Word-of-Mouth Matters Most for Moms

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

Laura Fortner
SVP, Marketing and Insights
CafeMom

CafeMom is an online community where moms socialize and share advice and information. Laura Fortner, SVP of marketing and insights, oversees the marketing, business development and research teams at the site.

Ms. Fortner spoke with eMarketer about what mothers expect from brand marketers online and why social networks are important.

eMarketer: How does a woman’s shopping behavior change when she becomes a mother?

Laura Fortner: Her life changes in dramatic ways. There are three major shifts that pertain to her shopping behavior: One, she’s got at least one new person in the household with a lot of brand-new needs. Two, given all the demands that parenting is exacting from her, she has a lot less time for researching and shopping than she did before, on top of having new products to look into for her new baby.

And third, we’ve seen a shift in the information sources she goes to for shopping information and the brands she goes to—and trust is very important here. We find that word-of-mouth and connecting with other moms is a very important new resource for women entering motherhood.

eMarketer: Why is word-of-mouth so important to moms?

Ms. Fortner: In today’s fragmented media world, there are so many sources of information coming at moms, and so many places she could go for information, that really being able to find filters that she trusts is very important. In her new time-constrained world with a lot of priorities and a lot of information gathering, moms really prefer value and trust one-on-one communication sources.

eMarketer: Do you see any differences in the online shopping behavior of millennial moms [ages 18 to 34] versus older moms?

Ms. Fortner: In our “Digital Mom” study that we did in partnership with Razorfish, one of the things that we looked at by age was the effect of that on various digital channels and information sources she went to. Technology habits are different, certainly, between age ranges.

The real standout for the millennial moms is that you’re seeing relatively higher usage of social networks and mobile, certainly a greater preponderance of texting and mobile Web browsing. That’s not to say the older moms aren’t doing it, just that more of them in the younger age range are doing it more frequently.

eMarketer: How do moms want to be approached online by brands?

Ms. Fortner: In interacting with brands online, four qualities really stand out for moms. First, being respected and understood by the brands.

“Offer them opportunities to really weigh in on the product.”

Second, moms like companies who listen to the feedback they provide. Offer them opportunities to really weigh in on the product as it stands today or where it may be able to go in the future, and make them feel like they’re partners in that process.

Third, honesty is very important.

And then, finally, in terms of how the brands connect with her, being able to find the information or offer she wants or needs, when or where she needs it, is really important. There are so many channels of information coming at her, really being able to find that at the right time is important.

eMarketer: How important are social networks to moms’ purchase decisions?

Ms. Fortner: They are an increasingly important resource. Moms are going to online friends—people like themselves who feel like friends—just as an easy go-to resource. Being able to go to one place and get many opinions at once, versus going to, say, a brand site and getting one point of view or consumer review, is another benefit.

“Most important is that in a social network you have the ability to get personalized shopping recommendations from people who know something about you, and that’s not something you can get anywhere else.”

Most important is that in a social network you have the ability to get personalized shopping recommendations from people who know something about you, and that’s not something you can get anywhere else.

You can go to Amazon.com and read a product review, but you’re not going to be able to ask somebody who knows you “If I’m choosing between the BlackBerry and the iPhone, and you know what I’m like and what my communication style is and my habits, what would you recommend?”

We have plenty of moms at CafeMom who ask for stroller recommendations. “I want to hear from a suburban mom who’s got a newborn and a 2-year-old. What double stroller makes the most sense?”

The full version of this interview is available here, to eMarketer Total Access subscribers only. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs.

Check out today’s other article, “What Is the Future of Social Media?” 

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Word of mouth: measuring the share value of your brand and messaging

Posted by Nicole Green on 01/20/10

Quick – think about the last recommendation you shared. Maybe it was an amazing book or a movie? Maybe it was that new gluten-free brownie mix? Maybe it was a coupon you posted on your Facebook wall (when Teach For America, partners with The Gap for their annual Give & Get campaign, I forward the 30% off coupon to over 1,000 people)?

