Influencers

Influencer Spotlight: Green & Gorgeous

December 1, 2016 by The Motherhood

“Blogging gives us all a voice. It’s just up to us individually to decide how to use it.” – Jennae, Green & Gorgeous

Whether you’re looking for examples of the right way to work with brand partners or just a few good style tips, Green & Gorgeous is a resource for both instructional and inspirational content. As her tagline states, Green & Gorgeous is where life, style and creativity meet substance.

We encourage you to read more in the spotlight below, and give her a shout at @jennaepetersen.

Want to see more? Check out our Influencer Spotlights here!

How does the Blogger Spotlight Series work? Each month, our internal team convenes and discusses our latest programs, stellar partnerships and top-performing influencers. It’s not about numbers, but rather, the quality, authentic content they’re delivering consistently. It’s about reliability, professionalism and partnership. We discuss our nominations for the month and ultimately decide on just one blogger to invite as our featured blogger. Stop back in 2017 to see how we’re giving a nod to our valued partners!

Influencer Spotlight: Jessica McFadden, A Parent in America

September 15, 2016 by The Motherhood

What has made click-throughs on one social media channel nearly obsolete?

What will steal the scene in lieu of toys this holiday season?

Where is engagement happening in 2016?

Jessica McFadden of A Parent in America and A Parent in Silver Spring has the answers, and we’re sharing them (and more!) with you in this month’s blogger spotlight.

Read on to learn more about why her blog is not her personal journal and what always results in a win when it comes to brands, bloggers and their readers. Give Jessica a shout-out at @JessicaMcFadd!

Want to see more? Check out our Influencer Spotlights here!

Celebrating the Incredible Results of The Motherhood’s Five-Year Partnership with the United Nations Foundation, Shot@Life and Blogust

September 8, 2016 by The Motherhood

All of us at The Motherhood are so proud of our work with the UN Foundation and its key initiative Shot@Life over the last five years to help get vaccines to kids in need around the world.

We care so much about Shot@Life’s mission because of this terrible statistic: In developing countries, one child — often before age five — dies every 20 seconds from a vaccine-preventable disease.

To help save these kids, every August for the last five years, we’ve teamed up with Shot@Life to run Blogust, a month-long “blog relay” during which stellar social media voices post to their social channels about Shot@Life and the importance of vaccines — and for every comment, like, share, tweet or re-tweet of their social posts, a life-saving vaccine is donated to a child in need. MAM sponsored Blogust 2016, with an initial goal of generating 30,000 vaccine donations.

Working closely with Shot@Life, The Motherhood invited 10 influential bloggers to become UN Foundation Social Fellows and join the Blogust 2016 Team. To kick off the month and spread awareness of the initiative in real time, Shot@Life and The Motherhood hosted a #Blogust Twitter chat, resulting in more than 1,700 tweets and re-tweets — a great start to the month-long campaign.

Each of the 10 bloggers, plus five participating United Nations Foundation blogger council members, published a blog or social media post on an assigned day during the month.

Screen-Shot-2016-08-15-at-10.25.13-AM-600x600 — Image courtesy of Jim, Bobblehead Dad

In their posts, bloggers shared milestones that they or their children experienced between birth and age five through #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT photos, raising awareness of the fact that millions of children in developing countries contract vaccine-preventable diseases and die before their fifth birthdays.

13613257_809885275779032_2855681267034610744_o — Image courtesy of Christie, Raising Whasians

Nearly 40 alumni from prior Blogust campaigns joined in, posting to their blogs and Instagram and rallying their loyal followers throughout the month.

Incredibly, by mid-month, the full team of Blogust influencers generated 30,000 social media comments, likes and shares. Thanks to the generosity of MAM, Shot@Life was able to set a new goal of 60,000 social actions.

screen-shot-2016-09-07-at-12-56-50-pm — Image courtesy of Jessica, Momma’s Gone City

By month’s end, the final Blogust tally was 65,223 social actions, triggering a total donation of 60,000 vaccines, doubling the original goal and spreading awareness of the global need for life-saving vaccines.

Congratulations to the UN Foundation, to Shot@Life and to the incredible #Blogust team! We are honored to get to work with you on this important and groundbreaking campaign for the last five years, and are thrilled with the tremendous results.

Featured image courtesy of Silvia, Mama Latina Tips.

