The Power of the Mom Blogger

With all this talk of digital solutions, the FDA, and social media, we must never lose sight of what lies at the heart of our dialogue: communication. This week, we’ll identify important communities and provide tips and guidelines on how to effectively reach them.

By Tiffany Ryan (@TiffanyRyan)

Mombloggers. Mommyblogging. Fit blogging. Deal blogging. Product reviews. Product giveaways. Political moms. Green moms. Work at home moms. Stay at work moms. Domestic goddesses. Domestically challenged. Moms of one. Moms of multiples. Moms who cook. Moms who wear heels. Moms who dont. Welcome to the world of mom-blogs.

I began participating in this complex world 6 months ago. It started as a hobby a way for me to “dust off my unused writing skills, while documenting some of those crazy moments of motherhood that I forget to put in the kids baby books. What has ensued six months later, as a marketer, is an all out obsession with understanding the world of mommy blogs. Heres what Ive learned so far:

Momblogs are connected and well-organized, with opportunities for marketers

Thank you Twitter, Facebook, Google, Bing, WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad for allowing me to connect with other mom blogs. But being part of the community requires more than a good SEO strategy. If you need proof, check out BlogHer Publishing Network. BlogHer runs several conferences a year, with this years premier conference selling out of 1000+ full passes six months before the event. Attendees come together to learn from one another, network their blogs, and meet up with the brands that are interested in supporting them. Want to know what goes on here? Follow the #blogher hash tag from August 6-8. With sponsors like Liberty Mutual, Playskool, and T-Mobile, you can bet there will be plenty of Twitter chatter (translation: brand awareness) being pushed out to the mom community by the attendees. And lots of mom-blogging tips for those who cannot attend!

Momblogs are more popular than you may think

Once thought of as a “phenomenon, mom-blogs are now mainstream. Take Ree Drummond. City-gal turned ranch-wife. Photographer. Cook. Best-selling cookbook author. Today she happens to be running a contest for one of three Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixers. Anyone who comments on the post is entered to win. As a marketer, you may be thinking “how does this pertain to me? Lets consider that the first comment on the contest was entered at 4:20 AM. And now? There are OVER 25,000 comments posted. Kitchen Aid, in a period of less than 12 hours, has had 25,000 people commenting and interacting with their product, in hope that today is their lucky day! Talk about reach and frequency!

Mombloggers are savvy

Interested in best practices for your social media initiatives? Need to understand the FTC regulations as it relates to interacting with bloggers? Ask a prominent momblogger. They not only know the answers, but they are making a living consulting with companies and brands who are trying to partner with their community.

The mom-blogosphere is not a place for trial-and-error

Case-in-point: The Motrin babywearing ad. If you havent heard of it, and you are considering partnering with this community, you need to learn the Motrin lesson. I am sure the makers of Motrin did not mean to offend the mom-blogging community, but they did. And the message from the community was clear: “Dont buy Motrin. As a marketer, its pretty simple. When a mom needs advice, she turns to other moms. Good endorsements get passed from mom to mom in a game of telephone. Bad endorsements? They are shouted from rooftops, retweeted to thousands, and blogged about in more forums than you could ever uncover.

Looking to get involved in this community? Jump in. Observe. Participate. Ask. Understand it before you attempt to leverage it. Ive only scratched the surface, but as one of the lucky 1,000+ ticket holders to BlogHer, expect more to come!