For women, sharing information (recommendations, experiences, advice) is important, but certainly not a purely altruistic act. Information is social currency. And while exchanging information is faster and easier than ever (copy, paste, click), information as social currency isn’t new. From medieval soothsayers to Gossip Girl, the woman in the know is the woman worth knowing.

But it’s not a numbers game. She’s only as “good” as the information she shares, and she’s highly selective. Before she “hits” send, she makes a rapid, but a critical calculation – one that determines if you’re sent or deleted.

We call this “share value.” And share value has never been more important now that the amount of information women have access to and their potential reach – thousands in a single click – have exploded. There are several factors women use to determine the share value of a ______________ (fill in the blank: brand, message, product, promotion, web-site, event). You can use this list to help evaluate the share-value of your current messaging or offering.

Here’s how to ensure your message is S.H.A.R.E.D.

1. Save. Does the information offer her the opportunity to save or earn money? Helping others save money pays big dividends toward her own social value. But beware – women are digging for even deeper savings – women tell us 10% and free shipping offers don’t do it.
2. Hurry. Urgency means more than a limited-time offer. Give her a compelling reason to act now – and make it fun. The Starbucks Free Pint of Ice Cream for Facebook Users promotion is a great example – with only 800 pints per hour up for grabs, the rush to participate was overwhelming, and those who scored, shared.
3. Access and exclusivity. Help her show she’s connected and in the know while inviting others to the party. Get her to the front of the line, offer her new products and experiences before they’re available to the public and consider co-branded promotions that up the all-access-ante.
4. Reward. What’s in it for her? How are you incentivizing her sharing? Give her a reason to keep your name on the tip of her tongue.
5. Express. Simply, what does the information she’s sharing say about her? Consider the values or traits she wants to convey about herself: savvy, relevancy, cool, consciousness, kindness, multi-dimensionality, responsibility, creativity. Align your values to hers.
6. Digital. It might seem obvious, but there must be a digital, mobile component to all of your messaging that makes it easy for her to send and share with as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.

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Harnessing Active Brand Advocates

JANUARY 11, 2010

Web spurs offline word-of-mouth

With brands turning more to earned media—the additional free exposure that a brand gets when consumers talk about a brand—they depend on motivated consumers to act as advocates. A survey conducted by Synovate for word-of-mouth ad networkPostRelease investigated just how likely Internet users are to do that.

The most common word-of-mouth activity reported by respondents was helping a friend or family member with a purchase decision, but more than two-fifths also said they had shared advice offline about information they learned on the Web. Significantly fewer Internet users posted their own ratings and reviews online, and only about one-half as many shared links to articles or reviews about products.

Participation in most of the social media and word-of-mouth activities was highest among younger adults, almost one-half of whom gave in-person advice based on online information. Respondents ages 18 to 24 were also more likely than older Web users to post ratings and reviews, share links, and have a blog.

PostRelease also broke down respondents according to whether or not they participate in online forums, which about one-fifth of those polled did. Forum participants were significantly more likely to take part in all the activities queried. Notably:

• 65% of forum contributors give advice offline based on information found online, compared with 35% of noncontributors.
• 66% of forum contributors post online ratings and reviews, compared with 16.8% of noncontributors.
• 43.6% of forum contributors share links to articles and reviews, versus 12% of noncontributors.
• 20.6% of forum contributors publish a blog, compared with 2.1% of noncontributors.

Users of forums, who are already actively engaged in online social activity, make for “enthusiastic consumers and influential brand advocates,” according to a statement by Justin Choi, president and founder of PostRelease.

Keep up on the latest digital trends. Learn more about an eMarketerTotal Access subscription, today.

Check out today’s other article, “Consumers Take to Shopping by Smartphone.”  

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Marketing, Not Ads, Fuels Social Spending Growth

JANUARY 8, 2010

Focus on word-of-mouth and earned media

Going social is no longer an experiment for marketers; it is a reality. There is no question that companies and brands are investing real dollars in social network marketing. However, paid advertising in social networks—banners, text ads and search advertising, as well as the more targeted advertising being deployed by Facebook and MySpace—is only a fraction of the spending.

