Friday, October 31, 2008

Email Marketing in Decline and the Opportunity

The art of email marketing seems to be in decline. I've seen fewer creative email campaigns and less compelling reasons for someone to hand over their email address. Seems like most web sites are still offering just their newsletter and special promotions, as reasons to subscribe. Not all that exciting when the internet offers so many choices.

Businesses see the benefits of being able to communicate directly and inexpensively with consumers, but lacking a strategy to do so seems to be a consistent theme. Target, a retailer many moms rate very highly, makes the offer, “Sign up to receive special offers and promotions from Target.” To me, that seems more like an offer that Walmart would make. Target known for their style and design quality, all at affordable prices, should be making a play that is creative and more closely in line with their brand.

The email marketing decline is coupled with the fact that spam filters have improved so much over the past two years that getting only the messages one wants is much better. My point being, if a marketer has a strong email value proposition, today there is a higher likelihood of having their message read and acted on, because there is less consumer inbox clutter.

Now for the kicker. Moms are more receptive to email marketing when compared to all other online marketing tactics, and they are checking personal email throughout their day!

And mom bloggers, the influencers driving conversations and trends online, are checking their email all day long and more often relative to other moms.

The lesson here is obvious; opportunities exist for marketers to make strong connections with moms through email marketing, but fresh and creative approaches are required.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Bloggers Rule the Online World of Mothers

Marketers Should Pay Attention

Mom bloggers are more active online, particularly with social networking, than the rest of their U.S. mothering peers. They are 71% more likely to indicate being addicted to a social network when compared to moms who know nothing about blogs.

The lead reason for them going online is to socialize with others, while for moms who pay no attention to blogs, it is to find information. Mom bloggers also pay more attention to what their friends say online about something than other moms do.

The attention that marketers are giving to online word of mouth and the importance of connecting with mom bloggers as influencers appears justified.

Mom bloggers are also more receptive to marketing communication, than other moms. Further enforcing the reasons for marketers to pay them attention. Not surprisingly, all moms rank banners as the least effective marketing method for engaging them. But, bloggers are the group most accepting of them, likely do to the fact that many earn money from these marketing tactics.

An opportunity exists for marketers to focus more effort in email marketing. Moms are more receptive to it when compared to other online marketing tactics, and they are checking personal email throughout their day.

Survey data was gathered from 457 U.S. women with children of various ages randomly recruited on the internet between August 12 and September 12, 2008. As an incentive, $5 for every 10 people who completed the survey was donated by lucid marketing to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The report, "Social Media & Moms, BLOGGER Edition" can be downloaded for free at www.lucidmarketing.com

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Top 15 Blogs on Marketing to Moms

As the U.S. economy continues to falter, businesses look for ways to do more with less. Many recognize that women are their core customers and the ones who drive positive word of mouth about their brand. Connecting with women has never been more important. The list of blogs included here preach and teach, how to grow your business through marketing to women. Subscribe to those feeds to quickly become an expert and growth leader in your company.
  1. Andrea Learned's Learned on Women
  2. Fara Warner's Power of the Purse
  3. Holly Buchanan's Marketing to Women Online
  4. Jory Des Jardins' Marketing to Women Bloggers
  5. Maria Bailey's Marketing to Moms
  6. Marti Barletta's Gender Trends
  7. Mary Clare Hunt's In Women We Trust
  8. Michele Miller's WonderBranding
  9. PME's M2Moms Essential Exclusives
  10. PME's M2Women Essential Exclusives
  11. Re:Invention's Blog
  12. SheHive's Tales from the Hive
  13. Tami Anderson's AndHowMarketing
  14. Yvonne Divita's Lipsticking
  15. Lucid's Marketing to Moms