Marketers, meet Moms on Social Networks.

You see the same scene in any neighborhood with young families: mom pushing the stroller with one hand, clutching her smartphone with the other. Through Pinterest, Facebook and other social platforms, she is likely using that phone to connect or gather information online.

That moms are big-time social network users is demonstrated in study after study. eMarketer’s latest forecast shows that this year nearly 28 million moms will use social networks, representing a whopping 82% of mom internet users who have children under 18 in the household.

In February, a BabyCenter study further revealed how much more likely moms were to regularly use social media compared with the general population—80% vs. 55%, respectively. Additionally, moms were more likely than the general population to have over 200 friends and to “like” brands.

Why is this demographic mad for social networks? Moms—particularly first-timers—are at a lifestage when they must quickly learn a lot of new information about baby care and products, and the internet is the ideal research library, explained BabyCenter SVP and global publisher Michael Fogarty. “There is so much to deal with, so many decisions and choices to make,” he said. “They are going to connect with other moms at a higher rate because they want to validate their decisions with other moms.”

A March survey of US mom internet users by Totsy verified BabyCenter’s conclusions. While product reviews had the greatest effect on purchase decisions for about half of moms polled, nearly 21% of moms said that friends’ opinions online contributed most to their decions, along with 11.5% who said that general media buzz figured most prominently.

BabyCenter’s Fogarty advised, “If you’re a marketer, it’s your job to make [getting that product information] easy.”

For more information at http://www.emarketer.com