Marketing to Women Online

Marketing to Women Online - Content-Rich Sites vs. Social Media

A new study finds finds that content-rich sites, not social networks, are the hot ticket for brands marketing to women

Connectonomics, a newly-released research study from Yahoo! and the brand development and marketing insight consultancy, Added Value, details women’s needs and how they relate to the online channels they use on a daily basis.

Qualitative and online quantitative interviews were conducted with more than 3000 women across the country to understand their most prevalent core needs and which online channels, from social media to blogs to special interest sites, best fulfill those needs.

The following slideshow explores the value of content-rich sites and has some interesting research insights.

Email Marketing An Hour a Day - Book Review

Whenever folks ask me about marketing to women online, they always ask about email.

Everyone knows email is a powerful way to communicate with current or prospective customers, but there are a lot of questions about when, how often and what to say in those emails correspondences.

I was fortunate to sit down recently with Jeanniey Mullen, co-author of Email Marketing An Hour A Day.

For starters, the book is full of information for everyone from first timers to seasoned professionals.   It covers all the basics plus some of the more complicated technical requirements.   

I asked Jeanniey specifically about email and marketing to women. She had some great insights.

One of the biggest mistakes she sees business owners make is that they get frustrated when they don't see immediate results with the first email.  You can't just send out one blast.  Email is all about building relationships.  This is especially important with women. 

Plan your correspondence - start with a welcome email.   Send out at least 3 emails in the first 90 days.   You've just started a conversation - don't start one then walk away not to continue it. 

Don't communicate with her only when you want something from her.  If your business is seasonal, communicate in the off season as well.   I've found this to be true for myself.  The ski resorts and flower companies that send me emails in the off-peak times build up a relationship, so when it does come time to use them, they are top of mind.

Send emails to her at the time she is making her plans.   For example, when is she most likely to be making her weekend plans?   Thursday?  Friday?  That's the time when you send out your email about your restaurant or movie theater.

Email Marketing An Hour A Day also has some great advice on how to send the right email during each stage of the buying process. 

Another piece of great advice is in how much information you ask when you ask someone to sign up.  Don't ask for too much information up front. Get the bare minimum of what you need, then get the rest of the information later through polling and survey questions. 

One final thought about the book - the "Subject lines do's and don'ts" are worth the price of the book.

As for a final thought on my conversation with Jeanniey Mullen - rules for good email communication are rules for good relationships.  

• Don't start a conversation then walk away - stay in touch, but don't call too often, either.

• Ask for permission first - don't automatically opt-her in.  (FYI - if someone gives you a business card, that is NOT permission to add them to your email list)

• Be brief, but clear.  Be as clear as you can be in your subject line about what the email is about, then use the rest of the email to expand.   

• Don't expect big results right away.  Let your relationship grow, especially if she does not know you (is not familiar with your brand). 

• Your email conversation will have a huge impact on how she feels about your company.  90% of readers will use email to engage in and determine the value of a relationship with a company. 

So, utilize the power of email for your company or product, but be sure to read Email Marketing An Hour A Day first.   I learned so many valuable do's and don'ts.  I think you will, too.

 

How To Market On MySpace

I was lucky enough to spend some time picking the brain of Heidi Browning, SVP of Client Solutions at MySpace.  I'm fascinated with how companies are tapping into the power of social media to market their brands and products.

Social media is exploding, especially with women.  I asked Heidi about how marketers and brands were successfully using MySpace to reach out to customers.   

Heidi pointed out that because of the personalization and self-expressed interests of the users, there is a chance for hypertargeting.  But she feels companies with relevant messages that customize ads have a great chance for success.

Advertisers Addictions

Oh no.   I’m standing in a clothing boutique when I happen to glance over and see they have a penny candy section.  I immediately start to sweat.    What if….they have them.  What if I glance over and see the tell-tail red shape.   Uh oh…..I’m in trouble. They do have them….lots of them.    I feel myself starting to lose control.   

They say when you get in a situation like this to remove yourself from it, walk away, call a friend for support, call your sponsor.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a sponsor.   You see, I am addicted to….Swedish Fish.    As of yet, I have not found a Swedish Fish Anonymous support group, so I’ve been battling this addiction on my own.

….without much success.

Usually I buy them in the big bags, but in the case of this store, they were individually wrapped.   I guess the idea is people only buy one or two at a time.   

I picked up 37.    (feeling somewhat guilty I did leave a handful in the box)

How do you know you’re addicted to something?   You have uncontrollable cravings.  You increase the amount of intake with diminishing returns.

The feeling from Madison Avenue is – advertisers are addicted to certain types of advertising mediums.  One such medium is television.   Advertisers keep buying it up despite increasing prices and diminishing returns.   

Ad Age reported that McKinsey & Co. has a new report that finds that by 2010, traditional TV advertising will be one-third as effective as it was in 1990. McKinsey is estimating "a 15% decrease in buying power driving by cost-per-thousand rate increases; a 23% decline in ads viewed due to switching off; a 9% loss of attention to ads due to increased multitasking and a 37% decrease in message impact due to saturation."

Women and Mobile Gaming

Donchaluvit?   Another "women don't use technology" stereotype smashed.   A recent report by Telephia, a mobile industry performance measurement reporting company, found that in the mobile gaming space, four of the top five revenue generating titles were in the Puzzle/Strategy category.   These mobile games do very well with women.

Sixty-five percent of mobile game revenue is driven by female wireless subscribers, comprising 72 percent of the total share of revenue, while men made up 28 percent. Women dominate revenue generation for all mobile game categories, with the exception of Action/Adventure mobile games, in which men drive 60 percent of the revenue for that category.

Ad placement in mobile games is a rapidly growing industry.  Don't make the mistake of thinking young men are the only target market.   Check out the following stats:

Category Share of Revenue and Gender Revenue Share (U.S.)
Category	Share of Revenue	Male Share	Female Share
Puzzle/Strategy	33.8%	28%	72%
Card/Casino	18.3%	34%	66%
Sports/Racing	12.9%	39%	61%
Action/Adventure	12.8%	60%	40%
Trivia/Word	11.4%	26%	74%
Classic/Arcade	10.8%	38%	62%
Source: Telephia Mobile Game Report, Q1 2006

See the full report here.

How to Tap the Power of Digital Marketing

A recent Advertising Age article headline declared "AAF Survey:  Industry 'Behind the Curve' in Digital Marketing."  The premise of the article is - while many marketers believe in the power of digital marketing, they aren't entirely sure how to tap into that power.

I thought I'd try to find an example of, specifically, online marketing done well.  I was hoping to find an example of online marketing to women done well, but couldn't find a good example.   So, for today, we're going to switch to online marketing to men done well.

Axe Body Spray  - launched into a mature 2.4 billion market just four years ago, Axe deodorant has taken leadership of the category.   So what's Axe's secret?   I believe it's smart marketing.   (I've never tried the product, um, since I'm not a guy, so I can't speak as to the quality of the product itself)   But Axe seems to know who its audience is, where its audience is, and what matters to its audience (young men). 

They've done an extraordinary job of turning that knowledge into sales.    So how did they do it?  I believe a large part of it is due to their online marketing efforts.  Where so many others failed, Axe has been successful.   Here's why....