As a new mom, I’m constantly turning to social media and other online sources for research and advice. Insight on how often a baby should sleep, for example. Apparently it’s 15 hours, but my five month old begs to differ. As a marketer targeting moms, I’ve found a new perspective on the best ways to get my client’s message in front of this coveted group. In honor of my first Mother’s Day, here’s my advice to marketers trying to reach this savvy consumer with significant buying power.

Investing in social media isn’t enough anymore.

Most brands have the basics of social media figured out, but the ones that are doing it well have found the right cohesion of channels and are filling each with compelling content to grab – and hold – a mom’s attention. Nearly 80% of moms (compared to 55% of the general population) follow brands and products on social to get coupons and discounts, and 89% of moms are using mobile devices to check social sites.

Moms run from school drop-off to soccer practice with stops at the grocery store or Target in between. They require information in a convenient, on-the-go format. A mom’s phone doubles as a GPS, recipe provider, shopping list, camera, store finder (the Starbucks app is one of my favorites) and on-the-go entertainment for kids when stuck in a line or waiting room.

The Children’s Place gets this, and shares weekly coupons via email, Facebook and Pinterest. By making the coupons accessible on multiple channels, mom doesn’t need to remember to clip a coupon and can easily pull it up on her phone at checkout. With 92% of moms passing along information about deals to others, that great Children’s Place deal will likely be shared with her Facebook friends. Many of those friends will then make a similar purchase. Nearly 45% say they’ve made a purchase after a friend posted a recommendation or liked a product on a social network.

Become an information source.

Don’t just highlight your products, extend your influence by providing useful information to make a mom’s life easier, like recipes, coupons, contests and time saving tips.

Shutterfly’s app is spot on when engaging moms. The app makes it easy to upload photos directly from your phone and order prints or gifts. Shutterfly recognizes that most moms are also responsible for gift purchasing, so its Facebook and Pinterest pages are filled with gift ideas and reminders. On Monday, a Mother’s Day post on Shutterfly’s Facebook page reminded me that I still needed a gift for my mother-in-law, and conveniently offered me a promo code for free upgraded shipping so I could receive her personalized gift in time.

Court those mom-fluencers.

Mom bloggers are your media targets and your target market. It’s a combination that –when properly nurtured – can create powerful brand ambassadors. More than 18 million moms read blogs at least once a month. Engage mom-fluencers with compelling reasons to review your product and incentives to share with their readers.

Maytag created the Maytag Moms Dependable Kitchen/Laundry Ambassador program, and assembled two teams of 25 bloggers – the Maytag laundry team and the Maytag kitchen team. Each blogger received a new washer/dryer or new kitchen suite, was asked to write four blog posts and encouraged to mention the brand on their social channels. A few moms were also flown out to the “Real Whirled House” in Michigan to test Whirlpool and Maytag appliances. The positive word of mouth value Maytag generated far outweighed the hard costs of the appliances.

Moms have enough noise to distract them. As brand marketers we must be diligent in understanding which channels and formats mom-fluencers are listening to and using. Plus, if you do it in a way that saves mom time and allows her a moment of respite, there’s a good chance she’ll tell her friends about you.