Marketing to Women: Staying Connected on Your Trip Abroad.

Sorry, I haven’t posted lately. I have been out of the country for a couple of weeks, traveling with friends, and here is what I learned about staying in touch.  Or Why it’s a Small, Small, Small World after all.

•  WiFi is the glue to your connectedness.   If you have access to WiFi, you are just as connected as you want to be.  (Emphasis on want to be.)  Yes, time differences can wreak havoc with response times, but you can catch up on all the news you want and keep up with your emails.

•  FaceTime and Skype are your friends.  I love FaceTime.  (Confession:  I am Apple through and through.)  Facetime was the most reliable way to connect with my family while I was gone.  I was able to share a whole baklava experience with my daughter because of Facetime. And when you are missing someone special there is nothing better than a little Facetime.  My husband is going to have to convert to an iPhone (from a Droid), so that I can connect with him that way.   Skype is also a great friend when traveling.  The Skype apps make calling a cinch. And it makes those pesky international charges a thing of the past.

•  Texting provided the essential communication.  Regardless of WiFi connectedness, the texting allowed for communication among my group and sent the important travel news home.  It is covered on most plans and is unlimited so it is the go-to communication for travel essentials like arrival times.  Yes, planes are still late and a handy update is always essential for those on the other end of your travels.

• iPhone as Camera.  I am not a great photographer and with my new iPhone, I didn’t even need a separate camera.  I just shot photos with my iPhone.  And anyone that knows me, knows that I take pictures of every meal I eat on vacation.  So my iPhone worked well for snapshots of friends and my seafood extravaganza.

• My new iPad never let me down.  I didn’t need a laptop.  My iPad was fast, efficient and handy.  I downloaded a travel guide to my iBooks that was extremely helpful.  I also read two books on my trip.  The Pulse app kept all my news handy in one place and USA Today kept me informed on important stuff like the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes break-up and the passing of everyone’s favorite Andy Griffith.  And of course, the longer battery life on the iPad allows for longer reading times.  I only recharged it three times in two weeks, and my iPhone and iPad charger worked great with my power adapter.

• Social Media rules.  New friends I met on my trip wanted to Facebook me and it was a handy solution to keeping in touch with friends overseas.  My overseas friends were kind to mention that they often read The Lipstick Economy.   I also kept up with the news at home through Facebook and I didn’t miss any birthdays while I was gone.  Facebook also allows for quick messaging when you don’t have someone’s email at your fingertips.  We could even update folks at home through social media and had a dedicated blog for the trip for those who wanted to keep up with us.

• Weather Updates.  My Weather Channel app was essential to keeping up with the weather in Greece and at home.  When I was sweating in Greece, it was important to know that there was an all-time heat wave in Nashville.  Also, keeping up with the heat was important to our water consumption as we climbed over ruins, navigated bus schedules and trekked through city centers.

• Translator Apps can be invaluable.  I should have used it more than I did, but WiFi accessibility limited use of it.  But a translator app is a great friend when you can’t tell the difference between a bath gel and a juice box.

•  Local cell phone is an option.  If you are spending a great deal of time in a city and need to connect with folks in the city, a local pre-paid cell phone might be an option.  I used one to connect with friends locally and it was a big help when you were lost or needed to make a quick call.

Do you have some travel hints?  Let us know what they are.

Marketing to iPhone Moms: The Fastest Growing Buyers of iPhones

We knew it, long before most marketing executives realized it.  Oh, yes, it seems that they knew online Moms were important.  But here’s the new news for some folks:  Moms are the fastest-growing buyers of iPhones.  They are also voracious users of  search, media, music, social media, news and photos.  Go to any carpool line, sports game, coffee shop or grocery store, and you will see Moms armed for the daily battle of juggling kids, shopping, exercise, friends and careers.

According to NPD, the number of moms with smartphones is about equal to men of the same age, but they are adopting the technology at a faster pace. The number of moms who purchased iPhones grew 132 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same time last year — outpacing men, who rose by 121 percent, according to NPD. Overall, adult purchases of the smartphone grew 117 percent.

Currently, 25% of folks with smartphones use the device as their main connection to the internet.  Currently 63% of all internet traffic comes from computers, but in 2015, some predict that less than 50% of web traffic will come from computers, reflecting the rise in smartphone usage.

What’s the attraction with an iPhone?  I think it is the headstart that Apple got with apps for adults and children, Google maps,  the seamless beauty of an integrated iTunes/ iPod, a decent camera, the miracle of FaceTime, iBooks and a fashion forward sense of style.  I mean, who is secure enough to run ads that say “If you don’t have an iPhone, well,  you don’t have an iPhone”.

So what are some takeaways for marketing to iPhone moms?  Make sure you have a mobile friendly website or an app.  Realize that comparison shopping is happening all the time, everywhere.  Integrate social media into all your web entities because life’s a 24/7 conversation.  Recognize that consumer reviews can make or break you so you have to respond to reviews.  And start testing mobile advertising.

So what am I doing right now?  Checking all the techy sites, trying to learn what the new iPhone 5 is going to bring us Moms.

If you are interested in participating in the SocialMoms Benchmark Study to help SocialMoms understand how social networking and technology is changing our lives, click here:

http://2130541.polldaddy.com/s/socialmoms-benchmark-study