May 6, 2016
Dale Carr is founder/CEO of Leadbolt
By Dale Carr
Mothers are an attractive audience to marketers of all kinds, as they are typically the primary purchase decision makers in the household.
Below are some ideas to keep in mind to help reach this lucrative mobile audience on Mother’s Day and year-round.
Mother’s Day is a good day for application advertising. Our data on Mother’s Day last year shows 25 percent to 40 percent uplift in user engagement as compared to the previous Sunday, suggesting that mobile users had more downtime and family time and played more games.
Use caution, though.
Mother’s Day may not actually be the best day to market material gifts to moms.
In a bittersweet twist, a recent study from Child's Play Communications found that what most moms want as their gift on this sacred day is not candy, flowers or a card, or even a hand-made gift. What they want most on this very special day is simply time to themselves.
Mobile app marketers, take note: Game apps may provide for the precise kind of downtime that moms are seeking. Game apps and spas, of course.
Importance of a mobile campaign
We are just stating the obvious here: Moms own smartphones.
According to research from Edison, 70 percent of moms own a smartphone, compared to 60 percent of the population, at large. And 83 percent of moms who own a smartphone say it is within arm’s length “always or most of the time.”
Women and moms spend more time using apps
By now it is a well-known fact that though men download more apps, women spend more time using them.
Last year, Nielsen reported that women spend an average of 38 hours and two minutes per month on apps, while men spend 36 hours and 51 minutes per month.
Mobile games are especially attractive to moms.
Game makers WildTangent and research firm Interpret LLC, reported that 80 percent of mothers play games at least once a week on a smartphone or tablet device, with 68 percent of pregnant women playing games multiple times each day.
As reported by Adweek’s Social Times, when measuring the impact of mobile advertising, the same survey found “37 percent of mothers with kids ages 5-12, and 34 percent of expectant mothers, purchase items from brands they see advertised during their mobile gameplay.”
Timing matters
Marketers may want to explore a variety of targeting parameters, such as times of day, to reach the multi-tasker and fit a variety of busy schedules.
Consider the times of day when your message might be especially relevant to a mom:
For example, early in the morning are ideal times for workouts/gym-goers
Early evening might be an ideal time to reach a mom who is thinking about or preparing a meal
After-school hours, when kids are being picked up from school, is another potentially effective time to reach a parent. As more cars are connected, marketers can take advantage of this ride time
For working/professional mothers – lunch hours, and after 5 p.m. are ideal times to reach her
Happy Mother’s Day to all moms.
Dale Carr is founder/CEO of Leadbolt, Los Angeles. Reach him at dale@leadbolt.com.
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