Maternity marketing typically reaches out to the current mom, without putting much emphasis on the woman who’s expecting. But particularly for first-time moms, these women and their supportive family members must also make decisions about what’s best for their as-of-yet unborn children… what color to paint the nursery, which toys to purchase for the tot, what types of formula to buy and what kinds of clothes the child should wear.
Companies that target the current mom without thinking of the present mom may be too late – once she has the child, she may have already made up her mind about the best formulas, baby wipes and other newborn needs to suit her child. And once you lose the expectant mother, you may lose her for life – if she becomes loyal to one brand, it will be hard to get her to switch over.
Many Expecting Mothers Google Everything
Marketers can target expectant moms by reaching out to them through the avenues they’ll be using most. Perhaps one of the easiest ways is through SEO content and Google AdWords. First-time mothers may be anxious about what constitutes a “normal” pregnancy, potential parenting woes and the “right” parenting methods. They’ll often look to Google and other search engine tools for help. A Google search for “how to change a diaper” produces more than 29 million results. While it may be difficult to provide SEO content to beat the top-ranked page, a Google Ad campaign for your brand could do wonders for your diaper company and maternity marketing strategy.
Educational Content is Valuable to New Parents
Instructional content may also be a promising avenue for reaching your target mom-to-be. Content marketing is a way to reach out to your target demographics, and therefore a blog directed to the mom-to-be and the newborn mom practically has a built-in audience. Younger, hipper, smartphone-wielding moms may be drawn to video content, which is easily accessible from multiple devices.
From Mom-Focused Content to “DADvertising”
Okay, but what about the dad-to-be? According to a study conducted last year, 52% of millennial parents told us that ads they see are made for mothers more than fathers, and 83% say they think advertising for parents should appeal to both mothers and fathers equally. In fact, there was a successful online movement in the U.S. that put pressure on the site “Amazon Mom” to rename its service to “Amazon Family.”
Some maternity marketing tips we think would be helpful in reaching dads would be to make it easier for dads to find the right information on their mobile devices at any time, to include dads in the story since household duties are shared amongst both parents, and to understand what motivates and works with dads may be motivated differently than their female counterparts. We’ve already begun to see a shift toward “dadvertising” – and we’re diggin’ it.
So if you’re aiming to reach soon-to-be parents, our Orlando advertising agency encourages you to think about both parts of the story. Catching a mom-to-be in the pregnancy phase may mean that you’re attracting a loyal and valuable customer for life, and speaking to a “dad-in-training” may stand out more amongst a sea of mom-oriented messaging.
To learn more about how you can market to parents in order to create brand preference and instill brand loyalty, contact us today!
