Six Tips for Marketing to Parents

In 2004, Andrew Erlichson and Mark Heinrich launched Phanfare.com after being disappointed with the photography Web sites they came across. Phanfare.com, a fee-based site, would focus on sharing rather than selling prints and also video sharing.

The business grew, but expanded beyond the originally intended audience: families. So in 2007, Phanfare.com retooled itself. It not only became free, but again became family-centric.

"We wanted to draw a bigger canvas and have a bigger impact," explains CEO Erlichson. "Social networking is a lot more collaborative and private. Based on that, we restructured and changed it to be a social network for families. But unlike MySpace, it's attuned to the privacy of parents and families."

But how does Phanfare, or any company, reach that audience? Here are some things to keep in mind when marketing to parents:...