New Study Data: Moms Spend 13.2 Hours Per Week Online (vs 7.6 Watching TV)

"What Moms want [online] is information," says Ken Goldstein, EVP
and Managing Director of Disney Online.

Give them the information they're looking for and you're tapping
into an enormous market: there are 31 million moms online, and
they're spending more time online than they are watching TV (13.2
hours/week vs. 7.6 hours/week).

Goldstein gave us more Mom statistics, and shared what he has
learned from a quantitative study conducted through a nationwide
KidzEyes panel from C&R Research (1,823 mothers of one or more kids
ages 2 - 14 years, from heavy Internet users to non-techie Moms) in
July and October 2003.

He also talked to us about what he's learned from Disney's own
marketing to Moms online.

More online mom US stats
--Average age of online moms: 38
--Median income: $55,000
--Married: 83%
--Working: 61%
--College educated: 70%

84% of Moms surveyed said the Internet was the form of media they
would miss most if they had to give one up. The next closest was TV
at 74%.

90% of Moms surveyed want to simplify their lives and the Internet
helps them do that.

93% of Moms said the Internet provides up-to-date information.
87% see the Internet as a time-saving device.

Top categories of sites to visit:
--Weather
--Food and cooking
--Entertainment
--News
--Health
--Parenting

Top categories of purchases online:
--Books and magazines
--Clothing and apparel
--CDs
--Videos
--Games
--Travel
--Gift items
--Health related items

Eliminate hype and ultra-creative ads

Moms don't want to see how clever you are, Goldstein says. "It's not
Superbowl advertising. It's clear messages, features and benefits,
and more about information than entertainment."

But no fluff doesn't mean you have to be boring. Language should be
informative, fun and creative (but not condescending).

For example, content currently on the site reads: "Hosting an egg
hunt or decorating party? Find everything you need for an
egg-cellent party."

"We always have to try to be witty because you have to break through
the noise, but if you spend all your time trying to do that, you're
losing your message," Goldstein says.

To be sure he's hitting the right chord, he hires lots of Moms to
work on the Disney sites and newsletters, including the Director of
Product Development for FamilyFun.com, the Editor in Chief for
FamilyFun.com, and many of the producers and editors.

"There's a built-in filter," he says. They can look at the content
and say, "We wouldn't want to get this, so why would we be sending
this?"

Market in conjunction with holidays

Moms respond well to "magic times of year," particularly Halloween,
Valentine's Day, and April Fool's Day.

"It's a special time, a time to be silly. We like to say that April
Fools is the FamilyFun Superbowl," Goldstein says. (For men, he
says, the magic time is the Superbowl and March Madness.)

Goldstein makes sure he uses the words April Fools in the subject
line of his email newsletters that go out just before April 1. Two
examples:

--The FamilyFun Weekender
Sent on Thursdays to mothers "terrified of the weekend ahead with
their kids" and offering fun crafts and activities they can do using
things around the house, the subject line this year read: April
Fools' Dinner, Fluffy Lamb Craft & More Weekend Fun!

--FamilyFunRecipe News
Sent Tuesdays, offering "fun things they can do with what's in the
refrigerator that kids can help with," this year's subject line
read: April Fools' Tricks & Treats
(link to sample newsletters below)

Tips on email subject lines

"Your customer is smart enough to know that if you communicate
frequently you have things to sell," Goldstein says.

If you put your sales pitch front and center, your open rate will go
down -- and unsubs will go up. Goldstein's team crafts subject lines
with the understanding that headline writing is an art, putting time
into it instead of "slapping it on at the end."

"The difference between a great direct marketer and a bad direct
marketer is the marketer who understands that," he says.

Goldstein carefully monitors open rates to ensure that his subject
lines are as effective as possible. "If I don't see an open rate of
20% I go down to the marketing department and say, Did you guys
actually think about this? And if I see an open rate of more than
35% I say, Wow, you guys are good."

His newsletters have seen open rates as high as 50%, and
consistently gets over 20% (pretty significant, considering the
mailing list is in the seven figures).

Useful link: Here are some samples of Disney newsletters:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/disney/ad.html
Note: Want to meet Goldstein in person? He'll be speaking at the
AD:TECH show in San Francisco, May 24-26th. For info, visit
http://www.ad-tech.com/

Clear marketing is a plus for getting any consumer be it man or woman.

"Hosting an egg hunt or decorating party? Find everything you need for an egg-cellent party." -- is something I may actually click on and look at. Even though I am not hosting an egg hunting party any time soon (nor have I ever so far as I can recall), the material just sounds interesting and peaks my curiousity. Nothing flashy about printed text either.

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Final Fantasy