As 2015 winds down and the New Year is almost here, it’s time to dust off my crystal ball and offer my predictions on marketing to moms in 2016. Here are a few top-level thoughts for what’s new, what’s hot, and what’s “so 2015”.
- Mom bloggers will continue to shift their attention to simpler, quicker-to-post platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. The standard of long blog posts, from product reviews to storytelling entries, will continue to decline as other outlets offer faster sharing and easier ways to communicate with followers.
- Periscope will take the place of Twitter as the breaking news platform. The appetite to see world events and local happenings firsthand with commentary from peers will continue to grow. Periscope is captivating, entertaining and best of all; it allows you to change the channel quickly when your interest wanes. Brands will need to Periscope with a purpose by meeting user demands for quality content. Tips and How-To will likely be big categories in 2016.
- Moms will finally embrace Snapchat. As more millennials enter the world of motherhood, they will integrate their Snapchat followers in to the parenthood journey. Additionally, moms with teens and ‘tweens will finally see it as a great way to communicate with their kids. As they become familiar with Snapchat, they will encourage their girlfriends to quit the Skype chat to join them on Snapchat instead.
- Offline gatherings will continue to resonate with momswho love to get together and talk products and brands. Coupled with online sharing for even more engagement and reach, in-home parties will appeal to moms, particularly millennials.
- It will be a breakout year for Millennial Influencers. Currently only one-third of millennials have children, but that number will grow by about four million in 2016. Brands will want to drill down in the mom market to engage with this lucrative group of women.
On the horizon are two platforms that bear watching this year, and both are related to video. Marketers will want to explore Katch and Blab, with the possibility of integrating them in to social strategies. Katch saves Periscope and Meerkat streams while Blab is a video chat site that has earned praise for being social media friendly. As I have written many times before, video is king (in mom’s case, queen) and any platform that makes video easier to view and share will be worth at least a look.
What are your predictions for 2016? I’d love to hear from you here and at @momtalkradio.
