Marketing to Women Online

BlogHer '09 - How NOT to Market to Moms

Let me start this by saying almost every brand/advertiser/sponsor at BlogHer '09 did an outstanding job of connecting with the women at the conference.

But there was one brand that stumbled - Nikon. At their invitation only event, they turned away moms who brought their babies.   The reason was apparently that the restaurant where the event was being held had a 'No babies" policy.

This is a classic case of "the devil is in the details."

BlogHer '09 Wrap Up - The Swag

If you weren't at BlogHer '09, all I can say is - you missed it.

I'll be blogging about the conference all week. I want to give you a flavor of what it's like to hang out for 48 hours with almost 1500 women bloggers.

Let'a start with the most important things first.

The Swag

OK - let's talk about what women really care about - the swag.  A lot of smart advertisers want to get in front of this influential crowd.  Considering just one of these bloggers might have hundreds of thousands of readers, I think a conservative estimate of the combined readership of the bloggers at the conference reaches into the tens of millions - probably much higher.  

These companies came loaded down with goodies. Women were walking around with huge shopping bags full of stuff - everything from video cameras to designer scarves to toys for their kids.

Email Marketing - How Often Does She Want to Hear From You?

Email is an incredibly powerful tool to create relationships and increase sales to your female customers.   But how often does she really want to hear from you?   If you sell products every time you send out an email, why not send them out all the time? 

At what point does increasing frequency actually diminish returns?  In other words, at what point are you sending so many emails she stops responding?

Karen Talavera at Marketing Profs addresses this question in her article - Does Your Email Need a Frequency Adjustment?  Ways to Tune the Dials.

Here are some key takeaways:

Mom Bloggers - I Want to Interview You at BlogHer

Calling all mom bloggers who are attending BlogHer!

I'm going to be doing video interviews with mom bloggers about why they blog.  I'm doing a research project on the subject and I want to talk to you.

Leave me a message in the comment field if you're interested, or just look for me at the conference.  I'll be wearing my "Why do moms blog?" T-shirt.  (Yes, I am turning myself into a walking billboard).

Thanks in advance for your participation.  This is a really cool project where I go straight to the horse's mouth - so to speak - to hear from mom bloggers about why you blog, what matters most to you, and how advertisters can do a better job of working with you.  

See you at BlogHer!

Help Women Spread Word of Mouth on Your Website

One of the great things about marketing to women is their natural tendency to spread word of mouth.

Here's a specific example of an element you can add to your website to help women spread the word about your fabulous products.

Revival Soy lets customers send free samples to their friends

Revival Soy is getting a lot of value out of their order confirmation page.  They use this page as an opportunity to ask customers to send free samples to their friends.

How Images Increase Sales to Women

I have a new favorite website.  It's Anne Holland's Which Test Won.  Every week the site features an A/B conversion test and you guess which version won.  Once you've voted, you can see how other folks voted, then see the actual results.

My favorite part about testing is learning not only what wins, but why.

In a recent test - Can the Photo Accompanying a Testimonial Make a Difference in Conversions? Happy Baby vs. Sleepy Newborn  a company was testing to see if testimonial images had any impact on conversion.

Version A featured a smiling baby. Version B featured a sleeping infant.

Recession Pricing that Attracts Women

This weekend I attended an artist studio tour.   Last year, the price for a ticket was $50.   The organizers were worried that $50 might feel too high to today's budget conscious art lovers.   So they made a brilliant move.

They changed the pricing from $50 (per individual ticket) to $60 for two tickets.  

Compared to last year, that's actually a nice savings per ticket.  And by making folks buy them in sets of two- they probably increased the number of tickets sold.  

This pricing strategy is especially smart for women.  Women love to do stuff in pairs!  They can bring along a hubby or boyfriend, or they can grab their best girlfriend, or even mom to share the experience.

What pricing strategies are working for you right now?

Marketing To Women Services - How Can I Help You?

I was talking with a client recently who commented that he had just discovered some of the services I offer.  

"Holly, I just learned you do newsletter reviews. I had no idea and now I'm quite interested. I wonder how many others don't know that?"

Yeah.  My bad.  I write this blog to provide value to anyone who wants to learn more about marketing to women.  I go out of my way to not be "salesy."  But yes, I offer a variety of marketing to women services to help you improve your results.  Here's a sample:

Women Friendly Website Review

Who is this for?  E-commerce, service, or B2B companies who have a website they think can do a better job of either selling products to, or generating leads from women.

What’s included?  A review of your website to rate how “women friendly” it is.

Rating points based on:

Male vs. female communication style – how your copy is worded, website personality

Female friendly design– navigation, design feng shui, images

Female friendly content – UVP, About Us page, use of anxiety reducing elements, use of video and other multi-media, how well you answer her questions and address her objections.

Social Media Tools: Product Reviews Vs. Twitter

In a recent Advertising Age Digital article, Abbey Klaasen suggests Forget Twitter; Your Best Marketing Tool Is the Humble Product Review.  

Twitter has been getting a lot of hype lately, but is the product review a better customer relationship builder and product improvement tool?  The Advertising Age article has this to say:

For all the ink spilled on the importance of Twitter and Facebook as feedback and customer-service channels, there's another social-media tool marketers are increasingly finding useful, not just as an online-shopping tool but as an internal, culturally changing consumer-criticism channel: the humble product review.