people on social mediaWhat kind of people are most active on social media? James Barry gives some interesting insight into social media trends today. Enjoy the article.

The headline grabbing result from a new study commissioned by Child’s Play Communications and conducted by The NPD Group Inc. is that “79% of all moms in the U.S. with children under the age of 18 are active in social media.” The corollary to that impressive number is, of course, that 21 per cent of U.S. moms likely do not have the time to keep up with the burgeoning world of social media..

The overwhelming presence of this much sought-after demographic on social media – mothers with children at home make the vast majority of day-to-day household purchases – underscores the importance of managing a brand’s or retailer’s presence and reputation on the wide array of social media sites. (And, if an online brand is well-managed on popular social media sites, it is more likely than not that its reputation will seep out, even to those harried moms with kids who are too busy to keep up with social media.)

Among the four-out-of-5 moms who are active on social media, according to the NPD Group Inc. results, nearly “one in four (23%) said they have purchased a children’s product as a result of a recommendation from a social networking site or blog.” And not surprisingly, purchase decisions based upon social media recommendations were significantly higher amongst these social media ‘frequent flyers.’ The NPD Group study showed that, “43% of active social media moms who use these sites on a daily basis have purchased a children’s product as the result of a recommendation from these sites.”

“Clearly, moms nationwide are making purchasing decisions as a result of the information and advice other moms are providing through social media,” notes Child’s Play Communications president. Stephanie Azzaro. Retailers of children products thus have a golden social media marketing opportunity to reach this coveted consumer base, but even if these are not actively marketing their products and brands on Facebook, Twitter etc., they nonetheless need to be cognizant of their social media reputation.

“Active social media moms who purchased a children’s product based on a social media recommendation said that, on average, they did so five times in the past year,” according to the NPD Group results; while, “(m)ore than half (55%) of these moms said they made their purchase because of a recommendation from a personal review blog and 40% from a Facebook recommendation.”

Social media is a relatively new marketing vehicle for marketers of children’s products, who can either tap into its potential, or ignore it at their peril. Irrespective if a particular children’s product or brand is being actively marketed through social media, it is clear that one of the most influential groups of a prospective purchasers is already online and connecting to others with their purchase recommendations.

“Social media has become an enormous influence on purchasing, and savvy marketers have certainly begun to embrace this vehicle when messaging to moms,” said Anita Frazier, Industry Analyst for The NPD Group. “But many marketers have yet to fully realize the potential of social media and the power of peer group recommendations, which means more opportunities are on the horizon.”

But along with these opportunities “on the horizon” that could be lost if the marketing potential of social media networking is neglected, are potential (or existing) perils that could sink a product or brand if its online reputation – particularly amongst the interconnected community of social media moms -  is overlooked.

Author Byline:

James Barry covers social media and internet marketing topics for Wolf21.com. a Toronto-based firm offering a full line of SEO services.

I hope you found this article on social media informative. This seems like a targeted audience that my be overlooked. It’s important to keep up on what’s trending in the social media realm, ya think?

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