I've worked on a variety of consumer social media monitoring analyses across therapeutic categories. When analyzing the source of consumer posts, there is one commonality: mothers networks. Conversations on allergy, immunization, nutrition, diapers, cosmetics, and a host of other health topics are being talked about on major Moms' social networks. After Facebook and Twitter, the next leading source is often from Moms.
There are plenty of communities, have been for years, and they keep growing. Here is one search result which leads to indexes of Mom social sites.
Thus, it was fascinating to find this recent article in the latest print edition of Quirk's Marketing Research Review, a great synethsis of practical research results. (see the online portal).
The article summarized the BabyCenter 2010 Mom Social Influencer Report. Definitely worth a read if you are marketing in a health category where mothers are a core segement.
The emphasis is on influence, and breakouts are by segment. Take a read, and learn about:
Influencers are:
* Field Experts: Young, stay at home, 8% of Moms, 33% of influence
* Lifecasters: Lifecasters, tell everything online, 8% of Moms, 34% of influence
* Pros: Gen-X Moms, sharing expertise and advice, just 2% of Moms, but a high index at 11% influence
The influenced are:
* Butterflies: Young professionals, self-confident, online to socialize; 16% of Moms, 7% of influence
* The Audience: online to listen, 66% of Moms.
Essentially the splits are based on generation, educator vs listener, and how much social media is within your life's fabric. Field Experts and Lifecasters are large and disproportionately influential, in sharing their experience, and also recommending brands they favor. Pareto's 80/20 rule also holds: according to the segmentation and analysis: "18% of social moms wield 78% of the overall influence." Most are learning from the hard core bloggers, posters, and stay at home enthusiastis.
