@gapkids

@covergirl

@campbells

Mother's Day is just around the corner in the US. To better understand mums on Instagram, we commissioned a study on how they use the platform. As a result, we discovered that mums are an active group in the Instagram community. In fact, on Instagram, mums account for one in four women aged over 18 in the US.¹ And of those, 93% use Instagram at least once a week, and 68% use it daily.²

With their hectic schedules, mums are using mobile devices to manage their entire lives – from work to personal. In addition to managing their schedules, the average mum checks social media 15 times a day³ and checks Instagram six times every day.⁴ Knowing that millennial mums play a pivotal role in making meal decisions, Campbell's wanted to reach this key audience where they spend their time on mobile.

Through a combination of video, recipe hacks and user-generated content all branded with #RealRealLife on Instagram, Campbell's saw strong results amongst mothers.

Mums follow content based on their interests. Looking at internal data, we discovered that mums are five times more likely to follow accounts about cosmetics, three times more likely to follow fashion, twice as likely to follow hair accounts and 1.7 times more likely to follow animal accounts when compared to dads.⁵

In addition to following their interests, over half of mums on Instagram follow businesses. And they're not just following these business accounts – they're interacting with them, too. In fact, more than 56% say that Instagram is the place they learn about products, and 78% of mums take action from business posts after seeing inspiring content on Instagram.⁶ From discovery to transactions, mums are using Instagram throughout the entire purchasing cycle.

In the US, we're also seeing that adverts shared from department stores convert mums 2.8 times more often, with retail, apparel and accessories adverts converting 2.1 times more often.⁷ To promote awareness, exposure and reach, and ultimately inspire purchases of its limited-edition Peanuts collaboration, GapKids ran adverts targeted at mums on Instagram.

Through its playful Peanuts campaign, Gap Kids showcased the collection in a clever, yet cool and accessible way.

Dads are just as active as mums on Instagram. In fact, almost half of dads on the platform follow businesses, and of those, 69% take action from the content they see. Like mums, dads follow Instagram accounts they're passionate about. They're 4.3 times more likely to follow vehicle brands, 2.5 times more likely to follow leisure accounts and 1.4 times more likely to follow sport accounts compared to mums.⁸

As you can see, parents are a highly active audience on Instagram. Not only are mums and dads following their passions and interests, but they're using the platform to discover and interact with brands they care about. When you set up the audience for your adverts, select detailed targeting segments such as "mothers", "new mums", "dads" and even "athletic mums" or "mums of primary school kids" to reach this engaged audience.