The remainder is difficult to track, since dollars spent on social network marketing initiatives often come from a variety of budgets—including public relations, cause marketing and research, according to the Jack Myers Media Business Report. The researcher estimated marketers spent $800 million in 2009 on social network, word-of-mouth and conversational marketing, up more than 23% over the previous year. Further growth of 35% is expected for 2010 to more than $1 billion.

That growth is substantially higher than what is predicted for paid social network advertising. eMarketer estimates that marketers spent $1.2 billion on paid social network advertising in the US in 2009, rising 7.1% to $1.3 billion in 2010.

“In 2010 and beyond, a substantial portion of marketers’ expenses will go toward creating and maintaining a fan page, managing promotions or public relations outreach within a social network, and measuring the impact of a social network presence on brand health and sales,” wrote eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson in the report, “Social Network Ad Spending: 2010 Outlook.” “Paid advertising will not be the primary focus, but it will serve to drive traffic and engagement with the larger social network presence.”

Keep up on the latest digital trends. Learn more about an eMarketerTotal Access subscription, today.

Check out today’s other article, “The Shifting Always-On Device Market.” 

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McKinsey: Rising power of Social Media in China

By thomascrampton ⋅ December 20, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

An annual survey of Chinese consumers by McKinsey took time to highlight the power of Social Media in China.

China really is a global-standard country in terms of involvement in Social Media by consumers. The landscape is, of course, radically different from other countries due to government censorship policies, but Chinese are incredibly involved in Social Media as a trusted source of information on many topics.

Samples vs Word of Mouth

The McKinsey study points to the influence of Social Media in terms beauty products in China, which is  we at Ogilvy have found to be totally true.

McKinsey found: 66 percent of Chinese consumers would be influence in the purchase of a moisturizer by recommendations of friends and family, while just 38 percent would be in the US and UK. By contrast 66 percent of UK and British consumers say that free samples could sway them, compared with 20 percent in China.

Excerpt from the McKinsey report:

The Internet is an increasingly important marketing tool. All the online media vehicles we tracked in our survey, including online advertisements, product articles, blogs, and forums, have significantly increased their impact (SEE CHART ONE). Consumers even rate the credibility of blogs and online forums higher than traditional TV ads.

While overall penetration still hovers at just 19 percent, the number of Chinese Internet users is rising 56 percent a year, and stood at 253 million in July 2008. Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to the internet as a key source of product information. Today, only 9 percent of consumers would check a blog or online forum before purchasing a consumer electronics item, compared to 25 percent compared to 25 percent in the US. However, if internet penetration approaches the levels of developed economies, blogs and online forums will become the second most important media channel by 2020.

It will not come as a great surprise that younger consumers are more likely to go online to collect information before deciding to purchase something, nor that they are most likely to do so for consumer electronics purchases (SEE CHART TWO). Given the predicted increase in the importance of the internet, however, companies need to be very aware of how they are being talked about.

Online forums in particular are notorious breeding grounds for rumors that can spread rapidly through “offline” word of mouth. These concerns should be heightened in an environment such as China, where some people are skeptical of official sources and rely on word of mouth for information. Word of mouth has more credibility than any form of advertising, which is true in many markets but especially so in China. Indeed, when asked what would lead someone to buy a new moisturizer, almost two-thirds said the recommendation of friends and family was vital, compared with just 38 percent in the US and the UK. By contrast, free samples would sway two-thirds of British and US consumers, but only one-fifth of those in China.

Many Western companies are becoming more familiar with dealing with user-generated media, but they can still fall short in this unfamiliar environment. One company that got it right is Chinese soft drink manufacturer, Wang Laoji 王老吉. After the Sichuan earthquake, Wang Laoji donated 100 million renminbi during a charity telethon – substantially more than most other large companies gave initially.

This had an enormously positive impact for the company: word of mouth combined with 19,000 blogs encouraged drinkers to switch to Wang Laoji. One blogger developed the slogan: “If you’re going to donate, donate 100 million. If you’re going to drink, drink Wang Laoji.” This consumer-created ad was distributed widely online. The sales volume of Wang Laoji increased by 25 percent at one supermarket chain the month after the earthquake, and by 35 percent at one restaurant chain.

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