The online survey was conducted among a random sample of women from the SheSpeaks community, elded in January

2011. 1,092 U.S. women participated. The SheSpeaks community includes women who are socially active, both online and ofine. Results presented in this report focus on moms with children under 18 (72% of the sample). CONTACTS: Aliza Freud Founder & CEO, SheSpeaks, Inc (e) aliza@shespeaks.com www.shespeaks.com twitter: @shespeaksinc Facebook: facebook.com/shespeaksinc Holly Pavlika Founder, Mom-entum Managing Director, Big Fuel (e) hollyp@bigfuel.com www.havemomentum.com www.bigfuel.com twitter: @HollyPavlika Facebook: facebook.com/haveMom-entum

The bond between moms and brands

Social media is revolutionizing how moms and brands communicate

Social media has revolutionized how moms interact with each other online, and it is now also transforming how moms and brands communicate. However, many questions arise about how brands should initiate and maintain a dialogue online. Do moms really want to have a relationship with brands through social media? If so, who should be initiating the dialogue? Do women just want coupons and promotional information, or do they actually want to have a conversation with a brand? Is social media replacing email as the key communications channel between moms and brands?

Number of hours per week using social media

1519 hrs 10% 1014 hrs 19% 20+ hrs 25%

69 hrs 18%

12 hrs 10% 35 hrs. 17%

SheSpeaks and Mom-entum interviewed nearly 800 moms to answer the questions shown hereand learned that brands have an enormous opportunity to initiate and sustain relationships with moms through multiple digital channels. Beyond liking brands on Facebook or following them on Twitter, moms expect brands to engage with them via social media by answering questions, providing customer service and personalizing content and promotions. Given the right content, moms actually welcome the experience of brands initiating conversations with them. And while social media continues to grow, brand websites and email still have important roles in fostering the relationship between moms and brands.

Q: How many hours do you spend per week using social media (i.e., reading/posting on Facebook, Twitter, blogs)?

Moms really do want relationships with brands

Most moms spend a lot of time with social mediaat least 10 hours per week. And its not all about keeping in touch with friends. This is not new news, but the fact many moms are initiating liking brands in social media without any prompting at all is. She is making her way to brands Facebook pages from a variety of sources: email, websites or just looking up the brand on Facebook. And if the content is relevant, shes hoping to start a relationshipand not looking just for a money-saving coupon. In fact, moms are even willing to have brands initiate contact with them on social media, as long as the content is relevant. Sixtyeight percent of moms said they are positive about a brand reaching out to them via social media, whereas only 11% are not. Other facts about moms and Facebook:
74% have written a post about a brand or product on Facebook 31% liked a brand just by looking them up on Facebook 23% liked a brand after clicking through from a company website 12% liked a brand through email 36% of Moms have tweeted about a brand or product
NegativeI want to initiate contact with the brand: 11%
Q: Consider a situation whereby a brand that you like follows you on Twitter or friends you on Facebook. What would your reaction be?

Reaction to the brand initiating engagement in social media

Positiveif the brand provides content relevant to me: 68%

Neutral: 21%

brands on Facebook
Got an email from company encouraging me to like the brand/ product on Facebook: 12%

Video: Why Ive Reasons forLiked a Brand on liking Facebook

I just like the brand, so I looked it up on Facebook: 31%

Other: 12% NA: 10%

Saw that a friend liked the brand on Facebook: 11%

Clicked like via the company website or an article about the brand: 23%

Q: IF you have liked or become a fan of brands/products on Facebook, what most often inspired you to do so? (Choose one.)

Moms do trust the content brands provide

The most important factor for successful communications with moms via social media is relevance and trust. Regarding relevance, women want content they nd useful, including product information, coupons/ promotions and customer service information. Responding to moms tweets about brands or products and having surprise and delight factors to demonstrate an understanding of moms needs are the most effective ways to communicate with moms through social media.! To develop trust, brands must talk from the heart and use a tone that sounds like one person speaking with another, not a corporation talking at the masses. Moms have similar levels of trust for content that comes directly from brands websites and Facebook pages as they do for content from third-party channels, given that content from a brand or product website was reported to be the most trustworthy digital channel related to shopping online (72% said this content is very or somewhat trustworthy). Thus, brands can focus on direct-to-mom communications and do not always need third-party validation to cultivate trust.

Trustworthiness of digital shopping channels

Content on brand/product website(s) Thirty-party Facebook, Twitter or blog posts (e.g., magazines or mom bloggers) Third-party website articles (e.g., magazines or product reviewers) Content on brand/product Facebook page(s) Content on brand/product blog(s) Content on brand/product Twitter account(s)

66%

72%

65% 49%

68%

68%

Participants were asked to rank the channels as very or somewhat trustworthy Q: Keeping in mind how this inuences your intent to purchase, what is your level of trust with each of the following online channels?

Relevant content is king no matter where it comes from

Relevant content drives engagement with moms regardless of channel, and social media is no exception. Seventy-two percent of moms in the study reported that the relevance of social media content they receive is more important than who shares the content with them (16%) or whether the content is personalized (11%). Digital mediawhether Web content, email or social mediaprovide ample opportunity for brands to understand which content is perceived as most relevant by moms. Brands can measure which types of content (product information, coupons/promotions, customer reviews, applications) garner the most traction and continually optimize the content delivered through each channel.

