There is a lot of discussion lately about the “new” paradigm of motivation for our employees. The discussion, driven by books such as "Drive" by Dan Pink and others before him, focus on the need to tap into a more noble vein and eliminate the plebian tools we used in the past, the awards and the incentives, and in their stead provide vision and direction but allow the individual to work autonomously, learn and grow and be part of a larger effort.
I get that and I agree with it. At a basic level this is good stuff. But in a day-to-day business world it may not be effective.
Strategic vision is important. Getting people aligned is important. But without incentives to really break behavioral inertial we’re doomed.
I want to talk about stock photography. We all use it - I do as well. Some of it is quite good. But some of it is.....how do I put this politely....so obviously fake it is ineffective. One of my favorite sites is Bad Stock Art. They featured the above image from a search for "nurse" with this caption:
She must be a specialist – with the special ability to hear through her eyeball.
I so wish this were an isolated incident, but I come across this kind of stereotype, cliche crap all too often.
Images convey emotion
Images are used to display emotion in ads. Look at the images you use. Do they inspire the emotional response you want? Do women respond to the emotion, or lack thereof in your images?
I am a huge fan of using online video, especially if you are marketing or selling to women.
The fabulous folks at Invodo have proof positive that adding video increases conversion and SEO. Take a look at their new video, promoting video - Video Fills the Shopping Cart Up.
Why is video especially important when marketing to women?
People vs. text - Women can see body language, facial expressions, and other emotional details text can't convey.
Scenarios vs. features - Women don't just care about features, they want to know what the features can do for them. Women look ahead to the multiple scenarios where they might use a product.
Here's an example from the Girlfriend Getaway promotion sponsored by Southern Chevy Dealers. It's a video from a woman demonstrating the Malibu docking station for her iPod. See how much more effective this video is (how much more of an emotional connection there is) than simply listing this as a feature on your website.
Online video is where it's at people. Add it to your websites and product pages and increase conversion.
The article is written from a man's point of view by author Aaron Traister. He shares this story about how women solve problems, vs. how men solve problems.
We love how you solve problems. The rabbi describes the way his wife tackles obstacles as full of drama: She rages, she cries, she internalizes everything. Her system of problem-solving takes a long time and involves making everything personal and leading with her emotions in a quest to see how she would feel about each possible solution. It is apparently a very stressful process. In contrast, the rabbi's problem-solving method is to just try to find the fastest fix. When I asked him why he preferred his wife's method, he said it was because "her decisions always end up being the right ones, whereas mine always end up being the quick ones."
Interesting point of view. While I don't agree completely with his word choices, there is a note of truth to what he says. It has to do with the brain differences between men and women and how it affects how each of us makes decisions, including buying decisions.
