As you may recall, last week I went to a conference held just for women bloggers. It was AWESOME!!! In honor of that amazing experience, I am bringing you a guest post today that is all about why mommy bloggers really matter to companies. If you are a fellow blogger or even if you are just an enthusiastic giveaway entrant, this article will give you insight into why all these blog reviews and giveaways exist in the first place! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts in the comments about what Lisa brings up here. Let’s chat!
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle …
Smart Marketers Clamor for Mommy Blogger Support
By Lisa Viselli
It turns out that 19th Century American poet William Ross Wallace was ahead of his time. When he wrote, “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world” as an homage to motherhood as a powerful force for change, it’s doubtful he was thinking about product reviews and giveaways. But, here we are, nearly 150 years later, and his words stand the test of time as savvy marketers clamor for mommy blogger support.
Mommy Blogger Trends
A recent report from eMarketer predicts the number of mommy bloggers in the U.S. will reach 4.4 million in 2014. Say it with me … four point four MILLION. When you consider how many people subscribe to each of these blogs and then factor in the Kevin Bacon effect, it’s easy to understand why companies, big and small, are eager to market their products and services using this influential medium.
Powerful Marketing Strategies
Enter product reviews and giveaways. There is an overwhelming number of baby, toddler, kid and teen brands on the market today, and consumers are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages daily. Marketers are constantly on the lookout for new ways to rise about the noise, and targeting influential mommy bloggers with a loyal following has become a popular approach.
Product Reviews
Product reviews have always played an important role in purchase decision, but when you combine a thoughtful review with a recommendation from a trusted source, the likelihood to try a new product increases dramatically. In particular, social is especially important to product reviews for two reasons:
- Most buyers use the Internet to research a product before making a purchase. So, if I’m seeking information on “new Disney princess dolls” for my daughter, the search engines return a variety of sites, including online communities and mommy blogs that include that phrase. Disney still leads the pack, but now it’s got company.
- Google recently changed its top-secret algorithm so, in addition to returning highly targeted links, it also returns product review pages alongside search results. This has made companies keenly aware of the need for plentiful, preferably positive, reviews.
Product Giveaways
Moms have always had a great deal of purchasing power in the home so it makes sense that companies have showered them with freebies. Now, in the digital age, marketers have taken their tactic one step further, realizing that they can tap into the tremendous online followings that some mommy bloggers enjoy by extending their offers for free samples or other goods.
Enlightened marketers view giveaways as an investment, not an expense or lost revenue. Of course, companies need to be smart about how to deploy scarce resources to have the largest impact on revenue. This explains why we’re seeing so many analysis tools enter the market claiming to quantify the most relevant and authoritative voices in the blogosphere. But, the fact remains that companies that do their homework and promote giveaways with targeted mommy blogs often enjoy measurable increases in exposure, web traffic and revenue.
Moms as a Force Majeure
The opportunity to forge meaningful relationships with an army of moms who can introduce, talk about and maybe even recommend a product to their readership is the stuff of geeky marketer dreams. Considering the increasing influence that mommy bloggers are enjoying, perhaps we could update the title of Mr. Wallace’s poem to “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the online world?” Just a thought.
Lisa Viselli is a freelance copywriter and owner of Michigan-based Write Brained. She provides somewhat informative, mildly entertaining musings on marketing and other such geekery. www.writebrainedco.com