3 Practical Ways To Market To Moms During a Recession

• by Maria Bailey , Columnist, August 8, 2022

Regardless of the term you use to describe today’s economy, we can all agree that as the household manger, moms are being challenged to stretch their family’s dollar.   A trip to the grocery store requires a new strategy -- only after finding the least expensive gas to put in their cars. And as children go back to school many moms are limiting their spending on the extras.  

As a brand competing for Mom’s limited dollars, it’s important to be more strategic in your marketing messages and deployment of marketing tactics.  Here’s a few ways to tweak your marketing strategy to earn more of her shrinking wallet.

Focus on the functionality of your products over one-time benefits. Moms will spend money on products that can provide multiple solutions for her family.   Don’t believe me?  Look at TikTok, where there are millions of views of #MomHacks demonstrating how to use yogurt jars as succulent planters or plasticware containers as toy organizers.  

Sure, your product development colleagues may not like to see the latest version of your product being used for a non-intended purpose. However, if moms find a useful and safe solution they value for your product, it’s a good thing.  Enlist these social #MomHackers to be creative with your product on social media -- and sit back and enjoy the viral and incremental sales.

Align products to present increased value to moms.  With online sales and social media, this process has gotten easier to execute. In a social media post, highlight associated products that create a lifestyle solution and provide online shopping links to each. 

For instance, an after-school swim practice post might include not only a featured snack item but also sunscreen, towel and detergent for the wash later.  Moms think in tasks, so sell her everything she’ll need to take her job to completion. When each brand features the product bundle on its social media,  it increases the reach of the individual post while putting your product in front of a new audience.

Combine your social influencer outreach with offline sampling.  I call this social sampling.   What most marketers forget is that moms who are influencers online also influence other moms offline as well.  Now more than ever, moms are open to changing brands or products.  Sending samples to your social media influencers to share with their friends is the perfect way to put product samples into the hands of potential customers. You not only get a social media post, but you gain the benefit of a peer-to-peer, hand-to-hand recommendation. 

Those brands that get in step with moms now will position themselves to win the hearts and wallets of moms now and well into the future.