Marketing to Women Online

Dove's Pro-Age Campaign

Here's something to get you thinking...

Nearly 60% of women globally believe that if magazines were reflective of a population, a person would likely believe women over 50 do not exist.

It's tough to respond to ads when you never see yourself in those ads.  When you do see women over 50, it's almost always a stereotype in an ad for Medicare, or a financial planning service, or someone's grandmother.    Break away from those stereotypes and she will notice you and your ads. 

Dove is doing just that....again.   They are generating a lot of interest.  Check out Michele Miller's blog for some insight into how women feel about the campaign.

As usual, I was interested in how well the website was integrated into their marketing strategy.  I think they did a pretty good job this time.  But I do have one suggestion (Come on Dove, you didn't think you were going to get away that easy :)....

There is some awesome information, but it is completely buried in the FAQ section.   Some of this should really be front and center in their campaign. 

I was curious about the products - if they aren't supposed to stop aging, what are they supposed to do? 

 

Male vs. Female Humor

What do you find funny?  What makes you laugh out loud?  What is it that makes something funny?  And do men and women respond to different types of humor?

It matters in life, but it also matters in marketing.  Humor is a very powerful tool in marketing.  When done right - it is engaging and influential.  When done wrong - it can not only fail to engage, it maybe even have the opposite effect, causing your perspective customer to disengage with your message.

Humor in advertising appeals to both sexes, but it is especially powerful with women.   

Marketers looking to target women might try putting more humor in their ads.

So say preliminary findings in a yearlong study prepared by Oxygen Media and Grey Global Group's MediaCom. The study focuses on women and humor. Initial findings were released today.

The article talks about the different types of humor women respond to. 

Want a first hand look at what women find funny?   Go check out Kiki Melendez and her Hot Tamales Live show November 30th - December 2nd in NYC.

I saw the show earlier this year and it is snort out your drink funny.    But what was most interesting is - I noticed that some of the humor that had the women howling seemed to miss the mark with some of the men.   Why was that?   Here are some ideas...

Customer Behavior- What vs.Why

I talked previously about the debate as to whether it is best to use "gut instinct" or rely on customer data when creating a marketing campaign.

You know I'm not a fan of trusting a creative director's "gut".    But is the answer then to rely solely on customer data?   No.

Every time you turn around, there is a new company or technology or analysis system that can give you ever more data on what your customers are doing on your website.

While retailers can't seem to get enough of this data, there is a problem.   They are having a really tough time turning this data into actionable insight they can use to actually increase conversion.   

While they know what their customers are doing, they don't know why.   

So how do you get to the "why"?    Find out in this Grokdotcom article.   

Your Customer's Language

So we're sitting around the dinner table with some semi-famous designers and my friend, who sometimes blurts things out without thinking - blurts something out without thinking.    She cleverly covered her tracks by commenting - "I sometimes suffer from Tibet Syndrome."

Tibet Syndrome?

Her quick-witted boyfriend jumped to her rescue claiming, "Yes, that's when you can't stop blurting expletives at the Dalai Lama."

My friend gave me a confused look.

"it's Tourrette's Syndrome" I hissed.

How are your customer's butchering your terminology?    I work with a lawyer whose clients often search on "statue of limitation"   not "statute of limitations".  But their in site search engine is set up to deliver relevant results even if the term is not entered correctly.

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark

You have a killer product or service.  You know you’ve got a competitive edge.  You know if people just knew about it, understand how it could help them, they’d buy tons of what you have to offer.  So you hire an ad agency, spend a lot of money, and run a wonderfully creative ad campaign.  And an amazing thing happens……nothing.

You spend thousands, even millions of dollars creating a brand that’s “women friendly.”   You tout your contributions to breast cancer funds.   Your advertising shows women enjoying your products.   You “break the mold” like the advertising for the “right hand ring” touting women’s strength and independence.    Yet the very audience you want to attract ignores you and all your perceived good deeds.

You create a website with stunning graphics, cool gadgets, and do usability testing out the wazooo.   You’re convinced visitors will love your new website.  You watch the conversion rate numbers anxiously awaiting the increases you’re sure will come.   Yet you find after all that time and effort, you’ve barely moved the needle.    

