Consumer behavior is a bit of an obsession at Verto – and every time a new device or major app hits the market, our data gives us a first-hand look at how it changes the way that we interact with online content. But what happens when the big change is a life event, and not a digital one?
A Day in the Digital Life of a New Mother
Rather than selecting a user segment simply based on the usual demographic or gender breakdowns, we instead decided to focus on new mothers in the UK, defined as women who reported having at least one child under eighteen months old. We compared their online behavior to those of the general adult population in the UK (ages 18 and older) to determine if there was a significant difference in their daily digital behaviors.
Here’s what their day looks like:
Unsurprisingly, new mothers wake up and get online early: they start using mobile apps by 5 a.m., and activity peaks between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Interestingly, website activity on PCs peaks in the late evening, at around 8 p.m. – presumably after the babies have been put to bed.
1. New Mothers Are Well Connected
Verto Analytics data shows that new mothers have higher device ownership across most of the digital device types when compared to the general population. In addition to having an especially high rate of smartphone ownership (96% of new mothers report owning a smartphone, compared to just 71% of the population), they also index particularly high on home entertainment devices such as video game consoles, smart TVs, and streaming media players.
2. New Moms Tend to Use Search, Shopping, and Social Media Websites Most
How do new mothers spend their time online? Based on Verto Analytics data, the following websites and app categories are among the most popular among new mothers:
- Search and Reference (eg., Wikipedia, Answers.com, and Google.com)
- Shopping (eg., Amazon, eBay, and Boots.com)
- Social and Communications (eg., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)
This also aligns with trends observed among the general population. However, while search/reference, shopping, and social media websites have a slightly lower reach among new mothers compared to the general population, they all account for a greater share of the amount of time that new mothers spend online.
3. New Moms Spend More Time Online
Verto Analytics data shows that new mothers spend more hours online per month than the average online user, regardless of which device they’re using. On average, new mothers spend more than 112 hours per month online via PC (20% more than the general population) and nearly 76 hours per month online via mobile device (10% more than the general population). New mothers index especially high in time spent on PCs, as their online engagement tends to be dominated by web usage rather than app interaction.
4. New Moms Prefer Social Platforms with Privacy Controls
Which social media platforms are most popular with new mothers? Messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp have higher-than-average reach among new mothers compared to the general population, while major social media properties properties such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter index lower. Notably, Google+ and Pinterest also index high among new mothers.
Our takeaway on social usage among new moms? Social media platforms that allow a consumer to control access/viewership to content or share content with a smaller subgroup (such as family members or friends) appear to be more popular among new mothers, while more public forums, such as Twitter, hold less appeal.
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