility of being seen by Mom.

Identify your audience
If you’re on a social media platform that your audience or ideal consumer isn’t using, there’s no use in being there. Before you choose which social media platforms to spend time and money on, determine where your audience is spending their time. 84% of Millennial (those born between 1980 and 2000) Moms use Facebook, compared to 73% of the general population.

Females, in general, dominate social media especially Facebook and more visual sites like Pinterest and Instagram and are less likely than men to be on YouTube, reddit, and Google+.

The Pew Research Internet Project’s recent study on social media statistics and demographics help shed some light on which platforms your consumers are using:

Understand what Moms do on these platforms
Moms use social media platforms for different purposes. According to a recent BabyCenter report, 92% of Moms use Facebook to share family photos and milestones and say they mainly use Facebook for socializing and sharing. Moms use Twitter to keep up to date with news, brands and celebrities and to pass the time and stay connected. Pinterest’s visual, made-to-share platform makes it easy for Moms to use it for inspiration – for home renovations, baby planning, meal ideas and healthy living.

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What type of content do you want to produce?
If you want to meaningfully engage with consumers on social media, you need to have something worth sharing. An important consideration before you begin your social media campaign is to determine if you have the right type of content for that platform.

For example, you’ll need to create incredible visuals, at least three times a week, to gain traction on Instagram. If you want to gain a following on YouTube, you’ll need to commit to creating short and long videos once a week. For Twitter, best practice is to tweet three to as many as fifteen times a day – depending on what you’re tweeting. On Facebook, you’ll need a mix of photos, text updates and even short videos or slideshows that you can share on a consistent basis.

Ultimately, choosing the right social media platform for your business depends on your goals, your ideal audience and what they’re looking for on social media and the type of content you’d like to create to populate your social media feeds.

Regardless of which platforms you choose to be on, keep in mind that the majority of Moms – a whopping 73% – use social media for brand and product recommendations, which is one of the reasons that socially connected Moms outspend non-socially connected moms in every single brand category (toys, technology, food, health and more). Understanding what Moms want and how they’re using these platforms means not only reaching your ideal consumer but also influencing the biggest online spenders.

Want to learn more about how to make a bigger impact on social media? Download the PTPA Media Kit to gain exclusive tips now.