What’s going on?  What the HECK is going on here?   

You’ll find the answers in “Waiting for your Cat to Bark – Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing” by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg and Lisa Davis.

I don’t talk in this blog all that often about Future Now and my family there.   Bryan and Jeffrey pretty much saved my soul when they rescued me from the radio/ad agency world and introduced me to the wonderful world of the Internet.   

Over the last 3 years I’ve shared in the privilege, honor, intellectual discussions, screaming matches and massive headaches of the creation of Persuasion Architecture TM.   I’ve watched the transformation of what was a largely intuitive process done mainly inside Bryan and Jeffrey's heads, into a full fledged persuasive system.    I’ve watched the development of everything from the software to the thought processes.   It’s been an amazing thing to behold, to see the maturation of Persuasion Architecture TM and the results it’s generated for companies all over the world.   

In Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, you’ll learn the incredible power of Persuasion Architecture TM, and how to apply it to your own efforts.

If that doesn’t sound exciting enough – let me put it another way.  You’ll understand why that advertising campaign you thought was so great didn’t increase your sales.  You’ll learn why your efforts to create a certain “brand” didn’t resonate with your customers.   You’ll learn why your wonderful new website didn’t generate the results you wanted.   

This is NOT just a book for web marketers.  These principles can be applied to every area of your marketing efforts.   I guarantee you will learn something about your customers, your business and yourself.

Take advantage now of a special offer on Waiting for Your Cat to Bark.   

Women - Sound Off on Cadillac

Women 35 plus (you know who you are) - How do you feel about Cadillac?  In particular the Cadillac Escalade?

What motivates you to buy a luxury car? 

What current attitudes or beliefs do you have about Cadillac? Are they even on your radar screen?

Submit your comments below.  I'm helping out a new friend who's doing some market research on Cadillac and women 35 plus.   If you can/want to/can do it without screaming - tell us if your age range is  35-44, 45-54, or 55-64.  Don't want to include your age?  no problem - just share your thoughts.  Want to lie about your age - go for it.  I do it all the time.

I will admit -I'm also selfishly interested in your answers for my own research.  Guys - if you have a wife, girlfriend, daughter, friend who has some feelings about Cadillac - share those as well.

So fill in those comment fields.  Thanks for your participation! 

Word of Mouth Advertising

It’s a red hot topic right now in marketing and advertising circles – “word of mouth advertis…..”   OUCH – sorry, almost dropped it.  Burning my fingers here.   It’s “word of mouth advertising.”

Word of mouth advertising is a natural fit for women.   Women are more likely to ask opinions from people they know and trust before buying a product or service.   If they have a positive experience, they’re more likely to share it with their friends.  And if they have a negative experience?  You better believe they’re going to share it…with everyone they know.

Unlike men, who may shy away from having to share that they were “scammed” or in any way made a poor decision, women are very upfront about it. 

Don’t believe me?  When was the last time you heard a guy say “Yeah, that used car dealership?  Totally hosed me.  Yeah, I got taken for a real ride.  Fell for the sales pitch hook line and sinker.  Stupidest thing I ever did.”   Chances are he has the car in the garage, hood up, desperately tinkering with it in an attempt to prove that it really was a great deal and his decision to buy it was a perfectly sound one. 

Answer Her Questions

What questions are your customers asking?  Do you know? Are you answering their questions? 

Take a 38 year old mother of 4. She has a big family.  She does A LOT of laundry – but she genuinely loves her family and takes pride in a job well done.  Her question is, “Is there a towel that can be washed day in and day out, but still remain soft?”

Most towel companies say their towels are soft, but do they remain soft after multiple washings?  Lands End answers her question.

Unlike “Treated Towels” Ours Start Out Soft and Become Softer with Every Wash.

Lots of towels are coated with chemicals to make them feel soft on the store shelf. But wash them a couple times and their softness goes down the drain. Not ours! Because we use better cotton and superior construction, our towels get plumper and softer with every wash, Guaranteed.

