Nielsen: Local News Key to Reaching Moms

Despite the inundation of information out there, local news is still a key means for reaching moms, whose spending in 2016 amounted to $165 billion, according to Nielsen.

The best times and way to do that, however, depends on whether you’re targeting working or at-home moms, a group Nielsen defines as the 25.1 million women ages 18-49 living in their own home with kids under 12.

Those findings, released Monday morning, are part of Nielsen’s Local Watch Report for the third quarter of 2016, which focused on the media consumption habits of moms, who, according to Nielsen, last year spent 56% of the total spent by women 18-49. 

According to the study, working moms across local people meter markets watch more early morning and late news, whereas stay-at-home moms watch more mid-day and evening news.

On average in those markets, stay-at-home moms spend an additional hour with the TV screen each day as compared to working moms. Due to the fact that they spend more time at home, they have higher usage of both live TV and TV-connected devices, Nielsen found.

The study also found advertisers are more likely to reach moms digitally than they are other women. Mothers are 21% more likely than other women to have downloaded a media app in the last month, according to Nielsen. Over a 30-day period, 53% of moms visited a broadcast media website compared to 37% of the average female.

Moms are 47% more likely to consume local news on mobile, a platform they are 59% more likely to use for information about local and community events, and 36% more likely to use for traffic and weather.

In the study, 50% of moms said they’d like to receive location-based coupons on their cell phones.

Nashville, Tenn., and Tulsa, Okla., have the highest percentage of stay-at-home moms, while Providence, R.I. and Knoxville, Tenn. have the highest percentage of working moms, the study found. Stay-at-home moms watch the most news in St. Louis, while working moms watch the most in Pittsburgh.

(Photo via Pictures of Money's FlickrImage taken on Sept. 9, 2016 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)