I've been submerged in thinking about women, marketing to women, girls, and the various ways companies attempt to get our attention. You may think I am always submerged in this topic, since it's what this blog is all about - but, honestly, I do think about other things, too. Like pets...
Oh yeah - a little sidebar - the folks here at Typepad are featuring my petblog, Scratchings and Sniffings, as the featured blog on the 17th. That would be Thursday. Do hop over and see what we're up to, over there.
Now, back to the ladies. Regular readers will know that I have two grown daughters and a nine-year old
granddaughter. And, I come from a family of four girls, one boy. So, I have a whole lot of experience with marketing to women. I do eat my own cooking, as they say.
But, this Internet thing is a bit different. Women act a bit different online. Yes, we still shop for shoes... and we are always shopping for someone else (Mom, kids, in-laws, friends, pets)... But, when you are preparing to market to women online, I think you need to remember one very important thing - you must remember that we like to be courted.
Let me explain... and offer some suggestions.
When I say women need to be 'courted' this is what I mean: you must remember that your homepage is your introduction. Treat us to some information about you and your products. Show us colorful images that are female-friendly, in other words, ones that are optimized for the web. Nix the pink unless it's truly necessary. DON'T try to sell to us on your homepage!
On your homepage, your work is to show us you care. Show us we mean something to you as people. Show us that we're more than 'consumers' to you. Then, offer us more information by including links to other areas of your site. Please have some pages that will educate us, inform us, and offer us solutions. Don't just launch into a sell, sell, sell voice.
We need to make friends with you first. On the web, you have a better chance of doing this than anywhere else. You can reach out to us with support of non-profits, with pictures of families and kids and pets and gardens. Regardless of how those things truly integrate with your products. They're important to us, and if they aren't important to you, too, well... we're off clicking to a competitor.
Take time to ask questions and have room where we can post comments. Blogs are a great tool for getting to know your female customers. Use them wisely. Then...direct us to the sales pages, to the buy content, and give us a way to share the love.
Look at Del Monte... they're doing it. The press release for this product says, “Bloom Energy was specifically formulated to meet the lifestyle and nutritional needs of active women who are challenged to achieve a happy balance between work, family, and self. Our goal is to provide women with a delicious alternative to the average caffeinated drink, while offering essential ingredients that will energize, refresh, and enable women to feel good about what they are drinking.”
Look at Ask Patty... they're doing it. And, I have to comment here on the fact that women are into Nascar so much because it's something they can see themselves doing. It isn't all about the hunks behind the wheel. It's about imagining themselves in that car, hurtling around the track... not something many of us do when we're watching football or hockey.
So, give it your best shot. Get female-friendly.
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