Even today, repeated research says that mothers still make the bulk of the household decisions as they relate to the children within the family unit (childcare, extracurricular activities, education, etc.).  The majority of the mothers of the youth we are currently serving through 4-H programs come from the Millenial (birth years:  1982-2004) and Gen X (birth years:  1965-1984) generations.  Recognizing this, we have to be intentional with regard to how we market to these generation of Moms.

Some notes on these generations:

•  Both generations are more tech-savvy than ever before, with Millenial moms spending and on average spend approximately 4 hours a day on social media sites.
• These moms place a lot of value on word of mouth marketing, but this “word-of-mouth” may come by way of reviews on sites (i.e. Yelp, Amazon reviews, etc.) rather than from neighbors, friends, and families.
• These moms, unsurprisingly, report being “busier than ever,” and the majority would be willing to pay to outsource certain aspects of their daily living to focus more on higher priorities.  (You can read more at:  Milennial Moms and Marketing to Millenial Moms).

Let’s talk about the last bullet for a moment.  Where are you currently marketing your programs?  In a county 4-H newsletter (that may be getting shuffled around on the kitchen counter for a month with other newsletters before actually being read), in the newspaper (do people still read those?), someplace else?  Recognizing that today’s moms are looking for a one-stop-shop for all things youth related a number of youth opportunity clearinghouses have arisen on the internet.  The site names may be different but they all serve to be the main source of youth opportunities on the internet.  Just a sampling of sites that serve our area include:

Fun4Gator Kids:  Alachua County

Fun4NatureCoastKids:  Levy, Citrus, and surrounding counties

Fun 4 Clay and Bradford Kids:  Clay and Bradford Counties

Fun 4 First Coast Kids:  Duval and surrounding counties County

Don’t see your county name listed?  Ask the parents you encouter on a regular basis.  They’ll tell you where they and their peers get their information.