18% of Social Media Moms = 78% of Influence

 Yesterday, I posted the highlights of an intriguing study just out fromBabyCenter.  Today, some more details...

The study maintains that there are five unique segments of social momsand that these five are broken down into two categories

Influencers: Field Experts, Lifecasters and Pros

Influenced: Butterflies and the Audience 

According to the study,  these Influencers make up only 18% of socialmoms, but account for 78% of the influence. The research defined influencebased on how often moms post or comment on social networks, along with the sizeof their networks. The study defined those networks as including "e.g.,BabyCenter, Twitter, Facebook or blogs."

Following is a summary of how BabyCenter breaks down its categories:

Field Expert. A young stay at home mom who uses socialmedia to share parenting advice, typically  focused on a specifictopic (e.g.,  raising twins, breastfeeding issues), with a large networkof moms who seek her out for advice. She is defined as being most active in"parenting-focused social media environments." According to the study, FieldExperts make up 8% of social moms and have a 33% share of influence overall.

Lifecaster. A Millennial mom of youngchildren who is very active in social media.  She has a strong need tostay connected and enjoys being recognized as the person to go to onmany topics, not just parenting. She has a large number of connections insocial media.  Lifecasters make up 8% of social moms and 34% percentof influence overall.

Pros. Gen X mom bloggers who have turned theirpassion for social media into a profession. "She posts opinionsand advice on a wide variety of topics including parenting tips andproduct reviews and giveaways." Often, she has been compensated in some way forwriting about brands on her blog. Pros represent 2% of moms in social media andhave an 11% share of influence overall.  BabyCenter explains: "While theyare incredibly influential individually, they account for a lower proportion ofthe influence overall due to their small size." Pros are most influential onblogs, where they have an 89% share of influence and on Twitter with 68%.

And who are the Influenced?

Butterflies. Young professionals expecting their firstchild. She  has a lot of friends online and off, but little time, so she tends to only post  important updates and primarilyuses platforms such as Facebook.  She also seeksadvice about her pregnancy on parenting-focused social media networks. Shetends to be more on the receiving end of advice and recommendations rather thana dispenser of such information. Butterflies represent 16% of moms in socialmedia but only wield 7% of the influence overall because of their low level ofactivity.

The Audience. This, the largest group of social moms, islistening to the other moms. This group ranges from expectant moms to moms ofolder children. They have fewer online friends and comment less frequentlyin social media, but are highly influenced by the other segments. "Moms inthis group use parenting-focused social media environments...to find usefulinformation, ask questions, get product recommendations or receive support.They use mainstream social sites to keep in touch with friends and forconsuming entertainment. They are there to observe and obtain information - notto comment." At 66% percent of moms who use social media, the audience makes upthe largest group but wields little influence relative to their size at 15%overall.

Moms, do you feel these categories make sense? Into which group do you fall?Marketers, what is your reaction?

For more details on the "2010 Mom Social Influencer Report," visit here.