Tips for Using Blogs & Vlogs to Win Mom Over

In the digital landscape, countless brands vie for mom’s attention. This blog is part two of our two-part series where we delve into successful content marketing strategies your brand can use to win moms over. Brands need to understand the content moms are consuming and how to reach them at the right place and time. Gen Z and millennial moms are multitasking savants. New moms are already online in the early hours of the morning while feeding and soothing their crying babies. According to the Washington Post, parents are “starting their first mobile visits as early as 4 a.m. [and]… by 7 a.m. 56 percent of new parents have visited Facebook on their mobile devices” (Bailey). Coupling this information with unique content marketing strategies can be a strategic win for your brand. There are many content marketing techniques, but we’ll discuss the two that have captured mom’s attention for years: blogging and vlogging. Adding new or long-term content marketing techniques to your omnichannel marketing strategy can help you continue to win mom’s lasting affection.

Ways for Moms to Love Your Brand

1) Blogs

Before discussing how brands can work with mommy bloggers and vloggers to reach moms, we’ll touch on the controversy surrounding these communication tools and the mom market. There are two perspectives on mommy blogging/vlogging:

● Perspective 1: In its infancy in the 2000s, blogging and vlogging content addressed the struggles of motherhood in a raw and transparent way. However, because of sponsored blogs, vlogs, and social media posts, it now captures the picture-perfect mom, distorting the realities of motherhood for profit.
● Perspective 2: Mommy blogs now help moms make more informed decisions because mommy bloggers are making honest product recommendations and partnering with brands they trust.

A defining factor between these two perspectives is often the relationships brands have with mommy influencers. (For the purpose of this post, we will refer to moms who blog or vlog as mommy influencers.) If a positive relationship with the right influencer is fostered, the first perspective is less likely to come to fruition in your brand’s content strategy. Instead of fully controlling the content influencers distribute, brands need to listen to influencers’ point of view so the influencers can create content their followers love. Partnering with newer niche influencers can also mitigate concerns because these influencers are less likely to have numerous brand partnerships compared to macro influencers. Strictly following social media platforms’ ad policies is another way to have honest and transparent content, which goes a long way with moms. There are many ways to make sure your brand’s mommy content is honest, helpful, and real. However, the varying perspectives mentioned above also mark the inevitable shift in mommy content because of the changes in technology, social media, and marketing strategies. As these changes continue to happen, the way influencers communicate to their audiences will change, too.

As more moms enter the workforce and their free time dwindles, they’re on a time crunch. This means many mommy influencers are shifting to short-form blogs to offer impactful and helpful information while simultaneously extending the life of their content. This can be an easier way to create content in comparison to writing one long-form blog (unless the content is evergreen). Other mommy influencers have moved to social media, making their posts longer to add more to a conversation, discuss a product review, or supplement their blog. Brands can be a part of this content equation by sponsoring posts or sending PR packages for product reviews. This may seem obvious, but even the best blog content doesn’t mean anything if it’s not promoted on the right platforms. Using an omnichannel strategy including a combination of social, email, and paid media (when appropriate) will boost a brand’s visibility with moms. A word of caution: moms dislike paid media (e.g., ads) just as much as other audience segments. Unless the content is helpful and personalized, your brand could be throwing its money away. The biggest takeaway is to make sure you don’t make some of the biggest mistakes when marketing to moms. As more mommy influencers continue to create content, many are expanding their portfolio by creating vlogs.

When we talk about mommy vloggers, we don’t just mean moms who create videos related to motherhood. Their content can be about anything ranging from health and beauty to self-care. When vlogs started, they were mainly hosted on a mommy influencer’s website or YouTube; however, this content can now be hosted on various platforms. These platforms or features include Facebook and Instagram Live, Facebook and Instagram Stories, Instagram Highlights, IGTV, and Snapchat. Many of these features allow brands to reach moms by displaying ads between videos like Facebook and Instagram Stories or pre/mid-roll ads (e.g., YouTube videos). Some platforms allow influencers the ability to feature products and services in their videos (e.g., Instagram Stories “swipe up” feature or shoppable posts). With so many platforms and options, it can be hard to define what’s right for your brand. However, looking at the demographics on each platform can help guide your decision. If your brand is trying to reach Gen Z or millennial moms, Facebook and Instagram could be the best channels. According to Pew Research, 93% of parents use Facebook. Instagram currently has 800 million active users and an advertiser base of 2 million (Balakrishnan and Boorstin). 59% of all users on Instagram are 18-29 years old and 68% of users are female, which reaches both millennial and Gen Z moms (Aslam). As these platforms come out with new features, brands need to quickly access trends and opportunities to reach moms. IGTV is one of the newest features on Instagram, offering more opportunities for brands to build relationships with moms.

IGTV is a long-form video feature on Instagram that influencers can use to post hour-long videos. These videos live on the influencer’s social media profile and stay on their channel/profile until deleted, unlike Instagram Stories. This platform is unique because unlike many other vlogging options, IGTV does not host ads (yet). However, this platform shows the opportunity for brands to create TV shows (e.g., reality TV) similar to Facebook Watch or YouTube Red but has the advantage of targeting highly specialized audiences. Additionally, because IGTV was created after influencers built their follower base, they have the ability to reach thousands or millions in less time and shift even more followers from other platforms to view their IGTV content using cross-platform promotion. As some platforms and features continue to ebb and flow in popularity, staying up-to-date on the latest trends can help your brand find favor with moms.

Brands looking to build relationships with moms will want to use the content moms love most: blogs and vlogs. Weaving this content into your brand’s omnichannel approach can help yield big returns over time. Understanding mommy influencers, platforms, social media features, and trends behind this content will set your brand up for success. To optimize your strategy when marketing to moms, contact us. We help brands create meaningful relationships with moms at scale.