Celebrity Entrepreneur Kristin Cavallari Says Marketers Make This Mistake When Targeting Young Moms

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Television personality, entrepreneur, and actress 31-year-old Kristin Cavallari is also a sharp social media influencer.

Kristin Cavallari

Fifty-five percent of millennial moms are asked for their opinion about purchase decisions, compared to 39% of total moms. However, though mothers control 85% of household purchases and have a spending power of $2.4 trillion, three out of four moms still say companies have no idea what it’s like being a mom. That’s why according to eMarketer.com, brand marketers are eager to partner with influencers, particularly to attract the millennial base.

Linqia is a platform that serves as a social content lab, where marketers can organically test and amplify the best performing influencer content to drive greater ROI from their paid, owned and earned media. In their 2018 State of Influencer Marketing report, 51% of marketers reported that influencer marketing outperforms brand-created content.

Some argue traditional celebrities shouldn’t be considered social media influencers and sit in a category on their own. They suggest their influence is on the decline due to younger consumers trusting content from “average” (content creators who aren’t actors, musicians, or TV stars) influencers instead. Yet one marketing firm, Whosay, says not only are traditional celebrities influencers, but can be tiered based on their total followers. Once tiered, Whosay discovered middle tiered celebrity influencers (Tier 2 and Tier 3) such as Nick Cannon and Michael Ian Black provided a better return on investment , due to higher organic engagement (likes, comments and shares). These celebrities also were more popular than average influencers.

One celebrity millennial mom who sits comfortably within the middle tier is Kristin Cavallari, a former reality television personality turned entrepreneur. Cavallari too has been tapped as a social media influencer to attract the millennial base, but agrees companies have no idea what it’s like being a mom. She says:

Typically the images these companies are trying portray don't accurately represent us as moms and what we go through on a daily basis. But that’s why a good product stands on its own with or without false representation. I think who we are as moms is ever changing and the modern mom is balancing way more than just being a mom, which I don’t see companies addressing.

Cavallari has used her influence to promote other brands, but currently is using it to promote her cookbook True Roots and personal jewelry line and lifestyle brand Uncommon James. She leverages her followers—fellow millennial women—and turned her social media accounts into informal focus groups. Below she shares her perspective:

Christine Carter: Describe your progression in business.

Kristin Cavallari: My first venture into business was collaborating on a shoe line with Chinese Laundry, but Uncommon James was my first solo venture into entrepreneurship. When I started my company, I was doing everything myself—from designing and operations, all the way down to social media. Now, not even a year later, I have an entire staff working for me and I’ve opened my first brick and mortar in Nashville, Tennessee.

Carter: Do you feel millennial motherhood is accurately portrayed in advertising (e.g. television commercials, magazine ads, etc.)?

Cavallari: I very rarely think anything is accurately portrayed in advertising. Advertising is a game and these companies have one goal: to sell us a product. So they sell us (millennial moms) the idea that if we buy their product, all of a sudden our lives will be perfect. There’s nothing accurate about that.

Carter: Which aspect of Uncommon James interests you most?

Cavallari: I’m most drawn to brand development—having complete creative freedom to do whatever I want. I also have a huge interest in advertising.

Carter: You have the unique perspective of being a celebrity, mother, influencer and entrepreneur. What advice would you offer brands to change their messaging in advertising?

Cavallari: I’m drawn to real messages and real situations. I understand selling a product, but mothers see past that and want the truth. I would suggest making fun of tough situations where we can laugh at ourselves and the situations we’ve all been through to make them relatable and honest.


Featured in The New York Times, Christine Michel Carter is the #1 global voice for working moms. Called “the mom of mom influencers,” "the exec inspiring millennial mom