The Rise Of Mummy Vloggers: Netmums Founder Launches ‘Channel Mum’

In between school runs, meal times and round-the-clock supervision, it’s somewhat surprising that mums are finding the time to make online videos. But it’s becoming a big trend.

So big, in fact, that it’s prompted the launch of a new YouTube network for the sole purpose turning them into vlogging stars.

The multi-channel network, called Channel Mum, helps UK ‘mummy vloggers’ build their online profiles.

Created by Siobhan Freegard, who co-founded Netmums in 2000 before leaving the parenting site last year, it features the honest face of parenting and will help young mums find the content – and brands – they want to know about.

“YouTube reminds me so much of the early days of Netmums, when the Internet was first coming into our homes,” Freegard told the Guardian.

“To me, it was like a wild west, but now it’s all organised and feels mature, whereas on YouTube, you can still literally see the cowboys riding off to stake their claims.”

The channel is aimed at ‘millennials’ – people who reached adulthood around the year 2000 – as Freegard claims 80 per cent of babies are born to women of this age.

“YouTube is growing up, and the millennials are growing up too,” says Freegard. “There are a huge number of new mums in this category, and at least the middle and younger of them are the YouTube generation, while the older ones are coming to it.

Currently in the UK, there aren’t many channels providing parenting videos for mums of this particular age so Freegard could well have found her niche.

“We said, let’s look at the top 20 mum vloggers in the UK, and we couldn’t even find 20. We found 15,” says Freegard.

But there’s a definite want for content like this. Channel Mum released figures today that show that in December 2014 alone, the top 15 channels for mums uploaded over 50 hours of content, garnering over 13 million views.

“Mums don’t want to listen to a man in a business suit forcing his way through the door at a toddler group setting out his wares and telling them why they should buy his product but we are genuinely interested in products because we’re the ones who buy them,” says Freegard.

“Mums buy 85 per cent of the products in a supermarket. Mums are the decision makers in the household. Mums decide everything. MIllenials particular, we know, engage with brands. We know that they follow them on twitter. But we know that they read reviews online from blogs rather than going to company websites to read the company jargon about their products. They want to hear about it authentically.”

A Chance To Get Vlogging
The mummy vloggers involved in Channel Mum haven’t yet been confirmed but a new competition that’s being launched to celebrate the launch of the channel today will give emerging talent the chance to get vlogging.

The competition, in collaboration with Panasonic, will give 100 mums the chance to get peer mentoring, £1000 in cash and all the camera equipment they need to start vlogging.

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Have you tried your hand at vlogging? Or would you try it? Let us know in the comments.