Marketing to Women Online

Marketing To Women Using Women's Diaries

Bridget Jones Diary, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Diary of Anne Frank, the Princess Diaries, The Nanny Diaries....look at the most successful books, films and TV shows aimed at women and you'll see "diary" all over the place.

What is it about women and diaries?  And what does this have to do with marketing to women?

If you want women to watch your ads, get her attention by having a woman writing in her diary.

The Excelon Patch has a powerful TV commercial featuring a woman writing in her diary about her mother, who has mild Alzheimer's Disease.   You can see her actually writing in her diary. 

This technique is repeated on the Excelon Patch website home page - you see a photo journal of the woman and her mother.

EconAffinity Marketing Conference in New York

I really enjoyed the EconWomen conference last year.  Now the same group is back with another timely conference- EconAffinity June 1 in New York.  Here's what EconAffinity is all about:

Affinity + relevant content = high-level user engagement = efficient marketing + revenue for site destinations. Wellness, sports, cooking, pets, family, professional associations—users are increasingly dedicated to sites that closely reflect their interests, careers and self-identity. These affinities offer sponsors and advertisers the best chance to get in front of the people who care most about their products and services and who are especially eager to share what they think.

And my guess is a lot of those people are women.  I've already signed up.  Would you like to join me at EconAffinity June 1 in New York?   Use this offer code - AFFINITYHOLLY and get 25% off your registration which includes access to the mixer after the event.  I'll buy you a drink :)

If you need any extra incentive, Wenda Harris Millard, who was one of my favorites at the EconWomen conference will be back as a moderator.

Female Communication Style

Do men and women really communicate differently?   From the research I've seen, the answer is a definite, yes.  Some of the differences are subtle, but profound. 

Men and women communicate using different language, both verbal and non-verbal, have different decision making styles, and can even have different senses of humor.   I devoted a whole chapter to male vs. female communication style in my book The Soccer Mom Myth.

Melissa Read, Ph.D. of Engauge on female communication style

At the recent M2W conference, Melissa Read Ph. D., VP of Research and Innovation at Engauge, presented research about marketing to women online (obviously one of my favorite subjects).  It was one of the better presentations I've seen on female communication style.  One of the things I love about Dr. Read's work is that it's based in science.  She shared brain differences between men and women and how what they say is not always what each other hears.  

Here's what Dr. Read had to say about female communication style:

Female communication styles are more polite than male styles. Women are more relational, gentle, indirect and feelings-needs oriented. We give more compliments. We give and receive more apologies. Our polite communication customs drive our expectations for online interaction. We expect a polite brand experience. To give women a polite brand experience....

·         Make sure brand representatives smile. We derive more meaning out of nonverbal gestures.

·         Make sure brand representatives face us. We are more inclined to face each other while talking.

·         Use greetings like "Hello" and "Welcome." We respond well to verbal and nonverbal greetings.

·         Use a communication style that is similar to our own. We like brands that communicate like us.

What Do Women Want from a Laptop?

Dell found out, the hard way, what women don't want in a laptop.

But Andrea Learned says it so well, I'm just going to let you read the NYT article about what women do and don't want in their laptop.  Great marketing advice from Andrea Learned - one of the industry's best minds.   

Selling to Women Webinar Tuesday

I'm joining with Dancing Elephants, a highly successful sales training company, to do a webinar on How to Sell to Women.

Won't you join us Tuesday, May 19th at 2:30 EST?   You can register here.

This webinar is for sales people and marketers who want to increase sales to new and existing female customers.   I've got some good stuff for you.  (Including Soccer Mom Myth book giveaways) Hope to see you there.

Consumer Product Reviews Instead of Product Descriptions?

Consumer product reviews increase conversion.  If you want to make more money on your e-commerce site, simple, add consumer reviews.

There are many reasons why consumer reviews increase conversion.  People tend to trust reviews from "people like themselves" more than any other source.  

Women, especially, look to one another for product information and suggestions.  Ask any woman how she found her pediatrician, hairdresser, financial adviser, new make-up line, and she's likely to say a friend recommended her/him/it. 

That's why I especially like Lindi Skin's recent promotional email.   Rather than trust their own corporate product descriptions, in the email, the only product description is a short customer review.

 

I don't know what kind of results Lindi Skin has gotten, but if you're looking for ideas to get higher conversion from your email promotions, test including a short testimonial or review rather than a product description. 

Let me know the results.

Afterbirth - Stories You Won't Read In a Parenting Magazine

Have you ever seen a room full of women laughing.  I don't mean a dainty, toss your head back, polite half-laugh, half-smile you see in stock photos. 

I'm talking a room full of women guffawing, falling over on their sides, dropping their heads on to the table, streaming mascara tears, snorting out their chardonnay laughing.  

What a lovely sight. 

What caused this un-lady like scene?  Afterbirth - Stories You Won't Read In a Parenting Magazine - a comedy show I attended at the Triad Theater in New York. (And now also a book by the same name). 

(Just for the record, the guys were hooting it up as well.)

Afterbirth is a collection of stories from real parents - moms and dads, sharing their honest adventures in parenting.   As the book jacket says:

Afterbirth's meaty topic is the unvarnished truth about parenting and how it's full of surprising if not idiotic situations.  Afterbirth is about why it can be dangerous to tell people what you really think about being a mommy, about what happens when your kids aren't who you'd expected they'd be, about unforeseen parental rage and unexpected parental resignation.  

Afterbirth is also funny - the contributors are some of the best comic writers and performers working today, turning attention very close to home and sparing no one, least of all themselves.  

After having the seen the show- I can vouch for the fact you certainly won't be reading these stories in any magazines. 

Thanks Mom For Not Disowning Me

 

(Mom - I really did try to find a picure where I didn't have a drink in my hand, but just couldn't find one.  Sorry)

Of all the wonderful things my mother has done for me, one of the nicest is not disowning me.

God knows she's had reason.  My sister hasn't been a walk in the park either.

Case in point:

My sister wanted to show us some pics from a fundraiser she attended recently in New York.   

So she pulls out her camera and we all gather around to look at the pictures of the event.  But then, sis just kept going, and proceeds to share ALL the pictures in her camera with my mother and me.

Let me just stop here for a moment.   Think - really think - about all the pictures on your digital camera.  Would you really want your mother to see all of them?

Best Mother's Day Commercial from Best Buy

Kelley Styring at InsightFarm did a research project about what's in people's cars.  She found that women have more momentos (in their car and other places) to remind them of "what's important in life."  

I was reminded of that presentation recently when I saw this TV commercial for Best Buy.

 

This is a great example of marketing technology products to women.  I love Best Buy's "True Stories" series featuring real people.  It adds a human face to their brand.  

Do you have a favorite Mother's Day commercial?

M2W Marketing to Women Conference Summary

One of the things I love most about the M2W Marketing to Women Conference is the sheer number of smart, insightful, and downright fun women.  My shortest dinner was 3.5 hours. 

My only wish is that we would see more men at this conference. Men are absolutely welcome.  As Thomas Jordan pointed out in his book Re-Render the Gender:

"While women control over 80 percent of all purchases, over 70 percent of all advertising is created by men."  

So guys - I'm sending you out a challenge and hug- come to M2W.  You need to be here.  And the women would love to see you and include you.   (And lest you think this is about marketing feminine products - presentations this year and last focused on Harley Davidsons, auto racing, sports marketing, car design, Best Buy - technology, and social media.  And chocolate - a whole lotta chocolate - which meant a whole lotta happy women - trust me - you're missing out.) 

Ok - nuf said.

Overriding Themes of This Year's M2W Conference