10 Unexpected Ways to Use the VTech Digital Audio Monitor

August 29, 2016 by The Motherhood

For new moms, there is no shortage of places to turn for advice on must-have baby gear. Recommendations on the best-of-the-best products for eating, sleeping and diaper changes are plentiful!

However, there is one product traditionally thought of as a baby must-have we’re deeming essential for parents of toddlers through pre-teens (and pet parents as well): the VTech Digital Audio Monitor. We armed a group of social media moms with this awesome new product and told them to put it to use in their homes. The results? Some very unexpected, very helpful ways to use the VTech Digital Audio Monitor!

VTech Digital Audio Monitor: What is it?

The VTech Safe&Sound® DM271-110 DECT 6.0 Digital Audio Baby Monitor with Open/Closed & Motion Sensors, the latest addition to VTech’s award-winning baby monitor line, has brought families of brand-new way to stay connected. The VTech Digital Audio Monitor comes equipped with some very cool features (hello, smart home sensors!) that give parents the peace of mind they deserve anytime, anywhere. Both the open/closed sensors and motion sensors offer parents added safety and security through all phases of childhood.

VTech Digital Audio Monitor: A Must-Have for Toddler Parents — Image courtesy of Stephanie, Olive and Tate

Don’t take our word for it! Read on for some of our favorite ways to put the VTech Digital Audio Monitor to use.

Mom-Sourced Tips to Use the VTech Digital Audio Monitor Beyond Babies

1. Toddler-proof a vacation rental:

“First things first we busted out the VTech Digital Monitor and set about toddler proofing that exterior door. What makes the VTech Digital Monitor my travel go to are two things: one is the ultra low energy Open/Closed Door Sensor and the other is the Smart Home Motion Sensor. We set the Open/Closed smart sensor up on the exterior door (using the mounting tape provided so we didn’t damage the rental house) and programed the hand held parent unit to alert us if the baby somehow managed the get the door open and make a break for it.”

Stephanie, Olive and Tate

2. Feel secure with a sleepwalker:

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked about my 13 year old’s sleepwalking adventures. I never thought about it being an issue while traveling, but it has come up a few times, so I have some steps that I take to feel that he’s safer and so that I get better sleep when we’re away. I bring removable mounting tape for the sensors (or find a spot it can go if I don’t want it on the wall) and turn it on at night. I put the “baby” unit on a console or table near the sensor so that if he does make the sensor go off I can just talk to him from the parent unit and tell him to go back to bed! I can’t tell you how much this helps me to know that he’s safe and get a good night’s sleep while we’re away.”

Allison, All for the Boys

3. Help kids learn to sleep in their own room…:

“Be prepared for multiple interruptions during the night. Your kiddo is going to want to use the bathroom, get a drink of water, check their closet for monsters, and call out for you until the neighbors can hear. Before you dart out of the room with one eye open, answer every whim from a distance. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your bed. The VTech Safe&Sound DM271-110 Digital Audio Baby Monitor with Open/Closed & Motion Sensors features a two-way talk back intercom that allows you to communicate with your child from up to 1,000 feet in range.”

Jessica, Young at Heart Mommy

4. ….and make sure they stay in bed until morning:

“We have a summer rule that no one is allowed up before 7 a.m. Otherwise he’d be awake playing video games at the crack of dawn. I honestly have no way to know when he’s getting up. Now I do! If he sets off the motion sensor in the living room before 7 a.m., I can head down and send him back to his bed.”

Camille, Growing Up Gabel

5. Host safe, secure playdates:

“I don’t like to hover over my kids – I like to give them a sense of independence. But I also like to know what is going on, especially when friends are over, and I like to do that as unobtrusively as possible to ensure they have fun and safe play dates. A cool feature of the VTech Digital Audio Monitor is its two ULE (Ultra Low Energy) smart home sensors. You can use them to put open/closed and motion sensor alerts on doors, cabinets and open spaces. So you’ll know if your child is getting into something they shouldn’t be. It’s a great way to enforce off-limit zones for play dates.”

Chrystal, Happy Mothering

6. Instill independence in babysitters-in-training:

“I set everything up in my daughter’s room or, as she calls it when she is working, ‘Babysitting Headquarters.’ I was able to show my daughter how everything works and also how I will be just a monitor away to keep an eye on things and also help her if ever needed. We can talk to one another through the monitor, adjust the volume when we put it to the sleep mode to help get little ones to sleep, and when needed, my daughter can page me to get my attention if she needs me.”

