How to Connect with Parents Juggling Children During Quarantine

All U.S. consumers are somehow affected by the COVID-19 pandemic whether it’s financial, employment, travel plans, family health, etc. However, parents are facing their own unique set of challenges. Most states have cancelled the remainder of the school year or have moved to distance learning, leaving parents in a unique position: how can they keep their kids healthy, safe and entertained all day? For some parents, that also includes juggling their full-time job or facing the troubling reality that their job is in jeopardy.

As we researched the impact of COVID-19 on parents, we specifically looked at people who were searching for content surrounding entertainment and activities for kids while social distancing, concern for safety of children during COVID-19 and the mental wellness of children during social distancing. We analyzed roughly 10 billion daily online events and used AI and predictive modeling to scale these insights to the U.S. online adult population.

What is the right way to speak to this group of consumers in this unprecedented time? What are their values and shopping preferences? What are their current media habits and overall sentiment on COVID-19 and beyond?

Who Are Parents Juggling Children and Isolation?

This group is mostly made up of married women ages 45-54 with kids under 18. They’re mostly stay-at-home moms with an annual household income of $100 – $150K. When it comes to their top personal values they over index for the acceptance of others, everyone being treated equally and safety in their community and nation, which aligns well with the fact that they’re searching for content surrounding the safety of children during this time. When it comes to their psychological drivers, their top motivators are proving competence and skills, optimistic outlook and romantic love.

What Are Their Product and Retail Preferences?

This group leads a very healthy lifestyle – their daily routines involve avoiding soda, limiting calories / fats / salts and being aware of their family health history, which explains why they’re searching for ways to keep their kids healthy and safe during this time. What kind of products is this group of consumers looking for right now? They’re 119% more likely than the average consumer to want products that are good-looking, 103% more likely to want products that are rewarding and 85% more like to want products that are family friendly. When it comes to retailer preferences, this segment is 90% more likely to prefer retailers with loyalty programs, 75% more likely to prefer clean stores and 34% more likely to prefer retailers with a big product selection.

Since in-store experiences aren’t possible right now, it’s important for retailers to highlight their loyalty program and big product selection, and do so in an optimistic way, since they’re motivated by having a positive outlook. Since 80% of this group prefers receiving marketing messages via email, consider sending a weekly email to this group highlighting your most rewarding, best-looking products. Since you know they’re home with their kids, try to highlight products that will keep their kids entertained or activities they can do as a family. Use messaging that’s empathetic, demonstrating that you understand the unique challenge they’re facing having kids home 24/7. Incentivize them by offering a special discount to your loyalty program members or send them the email a day before everyone else so they get exclusive access to new products first.

This group is 259% more likely than the average consumer to share their thoughts with a company, so ask them for their feedback on a certain product or offering. They’re also 73% more likely to shop based on an important issue, so consider highlighting any donations or contributions you’ve made to COVID-19 efforts or charities in order to earn their loyalty and trust. This group is also 60% more likely to make impulse purchases (retail therapy, anyone?), so consider featuring your most exciting products on social media or on your website’s homepage to encourage impulse purchases.

Where Can You Find Them?

So, where can you reach this segment across digital channels? Their top TV networks are: TLC, Bravo and E!. They’re 22% more likely to watch TV via a streaming service, most likely Hulu Plus, Disney+ and HBO Now. They read USA Today, Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and spend 20-40 hours per week online. Their top social media channels are Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram. Consider running media on any of the above platforms in order to target parents at home with their kids.

The most important thing to keep in mind when trying to connect with this group is that you come from a place of understanding and empathy. While a healthy dose of optimism will go a long way with this group, they’re also stretched thin with their children at home 24/7 and will appreciate brands and retailers that provide them with products and services to help them get thru this challenging time.

How Do We Source Our Data?

Curious about how we’re sourcing these insights about the U.S. Consumer in real-time during the Coronavirus crisis? This data is drawn from Resonate’s National Consumer Study, which includes contextual analysis on the impact of COVID-19. This data is tied to the online digital behaviors of over 500 million devices by leveraging AI & predictive modeling to predict the survey responses of the individuals using these devices. With more than 100 questions and 5,000 respondents on COVID-19 there is industry coverage from finance to travel, politics, entertainment, media, retail and more.

Resonate provides approximately 200 million human profiles featuring 13,000+ elements to reveal the deepest understanding of US consumers. This audience analysis includes baseline comparisons between highlighted audiences and the online adult population.

Dive even deeper into the data by downloading our just released report: Understanding U.S. Consumer Sentiment During the Coronavirus Pandemic.