More mums go online

 Mums are hot; at least for those marketers that understand how to target the segment of the economy that makes most household purchasing decisions and can be responsible for about 15% of the country’s entire economy. According to Forbes.com most marketers still don’t know that this segment is still ripe for the picking.

According to a recent survey of 3500 US mothers by BSM Media, 65% of mothers feel that they are “under-served” by advertisers – either because mum-focused ads don’t resonate with mums or because the ads aren’t aimed at mums at all. Strike the right nerve, though, and there’s a mountain of money to be made.

Print magazines tend to be more effective at catching a mum’s eye than newspapers. Mums read an average of 4.1 magazines a month, according to BSM Media. Mums are also increasingly online: 71% use the internet to research purchases. By contrast, only about 20% comb newspaper ads.

So who is hitting the mark? In May, BSM Media launched NewBaby.com, a YouTube for mums featuring videos on subjects like infant massage and how to tell your boss that you’re pregnant. And this summer, computer giant Hewlett-Packard launched 10 videos on how to take digital pictures – say, of fast-moving kids – to help promote its cameras and photo printers.

“[Mums] don’t use a camera because it has eight mega-pixels, but because it captures their memories,” says Karen Cage, a spokesperson for HP. “Making that technology understandable and approachable is beneficial to the consumer.”

But don’t try and stereotype all mothers into one basket. Gen-X mums, between ages 26 and 41, don’t want to conquer the world (as perhaps their own baby boomer mums did), but are looking for balance among work, family and leisure. Products and services that make life simpler tend to resonate.