Web groups are great for target marketers—and they know it.
The vast majority of senior marketing professionals are interested in learning more about their target audiences in online communities.
That is one of the main findings of data released in September 2008 from a Sapient-sponsored study conducted by Zoomerang.
Although the study’s sample was limited to 89 respondents, the results ring true, since online communities themselves recognize their sites’ marketing value.
In an interview with eMarketer, Ya-Yung Cheng, senior director of online marketing at CafeMom, described the diversity of the company’s online community, which would seem to be well-targeted.
“Targeting moms is more challenging than I would have imagined,” Ms. Cheng said. “Mom groups are very different. Being a mom is a large portion of our users’ lives, but it is not necessarily the only portion of their lives. It’s really important to talk to moms with the right sets of messages.”
Ms. Cheng said the company looks for co-branding and marketing partners that specifically target moms, “where moms are part of some organization or motherhood is a key component.”