Katie, Mommy Katie

7. Care for an ill parent:

“My mom’s health has been on the decline over the last six months. It’s not news to any of you that I am her caretaker and as such, I need to be ‘there’ for her as much as possible. Without physically sleeping in her room, it was hard to get to her in time. Acquiring the VTech Safe&Sound® DM271-110 DECT 6.0 Digital Audio Baby Monitor with Open/Closed & Motion Sensors came at the best timing ever. The VTech Digital Audio Monitor has been a literal lifesaver for the past three weeks.”

Maria, Adventures of the Mommy Homemaker

8. Manage dogs’ outdoor time:

“I’ve been using the motion sensor that comes with the VTech Digital Audio Monitor to keep track of where my dogs are in the house. Specifically when they walk to the front door so I know when they need to go outside. This helps me to prevent nasty accidents in our home and also keeps me aware of where my dogs are. I mounted the motion sensor on the side of the wall near the bottom of our front door and it has been working perfectly to alert me when the dogs need to go outside.”

Andrea, Honestly Andrea

9. Keep cat away from off-limits spots:

“Cats are pretty famous for hanging out on routers. I think there’s probably a whole site dedicated to pictures of cats on routers out there somewhere! Obviously, putting a baby monitor back there isn’t the best idea. The fewer things that interfere with my already not-so-stellar internet connection, the better. Here’s where the VTech Digital Audio Monitor gets really cool. It comes with two ULE (Ultra Low Energy) smart home sensors. One is an open/closed sensor and one is a motion sensor. All I have to do is put the motion sensor in areas that are off limits to Fuzz. Then, when he tries to hunker down in one of those spots, I’ll know.”

Nicole, Pretty Opinionated

10. Enforce rules from a distance:

“Cooper is always trying to steal the cat food. No matter how many times we tell him ‘no’ he still does it. If he hears our voice, though, he stops in his tracks! So here’s what I do: I put the baby unit part of my VTech Digital Audio Monitor in the places that I want to keep Cooper away from. When I hear him digging around in the cat food boxes, I use the two-way intercom feature and firmly say ‘Coop, get away from that cat food!’ Cooper hears my voice and thinks I’m watching him, and he quickly backs away!”

Bonus tip from Nicole!

This post is created in proud partnership with VTech. All opinions are our own.

Featured image at the top of this post courtesy of Stephanie, Olive and Tate.

Social Showdown: Instagram Stories vs. Snapchat Stories

August 10, 2016 by The Motherhood

Last week, the launch of Instagram Stories shook up the social media world, drawing immediate comparisons to Snapchat. Soon enough, everyone—from consumers to brands to bloggers—will pick a favorite.

While both platforms appear similar at first glance, there are some nuanced variations that will appeal to different audiences. The Motherhood’s social listening team took a deeper dive into the competing offerings to identify some differences between the two.

Content: Are you a Creator or a Consumer?

There are those who prefer to take a more active role in publishing content and those who more passively enjoy taking it in from their feeds.

Snapchat prioritizes content creation over consumption, whereas Instagram has long been focused on content discovery. After all, Instagram opens to a user’s feed as opposed to the camera screen, like Snapchat.

Instagram makes user discovery easier, too, by showing profiles at the top of users’ feeds. With Snapchat, users must know and search for a company or influencer’s username before following them.

For these reasons, Instagram is more brand-friendly for content publishers, such as companies and influencers interested in broadcasting messages to their audiences.

The Measurement Factor

Though Instagram is currently a more measurable platform than Snapchat (making it more appealing to brands and many bloggers), at the moment, Instagram Stories do not allow public likes or comments. Rather, users must use Instagram Direct to weigh in on a story – meaning there are no likes or comments to measure. It is possible, however, to share a picture or video clip from your story directly as a post in your feed, which then allows for engagement on that particular post, as well as encourages people to watch your story.

Instagram, like Snapchat, does offer the ability to track how many users saw a certain story, and does so in a clearly visible way. As Fast Company says, “One of the open secrets to [Instagram’s] success is that it’s trained users—through design choices like this—like watching those numbers tick up and to make decisions accordingly. So while Instagram’s viewer counter is also an eyeball icon with a number next to it, and while Instagram also shows you both a total head count and who those viewers are, it puts that information all in one place instead of making you dig for it like Snapchat does.”

