According to a report from BabyCenter, more than four in 10 US online Moms said they want technology that helps them be a better Mom.

It seems millennial Moms, the ones who have grown up with technology, are much more comfortable with technology as an extension of their Mom-ness, with 49 percent interested in technology that can empower them to be a better Mom, and 33 percent acknowledging technology as a help.  (See our related post on Smartphones are the Power in Power Moms.)

Convergence will become more important as marketers seek ways to intersect and find a place in the lives of Moms.

Some 72 percent of Moms say they are more likely to use their laptop in the kitchen or living room so they can be around their children when they go online.  I see this trend as one that will make the new tablets like iPad become that in-between tool for Moms.  (See our related post on iPad for Moms.)

Six Ways Smartphones Make Us Better Moms

Here are the daily activities that Moms say they use their smartphone for:

What Marketers Must Be Considering

To help empower Moms, brands must be relevant to their needs, speak in their language and help make their lives easier.  What does this mean?  Spend time with your consumer and listen to what they are saying.  Make all your interactions Mom-fluent and make all their interactions with you easy.  If it’s online, help them get to the information they are seeking in two clicks rather than three.  Package ideas and offers that help complement their needs.  Stay in tune with the latest technology, because Moms are not afraid to embrace it.  Brainstorm ways to help them with the six ways smartphones make them better Moms.

This weekend I attended PodCamp10 in Nashville and heard some smart guys from Griffin Technology talk about the iPad, who confirmed some of the dazzling new benefits of the iPad.  When asked where the iPad fits into your life, they gave a couple of examples.  Cameron Daigle said it was overwhelmingly for “Your Mom” and “Your Mom” and “Your Mom.”   Mark Rowan said it would be an in-between device for many business travelers who would find it unnecessary to take their laptop.  The iPad would be small enough to fit the briefcase and become an accompaniment to their phone.

Who is the target for the iPad?  It seems that there are two Mom audiences:

There is the Mom who desires a simple device that provides for everyday home uses like reading books and magazines, checking email, surfing the Internet, watching videos, calendar entries, researching recipes and browsing shopping information. It will be easy to navigate and even the computer illiterate will find it useful.  It will fit nicely in a purse or totebag, so it will travel from carpools to dance lessons to trips out of town.  And it will sit nicely on the counter in the kitchen where it seems some 70 percent of Moms use their laptop currently, probably nervous about spills and sticky fingers.

The second audience is that group of working Moms who don’t need lots of computing ability for most of their trips.  They will find it easy to show a Keynote on the iPad, have access to the Internet and emails and be able to catch up on their reading on the plane.

Should the iPad be called the iMom?

I think so.  It would go a long way in dispelling all the bad press about male dominated Apple and the lack of sensitivity when naming the product.  And by the way, women may be their biggest fans.

We have all seen the Wired, New York Times and Sports Illustrated examples of iPad formats, but take a look at Penguin Publishing’s look at books on iPad.

Marketers should be figuring out how to make iPad work for their clients right now because the opportunities of the large screen for content and advertising will be great.

Because if a company wants to read their fate, they should eschew tea leaves and look straight at social media.  Julie Roehm’s blog post for AOL Autos Toyota’s Female Problem:  Women Buyers Considering Other Brands gives her take on the situation, bolstered by a social media analysis from Networked Insights.

This chart clearly shows what is on the minds of women – words like report, issues, failure and damage used in social media posts show that women have decided that Toyota is not a brand to trust.

And why is that important?  Social media trends will be reflected in sales trends.   And while men make up just over half of all auto purchases, women INFLUENCE over 80 percent of them.  Moms make up a large portion of this group and are the most likely to use social media and make recommendations within their groups.

What should Toyota do?  Listen to their audience and learn how they can rebuild trust and a reputation for safety and dependability.

How do you think Toyota should rebuild trust with Moms?

Moms feel empowered by smartphones

Smartphones are changing our lives forever – becoming our tether to the world around us.  And specifically for Mom, the smartphone has become the tool that powers our day.

Here are some of the tell-tell signs of our new addiction:

• We carry our phones with us everywhere.  In fact, we get panicked when we don’t have them with us, in the same way we get nervous when we misplace our purse or wallet. A large majority of us even sleep with our phones.  Admit it; it’s true.
• The phone carries our life inside it. The phone contains our address book, our social life, our calendar, our pictures, our favorite apps, our music and entertainment for us and our children, our news and all our email and text correspondence.
• We feel empowered by our phone. The phone becomes our primary tool to make it through the day.  We can multi-task with the best of them – keeping up with business and home.  In fact, our phone becomes an extension of us.

