As a mom to two elementary-aged daughters, my time is constantly divided between work, the girls’ activities, family events, household responsibilities and everything in between. How is an online marketer supposed to garner my attention? Today’s busy mom, the person in charge of 80% of all household spending, is someone marketers need to know intimately.

So how should online marketers best approach selling to moms like me? According to a recent eMarketer interview with Laura Fortner of CafeMom, there are several key factors for moms when interacting with a brand online.

• Moms like companies who listen to the feedback they provide. This can be accomplished by offering them opportunities on your website to weigh in on your product and where it may be headed in the future.
• Moms need information at their fingertips. Give them the information they need, which they can then share on Twitter and Facebook. Moms connect on social networks to share coupon codes, offers and other vital information.
• Moms value honesty. Women want to be respected and understood by the brands they choose. The same word-of-mouth connections that allow moms to share deals also make it easy for disgruntled mothers to exploit the viral effects of the Internet if they are unhappy. Staying in touch with moms via social connections provides marketers valuable information regarding how their products are viewed by their consumers.

In order to stay connected to the mommy demographic, companies need to keep these factors in mind, while remaining up-to-date on the latest trends, technologies and communication patterns. Click here to read the full eMarketer interview.

While still in its infancy, a recent eMarketer article suggests mobile commerce is not to be overlooked by retailers. It’s projected that over 70 million US mobile users will access the Internet over devices in 2009. Many mobile users are turning to the convenience of applications for things like weather reports, news and online banking. Although most aren’t purchasing big items via mobile devices, buying smaller ticket items on phones (movie tickets, pizzas, etc.) is becoming a trend.

Most companies are holding off on creating mobile-specific sites due to budgetary constraints and development concerns, but eMarketer warns against this: “Savvy retailers should not neglect this channel, because mobile shoppers are valuable customers. People who download mobile applications, including shopping apps, are a highly coveted consumer segment. Mobile buyers tend to be repeat purchasers with a higher order value than average consumer and it can be important for them to complete transactions with ease even if it means spending more.”

Click here to read the full article.

Ok, I’ll admit it. I own a web development agency, and I am lucky if I check my Facebook account once a month. I feel ashamed. Because when I do check my page, I find myself being an avid consumer of everyone else’s updates and photos, but then I’m too busy to put anything new up about myself. I’ll toss a photo or two up every month or so, but I enjoy seeing what all my other friends are up to, and where they’ve been. I guess in that way I am quite voyeuristic.

In the micro-blogging world, Twitter has become a competitive environment where I feel challenged to be as creative or funny as many of the people I follow. It’s quicker and easier to contribute. I read tweets from people like Shaquille O’Neal (who is actually really funny!) and it feels so strange that he’s telling me what an NBA superstar is doing in his regular day-to-day life. It feels like I’m being a Peeping Tom, but it’s okay. We’ve all signed up for it. I never rooted for the guy as a basketball player, but I love hearing him chat about random stuff. It’s my glimpse behind the magic curtain.

We’ve begun to advise the majority of our clients to do the same thing: embrace Twitter as a way to give real information to customers in an easy-to-digest format. It’s an easy way to share behind-the-scenes information: stuff that will excite and entice people. So why not jump out there and direct some of the traffic yourself? It only takes 140 characters.

Even though Facebook is still in the lead as the most visited social networking site in the US, Twitter marketing power is growing strong.  A recent study showed that of Fortune 100 companies, Twitter was the outright winner for online social networking presence. 54% of companies surveyed had Twitter accounts, as opposed to only 29% with Facebook accounts. So why Twitter over Facebook? Short, digestible bits of information are becoming the best way for companies to share their messages. Studies show that companies are using Twitter for everything from marketing messages to posting job opportunities, all in 140 characters or less.

Click here to view the full eMarketer article.

My first SXSW Interactive experience was just that, an EXPERIENCE. It’s hard to imagine a five day stretch of time being so utterly consumed from sun up to sun down (and then some) by one fully charged event, but that’s exactly what it was. Five days devoted to learning about the newest trends and philosophies in web strategy, technology, design, marketing and social interactions, and then meeting the many innovators who are making it all happen.

One of the more interesting panel discussions I attended was “Building Strong Online Communities” presented by the leaders and creators of popular and thriving online communities: www.blogher.com, www.fark.com, www.reddit.com and www.arstechnica.com. Each had varying ideas of what led them to success, but a few common themes emerged from their discussions. Here are a few of the key points that all panelists agreed were necessary for success:

• Listen to your audience – users need to feel like they have helped to shape the community if they are going to continue coming back to it.
• Provide an open line of communication between the users and the creators of the community – this can be via email, phone, twitter or instant message, but the users needs to know their voices matter.
• Establish some guidelines for the community and enforce the punishment if users act against them.
  
• Let community members know of any changes that are going to be made well in advance of making them.
• Involve the community in decision making.
• Don’t segment your community too much or you will end up with lots of empty segments instead of fewer, full segments.
• And finally, know that you won’t be able to please everyone all of the time. It’s usually best to stick with majority rule when listening to users.

When the panelists asked the audience “Who here belongs to an online community?” about 99% of the people in the room raised their hands. Next the panelists asked, “Who here is currently developing an online community for at least one of their clients?” I was shocked to see about 75% of hands raised. It became quite clear to me that this is the new trend for brands to connect with their consumer, and I imagine it will continue to grow as more and more communities are developed in association with brand marketing.