How can you market to millennial moms?

More than 80 percent of new moms in the U.S. are millennials, according to a joint 2015 study by BabyCenter and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Millennial moms are different from their previous generations: they are more involved in modern parenting and believe in a large pool of social media networks.

As modern moms’ digital behaviors are changing, how can you improve your marketing strategy to connect with them?

Find the emotional truth in modern moms’ lives

When you build campaigns and products for moms and their families, it’s important to create emotional connections and provide modern moms utility.

“If you are looking to target modern moms, the very first thing is to find the emotional truth in their daily lives and build emotional or rational utility around that truth,” says Paul Marobella, chief executive officer (CEO) of Havas Worldwide Chicago Group.

For example, diaper brand Huggies has produced useful and creative content for its consumers. The site hosts topics ranging from pregnancy to new baby to feeding and nutrition et cetera, with each section filled with in-depth articles to help new and experienced moms.

Greeting card brand Hallmark has the knack for marketing to moms as well. In April of this year, it produced a series of heartwarming YouTube videos for its Mother’s Day #PutYourHeartToPaper campaign.

Those videos show diverse expressions of motherly love and highlight the importance of telling mom how much she means to you as often as possible.

Be whimsical and young

While Hallmark went with heavy and emotional content, it doesn’t mean that you have to create dramatic tension every time when you target moms. Remember, the average age of a first time mom in the U.S. is around 26. 

How can you help this young group escape from the drudgery of daily life? A sense of humor insightfully connected with the truth in mom’s life can be very effective.

“Make your campaign fun! A modern mom’s life is already stressful, so we always try to provide a moment of liberty for her in our work,” Marobella says.

His agency Havas Chicago helped household products Hefty create a social video campaign called “Party Hard Moms” to unleash moms’ inner party animal with Hefty’s new crack-resistant party cups.

In a series of three social videos that were released on Hefty’s Facebook page, moms are depicted in typical scenes of docile domesticity: folding laundry, unpacking groceries, and reading books.

But when they start talking, the mom monologues take a turn from being civilized to playfully scandalous. Did you hear the mom saying “Bye, Felicia?!”

“You may never hear a 40-year-old woman talking that way, but she still wants to be 16. Modern moms love this campaign because there’s a little girl inside them,” Marobella notes.

Mobile, mobile and mobile

In terms of channel strategy, mobile is the first option when you target modern moms. Millennial moms grew up surfing the Internet or playing video games and social networks are very important to them.

Babycenter and the IAB found that 80 percent U.S. millennial moms use their phone for shopping while in store, and 55 percent often use their smartphone while watching TV.

“While you need to use every screen to engage with modern moms, you definitely should be mobile first,” Marobella says.

Millenial moms believe in mobile and social. Millenial moms are younger than we think. Marketing to this group might be a hard row to hoe.

But if you can serve them humorous, informative and kid-friendly content that speaks to the emotional truth in their lives, modern moms will love your brand.

Homepage image via Flickr