How often we use our phones online

PR firm Ruder Finn finds that Americans spend approximately 2.7 hours on the mobile Internet a day. And since 95 percent of phones sold today have a web browser, online access is becoming more ubiquitous than ever.  In 2010, a third of all U.S. online users will be mobile users.  Just in 2009, smartphone ownership increased from 11 to 17 percent.

We live in an age of instant information and connection.  We use our phones to manage our life, to connect with others, to work, to shop and to stay current.

How should marketers to Moms react to usage of mobile web?

• Your Web site should be optimized for mobile viewing. That one step will improve user performance by 20 percent.  You have to be mobile web and smartphone friendly.
• Make social sharing easy. If Moms are quick to share opinions and information with their friends, they want to be able to do it quickly and efficiently.
• Offer convenient ways for Moms to purchase, book reservations and get updates. Provide Mom with updates, discounts, events and special offers that she can take advantage of while she is on the go.
• Try providing contingency budget to experiment with new mobile marketing options. There are new social media and online opportunities being added daily.  Try to carve out some budget for testing to see what is right for your brand.

Understanding the habits of your target and providing for mobile web marketing will be key to reaching Moms effectively now and in the future.

In the WhyMomsRule.com 2010 Family Travel Survey, Moms say they will be looking for value in all parts of the vacation.  Some 22 percent of Moms say they will eat out less while on vacation to help conserve dollars.

Families will likely be eating at Quick Serve (47 percent) or mid-priced casual dining  (53 percent) restaurants during their travels.

Two interesting trends to be noted are the interest in eating at local independent restaurants and the importance of free hotel food offerings.  Eating local is a chance to enjoy part of the local culture and food offerings, and free hotel foods like breakfast bars and snacks are welcome to families with young children.  Gen Y Moms are more likely to eat at high-end restaurants while on vacation; yet, they are also more likely than others to take advantage of free hotel food offerings.  Baby boomer Moms are the biggest supporters of local independent restaurants.

The attitude toward vacation saving is also seen in the everyday sacrifices that Moms are making.  To help pay for this year’s vacation, 42 percent of Moms say they are eating out less during the year to help save up for the needed getaway.

According to The NPD Group, consumers in 2009, particularly families, were making fewer visits to restaurants overall, and when consumers dined out, they favored lower priced options. Overall restaurant visits declined 3 percent in 2009 with upscale dining showing the most decline.

Restaurant Strategies for Driving Traffic

Restaurants will need to keep the value equation high for families by offering bundled meals, special promotions, kid-friendly menu items, and cater to the needs of children in the restaurant.  Restaurants should make menus and take-out services available to hotels and lodging.  Loyalty programs should prompt Moms to use your restaurant as they travel.  And restaurants must make sure their promotions are visible from the street, as many diners make up their mind as they drive by.

And since Moms read user reviews, it is important to do an audit of all social media reviews to see how your brand stands up.  Families will be dining out and family vacation restaurant usage will depend on your targeted strategies.

To get a copy of the 2010 Family Travel Survey, click here.

First look at the Allentown, New Jersey based lucid marketing study that reported the above-mentioned fact in a recent edition of eMarketer.

Why are Moms using Facebook?

• 96.3% – keep in touch with friends and family
• 26.2% – play games
• 23.3% – keep in touch with professional contacts
• 10.4% – check out companies or products
• 8.5% – meet new people

Advertising receptivity on the social networking site visitors was disappointing. Only 3.8 percent found the ads interesting or entertaining and over 35 percent expressed dislike for ads.

But of the Facebook Moms surveyed, 16 percent followed more than 10 company fan pages.

Here is the opportunity for you. Look at Moms that are following your organization’s fan page. Check out their profiles and find out what other groups they have joined or companies they follow. Do this enough and you will begin to see a pattern.

Understanding Moms on Facebook is more than sending them offers or encouraging them to help you build your list or plying them with contest after contest.

If you use the powerful tool heavy handedly, you will lose.

