Why I Love Marketing to Moms
It sounds so exclusive, that old adage: “you’ll understand once you have kids.” But it was absolutely true for me. I may have thought I knew what it was like, but I absolutely DID NOT. My best friend Sam had a baby several years before me. I threw her a baby shower and got her the most expensive little onesy I could find (Victoria Beckham’s babies wore it so my best friend’s baby would too, obviously.) I thought, ‘I totally GET having kids! Buy cute things and feed them bottles!” When Sam would talk about being tired, I thought I understood her exhaustion. When she’d talk about the baby sleeping, I wondered why this was a topic she discussed so frequently.
And then I had a baby. And then I had twin babies.
Maddi, Sam, and Tracey
I’ve called Sam multiple times to apologize for how clueless, uninterested, and unavailable I was during her first child’s first year. How annoying that must have been! She was one of the first in our group to have kids and her best friend was talking to her about cocktails and cute clothes. And that onesy from her shower? There’s no doubt Sam would have preferred something she needed from her registry instead of Posh Spice’s must-have baby outfit.
Once I had a baby, I understood the exhaustion, the uncertainty, and the unpredictability of it all. I could relate to my friends who had kids. But perhaps the most wonderful thing to happen, outside of the kids’ births of course, was the bonding between myself and my mom friends. When I sent an email to my mom friends asking for product recommendations several months before my son’s birth, they all replied with extremely thoughtful and robust responses. They left no stone unturned. They wanted me to be informed and prepared. They wanted me to buy the best products — but only the ones I needed. They wanted me to be ready when my son came. It was incredible.
The truth is, that email Q&A with my friends prepared me the most for mommyhood. And that’s why I’m so happy to be a part of MtoM. When we market brands to moms — particularly the smart brands — we get to make life easier for moms. We use marketing channels like blogging and social media so we and the brands can talk to moms on a friend level. As peers. I feel like we’re helping moms as they tackle mommyhood.
It may sound exclusive, but it’s true. Once you become a mom you join a club of sorts. It’s fun, hard, amazing, surprising, crushing, frustrating, exhilarating, and exhausting. And you can’t do it without the help of your friends. We’re all in it together.