Marketing to Women Online

Womenomics Book Review

Talk to almost any woman, and many men, and you'll hear the same complaint - Life is becoming unmanageable.  I don't have time to devote to the things I care most about.  Work is often the major culprit. 60-80 hour weeks are far too common.  (I hear some of you saying, "80 hours - you wusses. I put in at least 100.")

I used to wear the number of hours I worked as a badge of honor.   I don't anymore.  I think the breaking point for me came when my father was dying.  I'd check in on him whenever I could, but I didn't spend much time because I always had to get back to my computer to finish up one project or another.   He was so proud of me and so understanding of my schedule.  But finally, one day, as I was rushing off as usual, he grabbed my hand, looked me in the eye and croaked, "Don't run off."   (He had Parkinsons and had very little voice left).

Something in me just broke.   From that moment on, I said "I'm getting out.  I don't know how, but I'm going to find a way."

I'm happy to say that I now run my own marketing to women consultancy.  Do I still put in the long hours/work every weekend/face stress down on a daily basis?  You bet.  But I'm doing it on my terms and on my schedule.

Everyone has a story.  And in Womenomics, you'll find you are not alone in your struggles.   But the message of the book is not one of despair, but rather one of hope.

Reading Virtual Minds Book Review

I'm a long-time fan of NextStage's Joseph Carrabis.  I was lucky enough to spend some time with Joseph in New York and it was one of the more interesting hours I've spent.  We're talking big brain here folks.   But without the ego - a rare combination.

What I enjoy most about the work Joseph Carrabis does is that he focuses not just on the what, but on the why.  Many in the website conversion arena can tell you what website, landing page, banner ad, etc. performed the best.  But they can't always tell you why.

That's what Reading Virtual Minds - Volume I:  Science and History is all about - not only what people do online, but why they do it.  I love Joseph's approach because he uses a combination of many different scientific approaches:  Neurology, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Semiotics, Linguistics  and many more. 

Book Review

Imagine if you could create a website that was more persuasive then even your very top sales person?   Imagine that website could adjust the messaging and customer experience based on feedback from each individual customer.  And best of all imagine it could make those adjustments not just from the customer’s conscious feedback, but from their unconscious feedback as well?

How cool would that be?  How much money could you make from such a website?

Women Want More Book Review

 
  
Welcome to book review week.  For those who do not know, I have a confession:  I am a book-a-holic.  Seriously. If you visited my home or office you would notice one thing - piles of books everywhere.  I usually have 10 or 12 in my "to read" stack, and consume 4 or 5 books simultaneously.  

It's gotten so bad my accountant commented on my "Amazon habit," with a strong suggestion to get it under control or risk the financial consequences.

But there's just so much good stuff out there!  This week I'll be reviewing some of the best reads I've found recently, focusing on marketing and marketing to women.

First up - Women Want More

Women Want More authors Michael J. Silverstein and Kate Sayre of the Boston Consulting Group conducted a study of 12,000 women in forty countries.  Here's what the book is about:

Through quantitative data, profiles of individual women and stories of winning companies, Women Want More provides business leaders with the understanding and practices they need to capture their share of the rising "female economy."

Marketing to Women Book Review - Why She Buys

 "Gender is the most powerful determinant of how a person views the world and everything in it.  It's more powerful than age, income, race, or geography."

That's the main premise behind Bridget Brennan's new book Why She Buys:  The New Strategy for Reaching The World's Most Powerful Consumers.

I really enjoyed Why She Buys.  It has some theory, some brain research, amusing anecdotes and real-life case studies.  

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Why She Buys:

"If the consumer economy had a sex, it would be female.  If the business world had a sex, it would be male.  And therein lies the pickle."

"It's human nature for people to assume that their own preferences are natural, normal, and "right" without realizing that those preferences may in fact be rooted in gender."

"Women want to achieve success in their life just as much as men do,but their definition of success is different. Achievement is something more internal and not necessarily tied to external factors like beating someone else.  That's why hyper-competitive messages in advertising typically don't resonate with women.  When women compete, they compete against themselves."

Too Busy To Shop Book Review

   

Today's women have a lot on their minds.  A whole lot.

In Too Busy To Shop, author Kelley Skoloda calls them "multi-minding" women. 

Women 25-54 report that on average they think about 9.5 things in any given five-minute period.  Furthermore, almost 6 in 10 women say they have much more on their minds now, compared with five years ago.  That is 18 percent higher than the total public polled, 20 percent higher than men ages 25-54, and 35 percent higher than men in general.

More things are competing for women's attention, they are easily distracted, and they are not just thinking about themselves.  Three-fourths agree they spend more time thinking about the needs of others than their own. 

The question for brands and advertisers, is how do you market to this time-starved, multi-minding female?  Too Busy To Shop has some terrific answers.

New Book Focuses on Gender, Design and Marketing

Have you ever tried to have an objective discussion about design?   Do you find the conversation involves terms like "good design" "bad design" professional design" "unprofessional design"  "I like version 2"  "I prefer version C." 

Is it possible to take a subjective discussion of design and make it objective?

Do our personal preferences sway our choice of what constitutes a "good design?" 

And do men and women have different design preferences?

The answer to all of the above, apparently, is "yes." 

You can learn all about it in a new book by Gloria Moss - Gender, Design and Marketing:  How Gender Drives our Perception of Design and Marketing.

Tom Jordan was recently lamenting the lack of research into marketing to women.  Tom, meet Gloria.  Gloria, meet Tom.

Gender, Design and Marketing is based on research, research, and even more research.  it's actually the only complaint some may have about the book - there's so much research it can be a little academic sounding, but the information is so worth the read.   (Gloria Moss is a Senior Lecturer at Bucks New University and Visiting Professor at the Ecole Superieure de Gestion (ESG), Paris.)

And I understand and applaud Gloria Moss' thoroughness.  She's putting forth some game changing information that's going to ruffle some feathers.

Re-Render The Gender - Book Review

I just finished Re-Render The Gender - Why the vast majority of advertising is not connecting with women - and what we can do about it. 

First, let's go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room.

The author, Thomas Jordan, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Hoffman York, is a man.

When asked if you should hire a man or woman to run your marketing to women efforts, I always say, "Hire the best marketer/creative director/web designer you can afford."  Bad creative people "go with their gut," aka, they create advertising that they like.  Good creative people do their homework to truly understand what their target audience likes.  

Thomas falls into the second group.  

Plus, one of the things I like best about the book - it is written from a guy's point of view. Thomas Jordan isn't afraid to take on his male peers. 

Key insights and learnings from Re-Render The Gender