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!

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 October 1 for the next blogger spotlight!

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 Fresh 2016 Conference Trends Round-Up

August 24, 2016 by The Motherhood

The Motherhood is thrilled to have been able to attend the Social Fresh 2016 Conference in Orlando! We heard from an amazing lineup of speakers who shared valuable insights on everything from creating authentic brand content, to running social ads, to providing SEO predictions for the future — just to name a few topics. We especially loved learning that more than half of the conference speakers were female, the most they’ve had in any of the 18 Social Fresh conferences to date! All of the speakers were incredible. Thank you to the presenters and Social Fresh team who made this conference a must-attend event.

Here are some of the trends, ideas and insights that grabbed our attention at Social Fresh 2016:

1. Human-first, good-quality content is still key.

The Social Fresh 2016 team presented this stat: “creating content is the most time-intensive task for social media teams, taking up 18.5 percent of their days!” As any content creator knows, it can be difficult coming up with creative and relatable content; however, when done correctly, it pays off:

67 percent of followers will share your content if it is good. – Heather Taylor
78 percent of followers believe that companies that provide good content want to build a relationship with them. – Melanie Deziel
Videos that show people in the first several seconds receive twice the amount of engagement. – Stacy Minero

It’s no surprise to us that authentic content equals the best content. Conference speakers, like author Sally Hogshead and Cory Vasquez of RE/MAX, drove home the fact that people want to see relatable, empathetic content from brands and influencers. Real, honest posts will cut through the crowded social space.

Hogshead encouraged the room to stop looking at what will make their brand better, but to look at what makes them different, and capitalize on that. Being different can be your brand’s advantage. In her words, “The goal isn’t to create the same message to blast to your following. The goal is to create the right messages that break through and stand out.”

Having “human-first” content was another prevalent theme. Vasquez shared a checklist of characteristics that make her brand’s content “human-first”: timely, engaging, honest, relatable, good quality and empathetic. Twitter’s Stacy Minero also encouraged the audience of marketers to highlight human stories, saying, “People are drawn to people.”

Takeaways for creating human-first, branded content:

“People can tell when you’re trying to go viral, so be authentic.” – Jeremy Goldman
Expert content creator Sarah Evans encouraged the audience to ask themselves, “Will this make people care, share or swear? If none of those, it’s boring content.”
“Woo them, don’t sell them…. Lay off the sales pitch!” – Heather Taylor

2. Video (especially Live Video) continues to become more and more important!

Jeremy Goldman of the Firebrand Group shared an eye-opening session on the future of video in marketing. The Firebrand Group found in a recent survey that the majority of marketers (75 percent) are turning to Facebook for videos, rather than YouTube or other platforms, due to higher engagement. YouTube video comments don’t hold as much value as a like, comment or share on Facebook.

Their study also showed that 85 percent of marketers see positive ROI from video marketing. Goldman predicted this video trend to rise, saying, “As video grows in popularity, the demand for good–quality videos is skyrocketing.”

This is a trend our own network of influencers has also been predicting, calling video the #1 trend in blogging and social media in 2016.

Takeaways for creating compelling videos:

80 percent of people mute ads, so make sure your ads make sense without audio, or use text and captioning within the video content.
Always think, “How can I make this video social and interactive?”
Pay to promote your Live videos after they are broadcast Live.

3. Twitter is becoming more interactive.

Minero shared ways of getting your followers’ attention in their feed. She reported that Twitter is moving away from broad impressions and toward participation — from viewing to doing. With attention spans as short as eight seconds, attention is the new currency in brand advertising, according to Minero.

In order to “stop people in their feed,” companies are working with Twitter to create customized branded emojis and stickers. Minero used the #TacoEmojiGenerator as a great example of this, which was a hit with the Social Fresh audience.

Tacos over everything. Tweet us 🌮 + any emoji and we'll reply with something we think you'll like. #TacoEmojiEngine pic.twitter.com/f5yhqCeLKk

— Taco Bell (@tacobell) August 17, 2016

Minero’s tips for creating hashtags on Twitter:

Keep in mind that the most utilized hashtags are usually the less branded ones.
Let your hashtag provide a way for people to express themselves and their motivations (see REI’s campaign for #OptOutside as a great example of this!).

Were you at the Social Fresh 2016 Conference? We’d love to hear your top takeaways from the event or your feedback on our takeaways!

Free Kids’ Handwriting Worksheets

August 13, 2016 by The Motherhood

We’re in the thick of back-to-school season, and for kids in early grade school and older, handwriting is an important aspect of learning that might require a refresher course. The Motherhood has worked with BIC and a group of bloggers to encourage kids to participate in a fun activity, responding to a variety of questions in writing, including the prompt, “What would you do as principal for a day?”

What would your kid(s) do if they were principal for a day? Have them write out their ideas and you could WIN a $10,000 scholarship! Visit BICFightForYourWrite.com now through August 15th to enter BIC’s If I Were Principal For A Day Contest and learn about more ways to celebrate handwriting. No Purchase Necessary. U.S. only, 21+. Ends 8/15/16. Visit BICFightForYourWrite.com for Official Rules and details.

Handwriting has numerous emotional and cognitive benefits for kids – research shows that it promotes critical thinking, reading comprehension, fine motor skills development, creativity and even self-confidence. A number of the BIC campaign bloggers have developed handwriting resources over the past several weeks to help kids practice their letters, write in Spanish and more. Here are a few that you and your kids might find useful as the school year begins!

To help kids learn to write in both Spanish and English, check out this Back to School Bilingual Writing Activity by Monica at Mommy Maestra (click here to go to her post and download the activity):

If your kids could use a little extra practice with their cursive, these free printable cursive worksheets by Jen at The Suburban Mom (click here to go to her post and download the worksheets) are for you:

Ask your kids a few questions, encouraging them to write down their answers, using this Back to School Free Printable Interview by Sara at Mom Endeavors (click here to go to her post to download the interview sheet) – you can ask the same questions each year and save the worksheets to see how their responses change as they grow up:

Image credit for top photo: Camille at Growing Up Gabel

Highlights from PR News’ Big 4 Conference #Social16

August 11, 2016 by The Motherhood

This week, PR News held its Big 4 Social Media Summit & Visual Storytelling Boot Camp (#Social16), where agencies and brand representatives gathered to discuss ways to make their messages stand out on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter.

The Motherhood’s social listening team followed along with the online conversation and rounded up some interesting takeaways from the event!

David Kellis from Clorox asserted that organic social media is dead (with the possible exception of Twitter influencers), and that brands must use strategies like earned media outreach, influencer marketing and social media listening to effectively reach their audiences. Social media listening, in particular, is what he called the “most important use of social media that we have.” It is a data mine for insights, ideas and input on areas of interest.

David Landis (Landis Communications) and James Mowdy (BSPOKE) explained how to maximize Periscope, including some best practices:

When it comes to sharing information – whether it’s a social post, video or longer-form messaging – Paul Englert with @CKMondaviWines reminds us to be concise!

PR News shared a summary of its four data visualization takeaways for creating infographics. The takeaways mirror the top-note themes from the event, such as keeping infographics concise and distilling the information in them into a simple story.

Stephanie Elsea with the American Heart Association shared the “rule of thirds” via this visual as a way to balance social media promotion:

PwC’s Leslie Douglas shared an interesting tidbit for brands interested in exploring Snapchat as a viable marketing platform: Snapchat has more than 100 million daily active users, and collectively, they watch more than 10 billion videos daily.

Were you at the event? Tell us your favorite takeaways in the comments below, and follow along with the conversation using #Social16!