New Study: “Social Moms” Prefer Sleep and their Smartphone Over Sex

The Lipstick Economy and SocialMoms.com conducted a survey recently among members, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers to find out a little more about their usage, preference and attitudes towards social media and related technology.  And along the way we found out some really interesting things.

Here’s one that many moms can relate to:  More than half of the moms surveyed — 51% — said a full night’s sleep was the most important thing in their life — next to their children and significant other. Interestingly, smartphones and coffee ranked higher  than sex among this group.  Ask a few of the Moms you know – they will probably agree.

Social Moms are much more connected than the average American, making the study unique in understanding some of the most active, influential women in social media.  The study gives a unique perspective of influential segment of moms who use social media as their lifeline, both at home and on the go.

Social Moms Sphere of Influence:  More than 1,000 Twitter Followers and 100-500 Facebook Friends

Just over 43% of the social moms surveyed reported having more than 1,000 followers on Twitter. Roughly the same percentage of social moms have their own Facebook Fan Page and are very active on it (43%). Still, most respondents have somewhere between 101-500 friends on Facebook (61%).

Social Moms Are Blog Moms

When it comes to blogs, the majority of social moms read blogs (91%) and comment on blogs (86%). A large percentage of social moms write and keep their own blog (74%) and identify themselves as personal bloggers (65%). While close to half of social moms surveyed actually generate income from a blog (44%), only one-fourth consider themselves professional bloggers (25%).

Highlights of the Study

•The majority of Social Moms own a smartphone (63%). The primary uses of smartphones (1-2 hours per day) are to stay in touch with family/friends (43%), for Facebook (34%) and to make calls (32%).

•Three-fourths of Social Moms write/keep their own personal blogs and close to half even generate an income from it. Yet only one-fourth consider themselves professional bloggers.

•Twitter (56%), blogs (55%) Facebook Fan pages (40%) and Facebook (39%) are the most common social media used, and the ones growing in importance.  YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+ are very important to one out of three Social Moms.

•Some 43% of Social Moms have more than 1,000 followers on Twitter and 61% of Social Moms have between 100-500 friends on Facebook.

• Mobility is key – laptops, smartphones and WiFi are important tools among Social Moms.  Two-thirds of Social Moms own a smartphone and one-fourth own a tablet computer, such as an iPad.  Social moms also use smartphones (a few minutes a day) for managing schedules (39%), checking the weather (39%), photographs (38%), Twitter (31%) or for maps/directions (30%).

• Most social moms use only about five mobile apps on a daily basis, despite many moms having 20+ installed on their smartphone or iPad.

• Email is still an important social connector for this group. Compared to a year ago, moms said they use Twitter (75%), blogs (71%), Facebook (69%), email (63%), online search (58%) and texting (50%) more now.

• Facebook ads are tolerated by social moms but seem less effective when it comes to driving actual purchases. This is not to say that Facebook ads cannot serve as a great tool to increase product awareness or “likes.”

Research Methodology
SocialMoms and The Lipstick Economy collected 733 responses, giving the study a margin of error of 4% at the 95% confidence level. The survey was fielded from  July 18, 2011 to August 30, 2011 using an online survey tool. Participant were given the opportunity to enter a random drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card as an incentive at the end of the survey.

The Demographics of a Social Mom
Most survey participants (62%) are stay-at-home moms and 38% are working moms. More than one-third are unemployed outside the home (37%), while one-fourth earn a part-time income (26%) and close to one-fifth are secondary breadwinners (18%).

Age distribution by generation, included:

• Millennial moms: 20%
• Gen X moms: 60%
• Baby Boomer moms: 20%

Close to half of the Social Moms we surveyed had kids younger than 5 years old (52%) and/or kids 5-12 years old (49%). One-fourth had kids 13-18 years old (26%).

Social Moms is a Mom-powered news, insight and resource community of more than 32,000 online Moms.