If she were on a website and saw a link that said “Choose a towel that remains soft through lots of laundering.” Do you think she’d click on it?

Lands End goes on to describe the towel further, which is great. You always want to back up your claim. But most website product copy would start with this copy – it’s typical features/benefit copy you see everywhere.

We use only the top 3% of cotton grown in the United States.. Farmed for its extra-long, strong fibers, Supima cotton feels softer, lasts longer and pills far less. Start with better cotton and you end up with a better towel.

Most companies are so focused on their selling points, they fail to answer her questions.  You can give her your selling points once you’ve answered her question – but always answer her questions first.  If you’re answering her questions, and your competition’s website isn’t…who is she going to feel better about and ultimately give her money to? 

Bad Haircuts

When women aren't happy with your product or service – many times we don’t say anything.  We simply never come back.

How many times have you gone to a hairdresser – asked for a trim and gotten half your hair cut off, a perm and a style that doesn’t look anything like the fashion magazine cut out you brought in.

Do you complain?  Ask to see the manger?  NO – you thank the Italian hairdresser, tip him handsomely, and run home to try to shampoo and fix your hair. 

Then, when you see your hairdresser in the grocery store, you hide behind the Pirate's Booty display so you want have to answer his questions about why he hasn’t seen you lately.

Women aren't very comfortable with confrontation.  Just because you don’t get complaints about your bad website – don’t assume everything’s fine.  Mine your data and see if you have a high abandonment rate on your web pages.  See if the number of returning visitors and repeat purchases is not as high as it should be.  She’s doing the walking with her mouse.

What Women Want from Men

There is a debate raging among my colleagues as to the value of focus groups.  One camp says they are worthless – group bias, sterile settings, deceitful participants, ignorance, poor moderators, etc. make any information gathered too tainted to be of real use. 

The other camp maintains that focus groups, with proper screening and a talented moderator, can produce useful, relevant insights.

I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other. But I will say this. If you’re a small to medium business or a marketer who wants to learn something about how your customers really think – there is value in gathering together a group, in a natural setting, and letting them loose, talking freely about a subject. 

I know a writer who put together an article for Best Life (a division of Men’s Health). Her subject? “What do women really want from men.” The magazine sprang for a swanky hotel suite, lots of free flowing wine, and gathered seven women from very different backgrounds – from a rock singer, to a pregnant actress, to a high powered stock broker - for a frank discussion. My writer pal turned on the tape recorder, posed the questions and let the group go. 

So what do women really want from men? Some of the answers you might expect – many were surprising.

What turns you on?

- "360 thread count sheets. Some guys still have the same bedding from college"

- "Good shoes are a turn on"

- "Good hygiene"

- "The way men treat people on the phone.  I fell in love with a guy because of the way he spoke to the operator."

- "You know what’s a total turn on – when a man says 'I want to spend time with you.'  Time is a valuable commodity these days and it’s sexy to know you’re a priority."

What’s the smartest thing a guy has ever said to you in bed?

- “You’re the thinnest woman I’ve ever been with”

- “You are my best friend”

- “Let’s talk about safe sex” - It’s easier to have sex than talk about it.

- “You look so sexy pregnant” -  Don’t change your view of me sexually because I’m the mother of your child.

- "Calling me by the right name"

Have you ever cheated?

- "Never"

- "I’ve cheated on every man I’ve ever dated"

- "Only when I’m in a foreign country"

- "Only at the end of a relationship when I’m looking to make the switch"

- "Women are just as afraid of monogamy in marriage as men.  But if you still want to date – you shouldn’t get married"

There’s a lot more juicy stuff – but much of it is a little too racy for this blog.  My point here is – gathering some women together for some honest open dialogue can be really mind opening.   

If you were selling a product that was related to what women want from men – would the above discussion spark some ideas? 

This technique should be used for gathering qualitative information, not quantitative information. In other words – don’t use the information to decide on your product line.  But you can use it for insight that could spark some interesting creative ideas, marketing discussion, etc.   Just getting outside of your perspective and seeing your business/product/subject through someone else’s eyes can be a valuable learning experience.

Besides…..you just can’t make this stuff up.