Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

If you weren't a sponsor or weren't present at the BlogHer '09 conference July 23-25 in Chicago, then you missed a huge opportunity to talk to thousands of women that could potentially send you quadruple that in leads.

I had the opportunity to attend the Business portion of the conference, which turned out some useful case studies. [I'll write more about these in another post.]

Interestingly most of my learnings came from attending three evening parties (affiliated with the conference) and talking with and observing some of the female bloggers -- coined Mommy Bloggers. The term has become a buzzword in the marketing world as more and more companies are turning to these influencers to help them promote their products. Note, that some of the Mommy Bloggers dislike the term. However for ease of reference here (no offense intended), I'll refer to this collective group using that term throughout this post.

They Are the Experts
Since 2008, blogs have gone from mainstream (read: addictive) to the leading go-to source for advice and information. Blogger motivations are different than social networker motivations. Mommy Bloggers are "experts" in a certain subject matter -- not always simply parenting -- and they want to share that information. This community bases itself on an exchange of ideas.

They Know How to Suck Them In
Now there's an ongoing media shift that has attracted readers who seek out blogs for entertainment. From a female perspective, why would I watch a sitcom about parenting, when I can read a raw, real-life narrative? And I'm proof. While my husband takes control of our plasma screen nightly, I choose to snack in front of my laptop, engrossed in Twitter and mommy tales.

Readership is big. We're talking up to 50,000 eyes on one blog every month. And they create enough stir to get people commenting.

They Influence Purchases -- Big Time
Not only are these bloggers moms, who've been there done that. They are educated and professional. Some of them still hold corporate jobs (as if managing their blogs plus raising their kids weren't two full-time jobs already).

According to the BlogHer research, 25% of they women they surveyed try to buy from companies they know. Even more marked, "45 percent of survey respondents stated that they decided to purchase an item after reading about it on a blog."  How do they "know" them? By reading trusted blogs about products and the bloggers interaction with the company.

Twitter is another good example of a means to humanize the brand. Mommy Bloggers are really good at this. They speak honestly and openly about brands in the context of their daily lives. They blog about it. Then they Tweet it.

Key point: If you are a brand that targets women, you need a Mommy Blogger or two...dozen.

Here are a few* of the women I had the amazing opportunity to talk with:

Green and Clean Mom Sommer Poquette 
Mindful Momma Micaela Preston
Beth Terry of Fake Plastic Fish
The Smart Mama Jennifer Taggart
Lisa Nielsen-Woods of CondoBlues 
Crunchy Domestic Goddess Amy Gates
Katja Presnal of Skimbaco Lifestyle

They often review products, thought it's not always for money. Their blogs are sprinkled with advice and interesting antidotes about their lives too. Antidotes that -- as a mom and a consumer myself -- resonate enough to make them likable and trustworthy.

Stay tuned for how to connect with the right Mommy Blogger(s) in this series about using one of your most networked customers to advertise for you.
[7/31 read part 2: Finding the Perfect Mommy Hands]

*I did exchange cards with others, but there's just too many to list.

Sarah Jo Sautter