72% of moms value relevant content regardless of personalization or being close to the person sharing it with them.
Most important factor of social media content
If I am close to the person who shared the content with me: 16% If the content is relevant to me: 72%

If the message is personalized for me:11%

nL= 742 moms who receive social media content Q: Which of the following is most important about content you receive through social media? (Choose one.)

A good product experience is the best driver of viral conversation

While many brands are working on developing compelling content and videos to drive viral conversations, it turns out that a good product experience is the best tool to drive word of mouth. The majority of moms (62%) say that a positive experience with a product is the biggest motivator for them to talk with others about a brand, compared with 33% who are most likely to talk about a brand when they have a coupon to share or 6% who prefer to forward cool promotional content. Thus, brands should consider creating positive product experiences as more important loyaltybuilding tools than distributing cool viral content or coupons. Once inspired by a brand or product, moms use multiple digital channels to tell others about their experience. Sending emails (86%) is the most popular way to tell others abut products, followed closely by posting a product review (79%). Encouraging moms to post product reviews can be very impactful, as virtually all moms (97%) have read customer reviews in the past two to three months. Such mom-to-mom word of mouth seems to be the most effective customer promotion that a brand can achieve.

Motivators for word of mouth about brands

I just had a great experience with a new product and wanted to let my friends know about it: 62%

Digital actions related to brands

Sent an email to a friend where you mentioned a brand/product Posted a product review on a shopping website Posted on a message board about a brand/product Written a post on Facebook about a brand/product

86%

Have a coupon/ promotion to share: 33%

79% 76% 74%

The content is creative (cool video, interactive game, etc.): 6%

Written a blog post about a brand/product Tweeted about a brand/ product

43%% 36%

Q: What makes you most want to share information about a brand/product? (Choose one.)

Q Have you ever done any of the following? (Check all that apply.)

Social media creates immediate brand connections

Posting on a message board (76%) and writing about a brand on Facebook (74%) are also common ways that moms like to tell others about products. And, moms are more likely than women without children to use all these channels to spread the word, particularly posting on Facebook (74% compared with 59% of non-moms). Creating a highly shareable video is one way to encourage moms to tell others about a product. Programs that drive product trial through free samples or through formal sampling programs can give moms positive brand and product experiences that will foster word of mouth. And, the rsthand product experience gives moms more substantial content to tell others about the product and to write compelling customer reviews than company-generated content could ever do.

Even for social-savvy moms, email still rules

While some marketers contend that social media has replaced email, our research shows that this is not the caseyet. As shown below, email is still the top method that moms use to tell others about the great experiences they have with products.!And email still reigns as moms favorite way to learn about a brands products and promotions (27%), followed by Facebook (19%), a brands website (15%) and regular mail (12%).

Email is still the hub through which companies can push out their messages and drive trafc to their social media channels. While moms spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, it is still easy to miss a brands message in a long and quickly moving stream of posts from friends, news sources and other brands. Email provides a unique way for brands to deliver targeted content to individual moms based on their requests and preferences. Thus, brands need to leverage email as a part of a multichannel marketing plan. In fact, social media is becoming the glue in a multichannel marketing plan and is being used more and more to give brands a human voice, forge connections and amplify the efforts of more traditional media channels.

Best channel to learn about products and promotions

Email Facebook

27% 19% 15% 12% 10% 6% 3% 2%

Brands website

Regular mail TV ads Magazines Stores Twitter

Q: How do you most like to learn about a brands products and promotions? (Check one.)

Moms use multiple channels for customer service

Beyond product and promotional communications, email is also the preferred channel for customer service (38%), compared with phone (31%), online chat (15%), Facebook (9%), meeting in person (4%) and Twitter (1%). Moms appreciate the efciency of being able to send a customer service inquiry via email without having to wait for a representative on the phone, and they also expect a quick response from the company in turn. While relatively fewer moms use Facebook or Twitter for customer service, those who do expect an immediate response within 24 hours or less.
Q: How do you most like to learn about a brands products and promotions? (Check one.)

Preferred customer service channel

Email 1-800 help line

38% 31% 15%

Live chat

Facebook Meeting in person Twitter

9% 3% 2%

MOM FACT
Moms are willing to work with brands to develop and improve products if they know the brands are really listening.

BRAND OPPORTUNITY
Brands should reciprocate with relevant content that acknowledges moms contributions to the relationship.

Moms depend on email as their primary source of brand and product information.

Brands should include email as part of a multi-channel marketing program.

Moms want to connect with brands on social media, as evidenced by their propensity to "like" brands on Facebook without prompting. Moms want and trust product information direct-from-brands, and do not only want to rely on trusted friends and third parties for information.

Make your social media presence easy to locate through search. Ensure that content is relevantotherwise moms may "unlike" the brand as quickly as they "liked" it. Brands have the opportunity to build oneon-one relationships with moms and not rely on earned media to foster credibility.

Moms are willing to be contacted by brands online if the content is relevant.

Brands should not be afraid to reach out to moms.!As long as the content and dialogue are extremely relevant and transparent, most moms will be impressed. Free samples and product trials fuel moms' purchases and word of mouth conversations.

The best way to make a mom a customer of a brand or product is to give them a direct experience with that product.

Moms are excited about talking about brands on social media.

Give moms something to talk about! ! with great product experiences, information and promotions that compel them want to share.