Whether or not you agree with what she says, Sarah Palin has proven to be a quotable fountain of sound bites. The media reacted when she boiled down the difference between a “hackey mam” and a pitbull as simply lipstick. Amy Finnerty and Annabel Levy explored the Hockey Moms angle in a recent Forbes article, “The American Sports Mom: A Field Guide.”
The light-hearted article refers to Alaska as “the coldest state with the hottest governor” and highlights some interesting differences between various categories of the American sports mom. Some unique traits specific to the different categories include:
- Hockey moms’ likelihood to be located in specific locations in the north or wealthy enough to “secure expensive, coveted ice time.”
- Soccer moms’ consistent track record of having to drive through suburban sprawl to get kids to games and practices.
- Basketball moms’ indoor habitat, which can preclude them from being in the market for sunscreen or long underwear; many also manage to avoid automobile ownership.
- Baseball and football moms’ “tendency to be caught up in the scrutiny and obligations of a community.”
As entertaining as this story is and as interesting as these nuanced differences might be, American sports moms certainly must have more commonalities than differences. It’s worth rehashing what we know about the behaviors of moms in general to note some likely similarities among the categories. (For more on this topic, see “The Mother Load: Understanding Mom With Search Engine.”)
For many chief marketers, search engine marketing has produced unmatched results and earned itself a seat at the center of media buys and marketing plans. While the returns alone would warrant making search a priority, marketers also appreciate that customers essentially opt-in to receive information, which generally makes for a more pleasant user interaction.
Here’s a sampling of some high points to keep in mind when targeting Mom online:
- 35% spend three or more hours online/day
- 75% spend more than an hour a day online and watching television
- 98% reported doing the grocery shopping for their household
Marketers should not over think the obvious. The opt-in nature of search means interested parties will seek out marketers with the right site content and keyword portfolios in place. This shows all demographic targeting to be a means to an end, and if any particular desired demographic uses search engines heavily, marketers are best to cover their bases in search and prepare for individuals to proactively seek them out to find out more, make purchases, etc.
Regardless of whether their kids play hockey, soccer, football or Scrabble, marketers should remember some important facts about moms in general. Although they rely heavily on search, which has quickly become the bulldog of many consumer marketing programs, marketers don’t need to dress up the channel with lipstick by overcomplicating it.
Although many consider search to be a sexy, high growth marketing channel today, effectively managing a keyword portfolio and search campaign is no doubt a complex undertaking that requires plenty of expertise and resources. From a targeting perspective, though, search works in a relatively simple and straightforward manner that by definition should never be over complicated.
Interested consumers raise their hands and ask for information. So long as marketers effectively prepare for their target customers’ search queries with the right keywords, ads and information, they don’t need to bother with any further targeting. Proper focus and ample preparation can help marketers reach all the right targets based on their own personal needs.
Stuart Larkins is senior vice president of search operations at DoubleClick Performics.
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