Holly Pavilka recently reminded us that the power of today’s social media connected moms is never going to go away.  In fact, it will continue to grow.  Yet despite the spending power of this important demographic, most brands are still not getting it right when it comes to connecting with her. Girlpower Marketing tips its hat to Holly’s 10 Commandments for Marketing to Moms:

The 10 Commandments of Marketing to Moms

1. Work with moms to get it right.  You’re never going to get it right unless you talk to and ideate with moms. You need to solicit their ideas. The beauty of social media is that it’s easy to find them and to connect with them. Research and studies will give you clues, but not the rich real conversation moms will bring.

2. Keep it real. Real is real, inspirational stories. Relatable content. Relevant content. Useful content. Not manufactured, retouched or artificial.

3. Answer her when she’s reaching out. Engage with moms. A study by Acuity Group showed 73% of customer tweets go unanswered. What a missed opportunity. RedBull, a brand more associated with Millennials and daredevils, is terrific at listening and responding. My daughter was mugged for her latte and it blew up Twitter for a few minutes with 100+ tweets but not a word from Starbucks. Two other brands, on the other hand, responded with $5 gift cards because they wanted my daughter to know there were still good people in the world. If you take a look at the brands moms love, they typically are ones who are listening and responding.

4. Follow the moms that follow you back. When it comes to connecting to moms, brands need to follow the moms back. Stop thinking you are a celebrity and get real with your advocates. It’s the first step in the relationship, particularly if you want to grow an audience of moms.

5. Always layer in authentic conversation around your traditional campaigns. The days where brands can just rely on traditional advertising messages are gone. Today, a blog post or tweet a mom writes mentioning your brand is an ad. Organic, authentic real stories and conversation need to be layered in along with your traditional media. These are the messages she trusts.

6. Never market to them as a niche. There’s no one-size-fits-all mom. There are Millennial moms, Boomer moms, second-life moms, Latina moms … moms of every imaginable kind. Don’t stereotype and lump us into a singular “mom” bucket or you’ll miss the mark every time.

7. Remember she’s intelligent. Many stay-at-home moms are educated and have chosen family over career in many cases. With the economy being what it is, many moms are the primary breadwinners in their families. We like to talk about more than diapers, potty training or children. We have interests beyond gardening, cooking and reading books. Look at the types of blogs that are out there–everything from politics, business, women’s health issues and more.

8. Keep it beautifully simple.   Moms are busy, and crave simplicity. Make it complicated, and you’ll lose them every time. One of the reasons Pinterest is popular with women is that, along with its simple design and curation of relevant content, it’s also pleasing to the eye.

9. Balance emotional messaging with pragmatic information. She still wants to be inspired, but she’s also pragmatic. She does her homework before making a purchase. It’s part of the job of being a mom – making informed choices.

10. Remember it’s about story-selling. Place the information within reach, and let her make a decision. Marketing to moms is about telling stories, not selling. Tell how it fits in her life, layer in people’s stories, give the back story on the product – she likes details, showcase testimonials and reviews. Sprinkle in lifestyle photos of the product in use, not just beautifully lit photos of the product. All of these tell her the story she wants to hear.