Authority driven media content (think CNN and The Nightly News) is rapidly being replaced by authentic, user generated opinion. More importantly, moms are quickly gaining a powerful voice via blogs and Tweets. So much so that they are the new darlings of the brand advertising world.
There’s plenty of research to back up the potential power of mommy bloggers. Mothers are estimated to be responsible for $2.1 trillion of U.S. consumer spending, controlling about 80 percent of household expenditures, according to BSM Media. They’re also active online: 87 percent use the Web regularly, per comScore. What’s more, 60 percent of their online conversations—the type of discussions also heard at playgrounds everywhere—include a mention of brands or products, according to a study done last year by BabyCenter and Keller Fay Group.
When you are up in the middle of the night with a sick child or you are trying to figure out how to pick up three kids in three different places and actually cook a nutritious meal in between, where would you gravitate towards for advice? Naturally, moms are relying on other moms to help them. Big brands are already in the mix trying to woo these mommy Bloggers with product samples and trips and then asking them to give their opinions. State Farm, Proctor & Gamble and Disney are just a few of the big brands sponsoring mommy bloggers.
It is clear that the people are moving away from the big media companies and toward user generated content. However, at what point do sponsorships and product samples start to erode the authenticity of the mommy bloggers’ sphere of influence? Of all consumers, moms are the smartest and will smell a rat long before anyone else. While big brand may love the mommy bloggers, other moms will not tolerate “paid” opinions. It will be interesting to see where this goes.