@gapkids

@covergirl

@campbells

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

With their hectic schedules, moms are using mobile devices to manage their entire lives—from work to personal. In addition to managing their schedules, the average mom checks social media 15 times a day³ and checks Instagram six times every day.⁴ Knowing that millennial moms 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 among mothers.

Moms follow content based on their interests. Looking at internal data, we discovered that moms are 5x more likely to follow accounts about cosmetics, 3x more likely to follow fashion, 2x more likely to follow hair accounts and 1.7x more likely to follow animal accounts when compared to dads.⁵

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

In the US, we also see that ads shared from department stores convert 2.8x more often among moms, with retail, apparel and accessories ads converting 2.1x more often.⁷ To promote awareness, exposure and reach — and ultimately inspire purchases of its limited-edition Peanuts collaboration — GapKids ran ads targeted to moms on Instagram.

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

Dads are just as active as moms 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 moms, dads follow Instagram accounts they’re passionate about. They’re 4.3x more likely to follow auto brands, 2.5x more likely to follow leisure accounts and 1.4x more likely to follow sport accounts compared to moms.⁸

As you can see, parents are a highly active audience on Instagram. Not only are moms 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 ads, select detailed targeting segments like “mothers,” “new moms,” “dads” and even “fit moms” or “moms of grade schooler kids,” to reach this engaged audience.