Survey: Moms trust friends, not networks

This may come as a shock but a recent survey of online moms found that product recommendations have a bigger impact when they come from friends rather than a social network. Although moms are some of the most active social networkers in the online realm, they prefer advice from friends rather than the advice of strangers, bloggers or social networking connections.

by Kristina Knight

The survey found that moms were four times more likely to pick up the phone to ask an in-person friend or ask for a recommendation at a play-date or in the carpool line than to ask for advice from social networks.

However this does not mean that social marketing doesn't work. Moms are on social networks and many do interact with brands through these networks. Also, social networks have prompted 'other' clicks such as a branded website visit (81%), newsletter signups (65%) or joining brand's fanclubs (36%).

Also, moms are big influencers in the social space with more than 90% offers advice to other moms. Nearly three-quarters offer branded advice, meaning they suggest actual brands rather than generic product names and 54% are rating and reviewing products.

What brand types would benefit most from mom advice? Although moms are active in nearly all sectors of the Internet, they are most likely to give or receive advice on toys and games (86%), entertainment (84%) or cooking/baking (82%). Shopping/ecommerce (78%) and pharmaceutical/health remedies (75%) are also likely to capture mom's attention.

Tags: mom marketing, MomConnection, mommy bloggers, social marketing, social networks