This feature, combined with Instagram’s larger built-in following, is an obvious plus for brands, especially. Case in point: On the first day Instagram Stories rolled out, Nike garnered 800,000 views in 24 hours for a story the brand posted. On Snapchat, Nike’s most popular video received 66,000 views.

Feature Advantages

One immediate difference Instagram offers over Snapchat is that it clearly defines its features for the user with prompts and tips–something that appeals to those who find Snapchat too difficult to navigate.

However, Snapchat does currently have some feature advantages over Instagram, including geofilters (denoting where an image was taken) and selfie lenses, both of which provide a distinguishable reason for users to keep going back to Snapchat.

Time will tell which platform will entice more users, but for now, it seems like for brands, marketers and influencers, Instagram may have the edge over Snapchat.

We want to hear from you! Are you planning on using Instagram Stories exclusively over Snapchat (or vice versa), or do you think there are applications for both?

Advantages of Using an Influencer Marketing Agency

July 27, 2016 by The Motherhood

Influencer marketing is a discipline that’s continuing to grow and attract brands’ attention: More than half of marketers recently surveyed have reportedly increased their budgets for influencer marketing in 2016.

This comes as no surprise, as we know that influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to seed authentic, searchable content that drives purchase over time. The Motherhood found that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands they’ve read about from a trusted blogger, and additional industry data reveals that marketers who implemented an influencer marketing campaign earned an average of $6.85 in media value for every $1 they spent on paid media.

As influencer campaigns are on the rise, many brands are exploring the most effective and efficient ways to incorporate a sponsored content strategy into their overall marketing plans. One of the most critical decisions is whether a brand will manage influencer marketing in-house or through an agency. As evidenced by Google’s search history for the term “Influencer Marketing Agency,” brands are exploring their options at a record high rate.

The Motherhood team is made up of professionals who have worked at the world’s top PR agencies, so we have a unique, first-hand understanding on how these decisions are made by brands at the firms that represent them. As a social media marketing agency that specializes in influencer marketing, we understand the power and perks of leveraging a specialty network to act as an extension of a brand’s team.

Three advantages of using an influencer marketing agency

1. Gain an expanded circle of trust. Hiring an influencer marketing agency requires that the marketer allow the agency to act as a steward of their brand — and leap of faith requires a great deal of trust. The Motherhood understands this — we’ve been on the other side! However, marketers should feel confident that hiring a credible, long-standing influencer marketing agency will offer a level of expertise and reliability that expands far beyond the four walls of a brand’s headquarters.

While many agencies tout their large networks of influencers, it’s imperative to know that the agency you’re engaging has a unique understanding of each individual influencer’s preferences, strengths and specialities. For marketers who want to create mutually beneficial partnerships built on a foundation of trust, pride in the brand and investment in creating exceptional work together, quality — rather than quantity — should be weighted heavily.

2. Save time, save money. A partnership with an influencer marketing agency allows brands and their PR agencies to work more efficiently by eliminating the time internally that’s required to research, identify, vet and manage a group of bloggers. A survey found that 75 percent of professionals consider identifying the right influencers to be the biggest challenge of a sponsored content campaign. Influencer marketing agencies have the right institutional knowledge and infrastructure in place, offering a better and more efficient way to manage relationships with influencers.

Using our proprietary database, The Mometer, The Motherhood makes it our business to provide the most strategic, targeted partnership recommendations between our bloggers and the brands who trust us to help represent them.

3. Offload details. When you hire an agency that specializes in influencer marketing, you’re gaining a partner with a deep, fine-tuned understanding of how to run a successful sponsored content campaign. Brands can weigh in on the aspects of the campaign that are most relevant to their direct role: key messaging, coverage pacing and key performance indicators, for example. However, turning over the reins to an experienced influencer marketing agency means that someone else will handle minute but important details such as blogger negotiations, product shipping, giveaway rules, managing bloggers’ adherence to the coverage deadline, disclosure compliance and hashtag use — just to name a few. When using an agency, these details are not the responsibility of the brand; rather, the agency is on-call for all related program management and implementation.

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If you are interested in teaming up with The Motherhood on an influencer marketing campaign, please email contact@themotherhood.com.