It’s that time of year, when kids cringe and parents celebrate, it’s almost time for “Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad that I’m not a fool…”  As your brand plans for your back-to-school campaign, remember that Dads are still not the main decision makers for these matters (though they are making headway!). And yes, the kids might be those ones actually going back to school and do care about their school “look” but they’re not the ones with the money. To develop a successful back-to-school campaign, your brand should actually target Mighty Moms during back-to-school season. Mighty Moms, who collectively have a buying power of about $2.4 trillion dollars (yes, TRILLION). After all, mother knows best, right?!

Moms are typically the members of the family who are wearing “the pants” and carrying “the wallet” and therefore, they are often the sole decision makers when it comes to back-to-school. With back-to-school season starting earlier and buying happening faster, your brand needs to know how to engage with Mighty Moms and grab their attention by incorporating strong back-to-school messaging into your SocialToaster (and overall marketing) program. Sharpen your pencils and grab a notebook because class with Professor Toaster is in session.

How To Target Mighty Moms During Back-to-School Season

1) Mommy (Social) Groups

Not only do moms make a lot of the purchasing decisions, but they are also more engaged than their male counterparts when it comes to online and social media; however, the way moms are engaging with brands online is changing. Here are some of the changes that we’ve noticed when it comes to moms’ online buying behavior:

• Moms Trust Other Moms: Help moms help you by activating them as Superfans or influencers so they can spread your message and promote your brand to their mommy groups.
• Mobile Moments: According to Google, parents are shopping in “I-want-to-buy moments,” not planned out shopping trips. Make sure your campaign is mobile-optimized and make it an experience for shoppers, not a chore (moms do enough of those).

Your SocialToaster program is a great way to tap into your Mighty Mom influencers to generate more brand enthusiasts. Empower them to spread your back-to-school promotions and messages across all of their social channels and audiences.

2) Make Life Easier

Moms are busy – even Mighty Moms. They are either coordinating carpool, running to work, cleaning the house, dropping off or picking up the kids at sports, dance, band…PHEW, we’re tired just thinking about all of that! The last thing moms want to think about is what to make for dinner. Make the transition to the new school year easy for families by offering solutions and hacks to do so.

Our client, Perdue Chicken, engages their Superfans (called the Perdue Crew) by sharing easy lunch and dinner recipes to target Mighty Moms during back-to-school season that use their products. They also offer free coupons. The coupons help Mighty Moms save money and the recipes take a lot of the thinking out of the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”.

Using interactive and informative content to help moms get the new school year started off right, coupled with a back-to-school coupon to reinforce your partnership with her helps show the Mighty Mom that you have her back, whether school’s in or out.

3) So…College

By the time high school seniors become college freshmen, one would think that they are ready to make their own decisions. But they’re not. Their moms receive several phone calls or texts a day on how to “adult.” College students are only just beginning to read the table of context in the Book of Adulthood. Nonetheless, colleges students are still students and they are still going back to school. Here are some ideas to target Mighty Moms during back-to-school season that will appeal to both them and their college students:

• Moving Tips: Whether students are moving into their dorm room or first apartment, college students can move every year of school if they really want to. Provide tips on how to cost effectively and efficiently move, while offering products and materials to help make the move smooth.
• School swag: No one loves free stuff more than college students and parents. Our higher education clients host sweepstakes as part of their back-to-school promotions and giveaway school swag (and their fans love it). Who doesn’t love a free t-shirt to wear on the first day of classes?

If your brand is relevant to an older student audience, take advantage of that by targeting both them and their parents with your content.

Make Back-to-School Work For You with SocialToaster

Is your brand interested in creating an A+ campaign to target Mighty Moms during back-to-school season? Send us an email, request a free demo, or give us a call at 855.62.TOAST today!