Women On the Net: Marketing to a New Vision
November 21, 2007
I suspect most people in the U.S. today are preparing for tomorrow's football games. Oh, yeah... and 
dinner. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day, occuring on the 4th Thursday in November this year. Normally, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 3rd Thursday in Thanksgiving. Why we have 5 Thursdays this year is beyond me.
Regardless...it's time for business owners to take stock of 2007. Mentors and coaches as well as many other marketing and business professionals would say you should have started this process in September. September is when your holiday marketing focus should have been prepared...and ready to roll.
Just look how early the stores put out Christmas decorations this year. It's appalling, I know. But, in a competitive world where the online marketing arena is so easy to infiltrate (not always successfully, mind you), you need to compete on the same level as your peers and that means putting out the email blasts, the updated newsletter content with teasers about holiday sales, and the encouragement to join loyalty programs.
BEYOND that, everyone should now be taking stock of 2007 in anticipation and preparation for 2008. Try answering these questions, for a start:
What did you do right to get women to buy at your website, this year? Did you start a blog that allowed them to engage in conversation with you - real conversation, not just salespeak?
Did you update your web presence with a new, exciting, colorful header and easier navigation? Are you enticing the ladies to peek into your back room, where you keep the very best items...on sale and ready to ship?
Did you TALK to the ladies you want to buy your products or services? Did you record conversations, do interviews, and then POST them online? Did you create testimonials and are they above the fold for all to see?
Yes, yes, yes...I know, these are activities that everyone selling online should be doing, regardless of audience. But, let's make something perfectly clear (in case we haven't done so 1000 times before)... women are or should be your PRIMARY goal when creating your marketing. Women buy or influence more than...ready...I know you're tired of hearing it but it's true... 85-90% of the goods and services in the U.S. and I'll go out on a limb and say that's really worldwide.
Women either NEED your items and services for themselves, or for their businesses, or they KNOW someone who does.
Think and plan for 2008. Think about the women you know, the women who buy from you, the women who don't. Think about connecting with them and finding out what you can do to make life easier and simpler for them. Think about how women like to talk - and will spread word of your latest product launch or big sale, if you but tickle them with it ahead of time.
Think about how to get the men you market to involved in your efforts to reach the women in their lives. The Moms, the GrandMoms, the Aunts and the Sisters... they all present opportunities for you to sell whatever it is you sell. To them, or to the men they know.
And, probably most importantly of all, before you make any plans for 2008, remember to thank your women customers today, for 2007.
Now, go eat turkey.
Hiya!! .!! Happy Thanksgiving!!! :) :) :)
Thanksgiving is 1 of my favorite holidays, and every year I like to get into the mood-extend the holiday, when it were-by reading "Thanksgiving novels." Unsurprisingly, those stories are mostly about family, about coming together to heal old hurts and showing thanks for the gift of love. . ##
You're Better Off These days Than You Had been 9 Yrs Ago?
Posted by: Dagmar | November 26, 2010 at 06:01 AM
This is an excellent post, it contains lot of valuable stuff in it if we understand it properly. Nowadays women are also equal to men, they are earning more than men, they are working hard more than men, they not only looks after their professional life they also genius about take care of their personal life. Can any men do this?
Posted by: Sherin | December 24, 2007 at 07:00 AM
My clients, mostly women and all working and living with chronic illness, rely on the web -- for energy savings. It's obvious why. They, like "healthy" women, haven't got time or energy to go visit brick & mortar retail. And, being that there are approximately 1 in 2 Americans with chronic illness, that's a lot of online shopping. The message to marketers is: make it easy, make it quick and make it worth the time.
Posted by: Rosalind Joffe | November 27, 2007 at 02:25 PM
Anything with gift suggestions or even a "gift searcher" that makes holiday shopping easier is attractive to any busy shopper
Posted by: sonya | November 23, 2007 at 04:49 PM
Hi, yes, I do think that that we all should have started our holiday business prep a while back. But -- most of us are too busy to be as organized as we want to be. so never fear. If you start this week, you still have time to do things such as:
- get holiday cards printed and mailed
- compose a holiday email greeting with some holiday clip art
- add holiday clip art to your blog and/or website
- determine the amount of holiday bonuses or gift certificates for your employees
- find a source of inexpensive yet classy holiday gifts for business partners and clients, and get them ordered
Oh, and it's never too late to take stock and plan for the future!
Anita
Posted by: Anita Campbell | November 23, 2007 at 01:09 PM
This is great post really i encourage women in every step she takes in her life.
Posted by: GoldSmith | November 23, 2007 at 02:10 AM