Assume that you have acquired quite a number of customers in a given year. However, next year, your previous customers are gone. Now, you have to acquire new customers once again. Does it seem an intimidating situation to you? Marketers who belong to the baby-care sector go through this process every year.
Now, when it comes to baby-care product shopping, the purchase decision is made by the mothers. Most of us like to shop because our brain processes shopping as an activity.
Women have always contributed immensely to the retail sector. Especially, when women become mothers, their shopping behaviour is greatly influenced by their kids’ needs. Shopping has become quite easy now given the vast expansion of online shopping portals. You will be amazed to know that 85% of the household expenses are controlled by millennial mothers.
Each year approximately 1 million millennials become moms. As a marketer, you have the leverage to persuade these Moms in their purchase decisions. How? Read on to find out.
Building credibility offers more leverage than you think:
Those days are gone when you showcase your products and the customers buy them. With new brands stepping up every other day, competition is pretty stiff now. Besides, consumers have detailed knowledge about the products they buy.
As a marketer, you must know how to communicate your product value to the customers. Besides, your aim should be to engage your customers. Being credible is one of the best ways to engage millennial moms. You can come up with marketing campaigns once a month.
Connecting with Moms through social media channels is a great way to build credibility. A study shows that Millennial moms spend quite some time (17.4 hours per week to be exact) in social media.
Instead of doing product promotion, you can offer tips that will help the moms. You can also arrange discussions, Q&As etc. that will add value and help your target consumers.
You can build an online community on social media where the moms can share their thoughts and ask questions. Make sure to communicate with your target audience. If you want to influence their purchase decision, you must understand their needs first. And what can be the best way to understand than to have them say it?
Regular communication gives a personal touch to your business. People like brands that offer more than just products; that create an emotional connection. Emotional bonding creates trust. Once you are able to build credibility, you can influence their purchase decision easily.
Seize the smartphone opportunity: It’s what Millennial Moms can be connected through:
Do you know that 68% of US citizens use Facebook regularly? Does the number give you an idea about what a great opportunity you have to market your product? The advent of smartphones has allowed more and more people to connect via social media.
The trend has extended to such an extent that many moms make their purchase decisions based on the reviews of the products on social media websites. You will be amazed to know that new mothers use social media 1.3 times more than those without kids.
This is an opportunity that you don’t want to miss. There are already many websites that offer products similar to your product. So, how do you convince moms to buy your product instead of your contenders’? You just have to ensure that they start talking about your product.
Sounds easy? Let me tell you that it’s not. If it was that easy, every company would have been applying the same strategy. However, definitely, there are some doors to knock.
Content is king! Therefore, do not underestimate the power of good content. People are always in search of good content that will help them in some way. The similar theory applies to moms as well.
Instead of coming up with a sales pitch, you can share your knowledge just like an expert. When you share your insight, you actually educate your target audience. Remember that people are attracted to good stories than to blunt sales pitches.
You can seize the opportunity that smartphones give you to inform and influence the mothers. Create compelling stories that are engaging and relevant to your product. Make sure there is enough insightful content on social media so that they keep coming back for more.
According to a study, Facebook influences the parents’ buying habits 5 times more than parenting websites, 7 times more than any magazine and 3 times more than online videos! Now, that is what I call an opportunity for marketers. The more mobile-friendly information you can provide the moms, the more you can influence their purchase decision.
Influencer marketing can give you the edge you are looking for:
When it comes to parenting, moms always trust those who are experienced. The first people that they ask for advice are their own parents apart from doctors. But then, they also like to know what the other contemporary moms are experiencing.
On one hand, seniors and doctors help in taking care of the kids. On the other hand, online influencers inspire purchase decisions. When I say influencers, I mean peers on social media, millennial mom bloggers, YouTube personalities, etc.
It is found that 90% of new parents believe that they have found helpful information online. Now, as a marketer, you can collaborate with such online influencers. The influencers generally have a long list of followers. Their opinion is valued by these followers.
When a popular influencer says that using a certain product has helped the person, the chance is that her followers will try out the product. Most moms today make purchase decisions based on the reviews shared by peers and influencers.
There is no denying the power of influencer marketing as it has proved to be significant for quite some time now. Brands should however understand which influencers will work best for their product before proceeding.
Create campaigns that offer value:
While creating a campaign is an effective marketing approach, a generalised method is not something I recommend. If you belong to the baby-care industry, you are probably targeting all the new moms through your campaigns. However, have you thought that the need of the mothers can vary depending on their economic status?
Some of the millennial moms are stay-at-home moms and some are working. Believe it or not, their needs and buying preferences vary to a great extent. 42% of millennial mothers think that marketers do not understand their requirements! Do you realize what a great market you can still explore?
You can plan different campaigns for two types of mothers. Initially, it may incur an expense. But I can assure you that if you can hit the right chord, there is no looking back.
Let me give you an example. As I mentioned before, there are many working mothers and the number is increasing steadily. On one hand, these moms may not get enough time to spend with their children. On the other hand, they may have to deal with the tantrums of their kids.
Now, Play with Purpose is a company that offers a list of services that help the new parents to tame their children effectively. This can help both working as well as stay-at-home moms.
You can create your marketing strategy intelligently. Your aim is to make sure that the campaign for working moms truly recognises their problem and offers a solution. The same theory applies to the stay-at-home moms as well. You should aim to do proper market research to know what the new mothers are looking for.
If you really want to influence the purchase decision making of the moms, you must showcase your product as something that they need.
Sometimes a little motivation is all that’s required:
Don’t you like to order pizza on Wednesdays when there is one or the other offer for you to choose from? The words ‘offer’, ‘sale’ etc. influence our buying behaviour and moms are no exception. Do you know that 53% of the moms shop a product when it is on sale or if there is an offer?
So, one of the most functional ways to influence the shopping decision of the millennial moms is to offer your product or service at a discounted price. During their purchase, you can also provide some coupons that they can use later.
It not only makes them happy customers but also makes sure that they repurchase from you to avail the coupons.
Recap
As more and more Millennials are becoming mothers, they are becoming a key niche for marketers to explore. Millennial moms are quite active on social media. They like to interact with other mothers or experts before buying any baby product. Besides, they are also loyal to brands that they deem to be trustworthy.
Hence, you should create your brand credibility to influence their purchase decision. Make sure to interact with your target audience. It will give you a perception of what they want. Thus, you will be able to shape your content accordingly to maximise the engagement of the millennial moms.
Online influencers have a big role to play today in every sector. Collaborating with one or more such influencers will definitely increase your chances of achieving your target. You should create campaigns that offer some value to the millennial mothers.
Lastly, your marketing strategy can include some offers, coupons or discounts to encourage the moms to make a purchase from you. If you can follow the tricks mentioned in the article above, you can successfully influence the purchase decision of the moms.