Babysitting. There’s an app for that?!

Using Mobile Technology to Reach Moms in New Ways

My daughter was growing bored sitting, once again, waiting for her brother’s baseball practice to wrap up. The usual distractions and games had grown tired, and I was running out of tricks. I checked the time on my Blackberry, noticed the icon for Pandora and had an idea. In less than 90 seconds, my daughter was happily singing along on her very own “Hannah Montana” station I created in the Pandora app. Occupied child, happy mom.

The call for app-based mobile experiences just keeps getting louder. commScore estimates that there are now more than 200,000 mobile apps available across various smartphone platforms, and the numbers keep growing.  That got me wondering, are mobile applications a good way for marketers to reach busy moms?

While it may seem that the iPhone with its svelte design and fun neon case is the hip accessory for all the trendy moms, the fact is, most iPhone users are male. According to research  from comScore and AdMob, 70 percent of iPhone users are male, and 31 percent are between the ages of 35-49.  So, are moms using mobile apps?

Mobile advertising network Greystripe would energetically say yes. A recent survey of moms with iPhones revealed that these moms primarily rely on apps to keep their kids entertained (41 percent download games specifically for their kids) and to help when shopping. Coordinating family schedules and activities was a top activity done via smartphone according to a recent BabyCenter study. Sounds like moms are looking for tools that will make their lives easier: keep them organized, save them money, make their kids happy.

I get that; those are some of the top criteria I have for most any new technology I consider adopting, mobile or otherwise. What about the “mom/kid” as a consumer dynamic?  With kids being the top users of the iTouch, perhaps there’s an opportunity to help moms connect with her kids with an app?  As marketers, we should think of mobile apps like any tool in our marketing mix and ensure what we are serving up has value to mom and to the brand.