Marketing to Women Online

Soccer Mom Myth Inteview

Thanks to the fabulous Janice (and Susan) at 5 Minutes for Mom for interviewing me about The Soccer Mom Myth and how brands and mom bloggers can come together to promote products.

Just say no to stereotypes!    And be sure to check out 5 Minutes for Mom, one of the best websites for moms out there.

New Social Networking Site For Women 40 Plus

 

I sometimes worry about myself.  I admitted this in front of my mother and sister and they both gave knowing nods.  "You should."

Gotta love that family support.

The reason I worry is, I don't seem to be interested in what the "average woman" is supposed to be interested in.   I hate women's magazines.  Really - loathe them.  I don't care about celebrities and who they are dating, having children with, cheating on, or why they are going to jail.

All those ads with pouty faced models selling everything from jewelry to designer hand bags- leave me cold. 

So imagine my surprise when I checked out Fabulously40.com and found it genuinely engaging.  Fabulously40.com is a social network for women in their 40's and up.  Every time I go to the site I find tons of links with interesting articles, discussions and questions. 

With many of the other women focused sites, I'm lucky if I can find one or two links of any interest to me.

So what's different about Fabulously40.com?  

Your Friendship Is Requested

When I review websites or social network sites, one of the first things I look at is the copy, the language, the voice of the site. 

If you're going to have a female friendly website, you need to have a female friendly communication style.

Here's an example.

At Fabulously40.com, a social networking site for women in their 40s and up, I was immediately struck by their female friendly communication style.

For example - on Facebook - a friend request is "(username) has added you as a friend."  You then confirm or deny that request.

on Fabulously40.com - the friend request is "(username) has requested your friendship."

Can you feel the difference?   I sure could. 

What Women Small Business Owners Want

The Small Business Success Index, (a joint effort between Network Solutions and The University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business) put out a recent report on The State of Small Business.

One of the  most interesting parts of the report was about women business owners. the report found that:

women business owners are more likely to view the business as "highly" or "marginally competitive" (61%) as compare to men (50%). This reinforces the trend reported earlier that majority women-owned business are slightly more competitive.

"Women are simply better at running businesses –with the exception of 'borrowing money'"– according to Roy Dunbar, CEO of Network Solutions, the company that co-authored the report.

This seems to coincide with other reports from NAWBO and WPO finding that in the current climate, women business owners are more optimistic about their futures. 

So where are women small business owners looking for help?

How To Handle Angry Customers

We've all been there.   You're at an airport.  You're tired.   You just want to get home.  And your plane is delayed.

With no real explanation.

How many times has this happened to you?   How many times, like me, have you stated that there is a special place in Hell for (fill in airline name here).

What airlines and other companies seem to miss is one of the most important parts of customer service - communication. 

Especially when things are going wrong - THIS is when you need to communicate the most. The worse thing you can do is ignore angry customers.

The other way to diffuse a bad customer situation is to use humor.  

Lisa Barnes at marketingfit.com has a fabulous real life example -  How to Handle Customer Complaints the Westjet Way.    Laugh and learn.

If She Can't Come To You, Go To Her - Online Wine Tastings

This article about online wine tastings caught my attention.   I'm always interested in how the online environment can find new ways to replicate offline shopping experiences. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah.....I'm also always interested in wine.   I love trying new wines and finding new favorites.

In the article, wineries are reaching out and doing online tastings with critics.  But there's an idea here for doing virtual wine tastings with customers as well.

Marketing to Moms - Using Dads

I was at the Easter parade on Sunday, watching the crowd when a scene caught my attention.   No, it wasn't the three Great Danes in the Easter outfits, complete with flowered hats and pink doggie shoes.  (SO sorry I didn't have my camera)

It was a dad, dancing on the grass with his young daughter.  He was holding her up-stretched hands while she stood on his feet as they waltzed around together.  I was mesmerized. Which brings me to the point of this post:

Most women don't like commercials that put down men, especially dads. 

If you want to market to women, use positive portrayals of dads and kids having genuine interactions.  

Here are a few examples.  This one is from AT&T. 

Here's one from Mastercard.  Some of you may take issue with me -  saying this is putting dad down somehow. But the overall theme of the commercial is a dad and son learning from each other - a positive message.

Emma - An Email Marketing Company That Gets Women

 

While I was wandering the halls of the Email Marketing Summit, there were plenty of vendor booths promoting their services.  But one stuck out for me.

On the sign it said "Meet Emma - Say hello to the Web's most stylish email marketing service."  Friendly verbiage and a logo featuring a woman's face.  Ok - you got my attention.

Emma, (the name comes from a shortening of Email Marketing) is all about helping small businesses be more stylish and sophisticated in their email marketing efforts.

They've done a first-rate job of creating a distinctive brand personality.   And a very female friendly one at that.

Why Emma does a great job of marketing to women

Emma has a distinctive, consistent voice.  It is friendly, human and fun.  This voice is consistent in everything Emma does, from their website, to their brochures to their conference booths.  Here are some examples:

Moms - Why Do You Blog?

If you're a mom, and you're a blogger, I want to talk to you.  There is a reason why mom bloggers are one of the fastest growing, most powerful groups, both online and offline.

I want to know that reason or reasons.   Why are so many moms writing and reading blogs?   I'm not a mom, but I am a blogger, and I love reading blogs written by moms.  You have such a unique and honest voice.  

Given a choice between watching TV or going to a movie  - OR reading a mom blog - I'll take the blog almost every time.  (More on the reason why later - I don't want to influence this study)

So Mom bloggers - here are the questions I have for you:

Why did you start your blog?  

Why do you continue to write it?  

What blogs to you love to read and why?

How has your life changed since you started writing your blog?

How does writing/reading a mom blog make you feel?

What was your best moment as a blogger?

What was your worst moment as a blogger?

You can answer below in the comment field, or feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

Why am I asking?   Because I genuinely want to know why so many moms are blogging and/or reading mom blogs.  Something amazing is going on here. I have some theories, but I want to hear directly from you.    If you'd like me to keep your response confidential, I'm happy to do so. 

Thank you in advance for your participation. Once I've completed the research, I'll let you all know what I've learned.

Who Is Today's Mom and How Do You Market To Her?

Who is today's mom?  Marketers everywhere want to connect with her.  But how do they create messages that are truly relevant?  How do they go beyond stereotypes to gain a better understanding of who she really is and why she really buys?

I attempt to answer those questions in my article Who Is Today's Mom and How Do You Market To Her in Suite101.com.

I also talked with Suite101.com's Marketing/PR feature writer Patricia Faulhaber.  Read our interview about writing The Soccer Mom Myth.