In our newly released WhyMomsRule.com poll, 80% of Moms will make some type of sacrifice to ensure their families have a vacation this year

Because Moms make 80% of the purchasing decisions in the family, we thought it important to find out what type of trade-offs Moms are making.

The sacrifices that Moms are making to afford a vacation

• Eat out less during the year                                      42%
• Drive to a destination instead of flying                  36%
• Spend less on entertainment during the year       33%
• Take a shorter vacation                                              27%
• Stay with family/friends on vacation                      26%
• Stay closer to home                                                     25%

Moms will spend less money on vacations, making value and travel bargains important in 2010.   When asked what they want different this year, the highest response was “good value for the money” (36%), followed by “a place that keeps the whole family entertained” (29%), “an economical destination that offers a variety of affordable accommodations/activities” (25%) and “a place we’ve never been to” (25%).

Cost and safety top the list of travel concerns this year

The primary travel worries for Moms this year are cost and safety.  Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Moms said cost was their top concern, followed by travel safety and security.  When asked specifically about air travel, Moms noted increased ticket cost (54%), increased/additional fees for bags, meals, etc. (51%), and safety (37%) among their considerations.

Spring break and summer top the list for travel times

The good news for the travel industry is that 57% of Moms are planning a summer break vacation and 24% said they would travel for spring break.  Spring break seems to have become the second most important travel season for families this year.

Savings and tax refunds will help pay for vacations

Further supporting their intention to economize during the year to pay for their vacation, half of surveyed Moms plan to pay for their family vacation with monthly savings this year.  And one-fourth of Moms are waiting for tax refunds to pay for that family vacation.  Another 21% are using credit cards or sharing the cost of the vacation with other family members or friends.

Download the survey results by clicking here.

For more information on spending, travel planning, use of social media and anticipated travel activities, see the full report.

Survey methodology

The online survey was conducted January 22-25, 2010, among U.S. Moms who were more than eighteen years of age, with at least one child living in the household and planning to travel with their family for leisure purposes in 2010.  Results are based on 602 responses, with a margin of error of 4%, at a 96% confidence level.

To get a copy of the press release, click here.

In our new WhyMomsRule.com 2010 Family Travel Survey, there was a majority of each generation group not using social media for planning the family getaway (Gen Y, 65 percent; Gen X, 73 percent; Baby Boomers, 86 percent).

How can that be? The results are even more shocking when you look at the amazingly high level of social media participation by Moms.  The findings of a recent BIGresearch survey published in January 2010 found that Moms are much more likely to use Facebook, MySpace and Twitter than the average adult. In fact, the number of Moms using social media has jumped 462 percent since 2006.

There is no doubt of the importance of the Internet in planning.  In fact, 52 percent of Moms are using the Internet more to read and learn about destinations and accommodations.  And 30 percent are using the Internet to book their vacations.

Of those 25 percent who are using social media for vacation planning, they read reviews on destinations and accommodations, look up pictures and ask others for advice.

Reliability of Social Media Is the Issue

But while Moms recognize the wealth of information sources, they do not consider all of them reliable. The social media sources that appear to be the most trusted are user review sites such as TripAdvisor. More than 56 percent of Moms rated user reviews as somewhat or very reliable. While all other sources fared worse, the one additional surprise was in mobile usage. Gen Y Moms specifically considered mobile updates just as reliable as blogs.

Source                              Reliability

• User Reviews                      56%
• Blogs                                    22%
• Facebook                             21%
• Mobile Phone                     17%
• YouTube                              13%
• MySpace                              11%
• Twitter                                 10%
• Flickr                                     8%

According to Edelman’s latest Trust Barometer, the number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped from 45 percent in 2008 to 25 percent in 2010.  Edelman thinks that consumers have to see and hear things in five different places before they believe it.  With Facebook and Twitter “friends” growing in number, credibility goes down.  Consumers no longer just trust an opinion; it must be the opinion of someone they know and share similar views.   Another 2010 study sponsored by ARAnet also shows that consumers rely less on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace when making consumer-buying decisions.

