With the uprise of social networks, and brands jumping at the chance to launch their own communities - are brands getting the most of the conversations that are happening all around them?
During my daily reading, I came across an article about the Unilever and Sprint site, In the Motherhood . In the Motherhood is a community catering specifically to moms, which has been a hit (over 15 million video views) since its launch last spring.
The website is in its second season and one can assume Sprint and Unilever are gaining more than their fair share of consumer insight. The question is….
Is Unilever paying attention to the conversations happening in the forum? Better yet, are you?
Companies like the Container Store could benefit from listening to the rants and raves of women in the Unilever mommy community.
For example, market researchers at the Container Store could find out mommy tips for staying organized.
Wendy Piersall (of eMoms at Home) posted a list featuring moms who Twitter. This is an amazing little gem for companies (and moms or future moms) looking to reach and build relationships with a strong community of women who want to share tips, ideas and their personal updates with one another.
Brands (ehem.. marketers…) aren’t actually supposed to bombard members of this Twitter group with questions (who ever liked a nosey reporter?). Brands should listen, learn, and if you (the person looking) ACTUALLY have something in common with them and want to chat with them become friends with them- by all means join the conversation. These Twitter-ers are not focus groups and they may or may not be your future brand ambassadors, but they certainly are real people having real conversations.
Friendly advice- be a friend or be a fly on the wall and gain as much knowledge about your target demographic as you can.
Tags: market research, mom, social media, viral marketing
