Many business to business marketers think of their target audience as a job function or category.  We typically look at SIC codes or department functions.  It is a rare business to business marketer that looks at the emotions of the target audience. It is even more rare for a business marketer to look at the target audience both on an emotional level and as a Mom.  This is an opportunity for savvy business to business marketers.

If 72% of all Mothers ages 15-44 years old are in the workforce and women-owned businesses increased at twice the rate of all firms – 14% vs 7%, this is an untapped market.  53% of women-owned businesses are in the service category, 16% in the retail trade and 9% in insurance, financial or real estate.

Recognizing that Mom business owners are a growing target audience will set your business to business marketing plan apart. Networking events offline and online are an ideal way to reach this Mom target.  As many of you CMOs reading this can relate, whether you are a Mom or you are married to a Mom, she has very little time, she multi-tasks and she will always consider the emotional impact on people/colleagues. This is evident in products that are often perceived to be purchased only on price, like healthcare plans or financial plans. If the purchaser is a Mother, she will look beyond price and also look at the impact on her employees and their families.

Within Twitter Moms, there are many professional Moms’ groups, which if followed, will allow you to understand what is on Moms’ minds and what they are currently talking about.  This can even be followed by geographic area.  If you are a Mom – Marketer, you can even join the conversation but remember to be transparent and honest if you are conversing about your own brand.

There are many industry groups dedicated to the career advancement of women in a specific business category. Most marketers at these events will focus on women’s issues.  However, a way to differentiate your brand is to show an insight that she is not simply a woman but she is also a Mother. Sponsoring the group site, providing information to Moms with a relevant insight and/or benefit, or even sponsoring a coffee break at a conference with a “Time-saving” giveaway or a free wifi card with activation through your site is a way to connect with Moms who are at the conference.

Marketing to Moms in business will differentiate your brand in the competitive business to business category marketing.

by Geoff Pickering

In late October of 2006, Adamson put a stake in the ground and decided our service offerings were not enough to sustain our company for long-term success. Put simply, we needed to change, or run the risk of perishing. Roughly one month later, on December 13, 2006, Time Magazine announced its Person of the Year: You. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year

Time Magazine has identified a Person of the Year for more than 100 years. The honor as based on the teachings of Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote, “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” He believed that it is the few, the powerful and the famous who shape our collective destiny as a species. (Over the years, the magazine’s Person of the Year criteria broadened to include those individuals who had the most profound impact on the world; examples: Adolf Hitler and Ayatollah Khomeini.)

So what caused Time to divert from their tradition of singling out one person? The World Wide Web. The Web created the most profound shift in the history of communication since the invention of the printing press, enabling the masses to increase their access to information, and hence, their knowledge.

The Internet reached a point of critical mass and, more importantly, a level of understanding by businesses that their brand could singly dictate and shape the consumer opinion alone. Previously, community and collaboration on a mass scale by consumers — loyal or otherwise — to a brand was not a reality. Today, it is.

No longer can corporations cut corners. Corporations must be transparent; they must be prepared to respond proactively; and they must understand that the level of complexity in the digital age is real and not comparable to any channel or solution previously available to marketers.

Areas necessary to succeed in the future are complex but can be addressed by focusing on two critical areas:

1. A deep understanding of consumers and how they engage with brands in a meaningful way.
2. The ability to manage engagement strategies throughout the life-cycle of the consumer.

The decision that Adamson made more than two years ago has positioned us to respond accordingly, and provide clear and measurable results for our clients.

Moving forward, our commitment to you is to use our Website and this blogging platform to provide a conversational dialogue of marketing solutions provided by us, which we are certain can be successful for you.

http://www.relevantengagement.com/

It’s nice to see myths get debunked occasionally. We tend to think of young consumers as hyper-brand-conscious. Of course, the Great Recession has sobered a lot of people.

- Mark DolliverNEW YORK Settling into adulthood amid the Great Recession, today’s 20somethings are a practical-minded bunch, according to a J.D. Power and Associates study.

Examining the online discussions of 22-29-year-olds, the research firm found them particularly focused (relative to other age groups) on “value brands,” which are “competing with trendy brands for share of mind.”

This phenomenon is reflected in a ranking of retailers and quick-serve restaurants that get the most favorable online mentions from the 22-29s (dubbed “early careerists” by the report). “For example, among retailers, value brand Old Navy closely follows trendy brands Anthropologie and Bath & Body Works in terms of positive discussion volumes among early careerists,” says the report. “Among quick-serve restaurants, fast-food chains Arby’s and Subway receive particularly high volumes of positive discussion, along with premium ice cream chain Cold Stone Creamery.”

The report notes “a strong degree of disillusionment” among the 22-29-year-olds, with the economy the obvious culprit in this. There’s also an element of resignation in their online chatter: “For many early careerists, the idea of moving back in with their parents after college graduation is accepted as a natural next step.”

With unemployment now especially steep among 20somethings, it stands to reason that they’ve developed fresh respect for the concept of job security. Thus, says the report, “although early careerists consider job-hopping a necessity for moving forward in a career, they strongly desire long-term stability and security within their chosen professions.”