Implications for Mom Marketers

I know that many of you are rushing to experiment with Facebook, blogs and more.  It seems so easy, so inexpensive, so trendy.  But beware.  The implication for travel marketers is that social media is very important to Moms but there is still a trust factor that must be developed in social media.  And social media should not replace the trusted forms of communication that Moms are currently relying on for information and deals:

• Online travel agents                                   51%
• Friends and family                                     41%
• Airline/hotel/destination Web sites      39%

Some Effective Ways of Using Social Media for Travel

Social media will continue to become an influencer, so the key to marketing is to begin to learn how to use it effectively.  Here are some tips:

1. Last Minute Deals.  Airlines like United Airlines and JetBlue and hotels like Hard Rock are telling their customers about last minute inventory that can be had at bargain prices.  They are using real-time platforms like Twitter to communicate these bargains.  These deals are probably good loyalty reinforcements for current followers.
2. Add Reviews to Your Site.   Mashable.com reports that one-third of retailers have experienced 13-20 percent increase in conversions as a result of adding reviews to their site.  And adding reviews from a source like TripAdvisor would be the most important.
3. Use Social Media As a Listening Post.  Learn from what people are saying on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  See how often people use your destination in sites like TripIt.
4. Enhance Their Visit with Mobile Applications.  Turn their cell phone into a concierge and information service.  Allow them to see what is going on in your destination and book services. Allow them to share photos from your destination.

For more information, download the travel survey results by clicking here.

Only 37 percent of Moms say the way they research information has not changed – meaning that 63 percent have changed their habits.  Some 52 percent say they use the Internet more to research and learn about destinations, while 30 percent use the Internet to book travel.  And while social media is not widely used presently, user review sites such as TripAdvisor are viewed by 15 percent of Moms.

Where Moms Find the Best Travel Deals

Moms look to a variety of sources of information when deal shopping, making it important for marketers to consider a broad range of channels when communicating with Moms.  Interestingly, family and friends still weigh heavily when looking for travel deals.

Multi-channel Marketing Important: Information on Deals

Marketers Need Short-term and Long-term Approaches

One-third of Moms are still planning their vacation three or more months out, but 58 percent are planning three months or less before traveling.  Some 21 percent are booking their vacation less than one month in advance, possibly searching for the right time or the right deal to travel.

Busy schedules and job concerns could be attributed to the fact that only half of Moms working full time will take all of their vacation days this year.

As expected, summer will still be the primary season for family travel (57 percent); spring break is reported to be the second most popular travel time.  As school schedules continue to change to full time across the country, more destinations are seeing families seeking longer travel windows in non-summer periods.

Other Cost Concessions When Traveling

Some of the other ways Moms are seeking to control costs when traveling include eating out less, staying in less expensive accommodations and spending less on entertainment.   Some 26 percent will stay with family and friends while on vacation or stay closer to home (25 percent).  And 36 percent of Moms will opt for driving versus flying to their vacation this year.

While cost is a major concern, value is also important for marketers to consider.  For marketers, regular monitoring of the value perception of your travel destination is important to delivering on Moms’ expectations.

For more information, download the travel survey results by clicking here.

A recent 21^st Century Mom:  Tech Mom study by BabyCenter identified Mom’s 2010 Gadget Wish List.

1. Laptop
2. Nintendo Wii Fit
3. HDTV
4. Blu-Ray
5. External Hard Drive/Back-up
6. iPhone
7. HD Digital Camcorder
8. Portable DVD Player
9. Garmin/GPS
10. Digital Camera

These tools are the items that will allow her to manage the family schedule, comparison shop, learn, save memories, stay fit, stay connected with family and friends, keep her family entertained and not lose her self, or her location in the process.

For marketers, here’s the crucial point:  Sixty-seven percent of Moms play a key role in purchasing new technology for their family.

Adding weight to the importance of these different technologies are the things they would give up to have their most desired gadget:

• Lipstick                                    67%
• Manicures/Pedicures           64%
• Coffee                                       49%
• Flats/Uggs                               32%
• Chocolate                                 24%

One marketer who has embraced the importance of women in the corporate office and in the marketplace is Best Buy with their Best Buy Wolf Program.  They have fostered a 10,000-person network designed to encourage leadership from female employees within the company and to drive its growing women’s market share.  The company seems to understand that both are necessary to creating a Best Buy that women will want to patronize.  They say that for Best Buy to be a great place for women to shop, it has to be a great place to work.  And encouraging women to shop Best Buy has its rewards.  The company is seeking to grow its share of the $90 billion female consumer electronics market.  Currently they have only 16 percent of the female market.  Results point to greater sales, declining female employee turnover and growth in female employees.