Marketers and the iPhone mom opportunity

There’s a new class of always-connected broadband users that has overtaken teens and the often-cited Millennial Generation in technology dependency: It is a growing and active group of tech-savvy moms. According to three separate accounts this week, moms are upping the ante on broadband and wireless usage — for their young children and in spite of their teens.

First, social marketing agency Mr. Youth reported this week that women born between 1977 and 1996 are entering their child-rearing years and becoming trendsetters because of four reasons: they’re multi-tech multitaskers; they build communities and ease transitions; they crowd-source decisions; and they’re masters of the “overshare.” Many of these women fall into the rapidly expanding “Mommy Blogger” category, building active communities for women seeking advice, conversation and support. For Mr. Youth’s purposes, this group is also becoming increasingly attractive to market to.

Give this group of moms an iPhone and their marketing attractiveness will skyrocket, according to another mobile advertising network, Greystripe, in survey findings released this week. The company said that the iPhone has become a mother’s tool of choice, from letting kids use the phone to downloading games specifically for them to using it at the grocery store for comparison shopping and grocery lists. According to the ad network, this group of iPhone moms makes up 29.5% of all iPhone users. Once thought to be late adopters and a hard-to-reach group on mobile, now 96% of moms with iPhones are involved in family purchasing decisions, and 40% are the sole decision-makers, it found. Also notable was Greystripe’s claim that iPhone moms aren’t using their phones just for their children: 90% use them personal entertainment ranging from music to entertainment apps to Web browsing.

Finally, over at the Web 2.0 Summit last week in San Francisco, teens on a “What do teens want panel?” suggested that an answer is less embarrassing mom action on Facebook. It sounds like the kids might lose out this time, though. Moms’ mobile and Web usage is on the rise and, if Greystripe is right, carries a bit more weight than their younger counterparts.

E-mail me at sarah.reedy@penton.com.