The Latest Digital Marketing Trend: Mommy and Me Influencing

The newest trend in the digital marketing space is coming at the hands of children. Yes, that’s right, children are making waves in the digital marketing industry through social media influencing. Over the past decade, children have begun using technology, namely smart phones, at increasingly younger ages. Lately we’ve started to see people, mostly mothers, capitalize on their children’s ability to use technology through the creation of child social media accounts. This trend is known as Mommy and Me influencing.

Building a Brand

Like adults, kids often become interested in a product when their friends or someone their age has it. By creating social media accounts for their kids, mothers can build a child influencer brand that appeals to other mothers and their children. This creates a specific mommy and child market. Ryan’s Toys Reviews, possibly the largest child influencer, has a social media following of over 17 million subscribers on Youtube. The account, run by his parents, focuses on Ryan reviewing hot toys on the market. The page has become so popular that Ryan now has his own toy brand at Walmart, called Ryan’s World Toys.

Destiny Greene, a social media influencer with partnerships with companies such as Target and Walgreens, is the mother of an Alpha Generation child who is skilled at using social media. Greene has started an Instagram page for her daughter, Honor. Honor’s page was created when she was just 2-years old, and now has upwards of 7,000 followers. The page is aimed at building a personal brand for Honor, that with time will be run by Honor herself. “If executed in a purposeful, strategic fashion, when the child turns 18, they will have their own business,” said Greene.

The trend is growing in popularity as more and more parents are opting to create social media accounts for their children. Some of these parents are influencers themselves. Similar to Destiny Greene, parents Adam and Latoya Ali are successful influencers who have created an influencer account for their child, Samia. Samia Ali has a following on both Youtube and Instagram that eclipes over 340,000 people. 

This trend has led companies to reach out to the parents who run their children’s accounts. They then offer them exclusive deals to sponsor their content. Child social media influencing represents an opportunity for companies to target a younger demographic that they are unable to reach on their own. 

Outside of kid influencers there are mom influencers who garner significant social media traffic, as well. Their accounts serve the same function, but are more geared towards family lifestyle as opposed to kid products. They target their content towards those who are growing families. A mom influencer will promote something like a specific sunscreen they prefer to use. Andrea Hanneman, for instance, a mom influencer with 1 million Instagram followers promotes Burt’s Bees. Similar to kid influencers, popular mom influencers are able to strike deals with companies to promote their content.

Other popular mom influencers to keep an eye on include Ilana Wiles, Heather Armstrong, Joanna Goddard, and Jill Smokler. Stay tuned as both mom and child influencers are becoming an increasingly popular digital marketing tool.