Marketing to Smartphone Women: M is for Mobile Coupons!

The old saw “Shop ’til you drop” may have to be modified to “Shop ’til you drop your phone”.  According to a Harris Interactive survey done for CouponCabin of over 3300 U.S. adults, 40% of smartphone owners have redeemed a coupon on their mobile device.

What are those coupons they are redeeming? Harris learned that 39% of redemptions from smartphones involved grocery store coupons and 34% involved online coupon codes. Less than a third of redemptions (29%) were printable coupons and less than a quarter (24%) were free samples or trials.

I think the actual bar code coupons on your phone are going to gain traction in the future for in-store shopping.  Walgreen’s was one of the first to provide mobile coupons on their app.  Every week a series of coupons are provided in the app for your convenience.  I look at the coupons provided every time I walk into the store.

The study says that 29% of smartphone owners search for mobile coupons at least once a month, and 72% of advanced phone owners say they would be at least somewhat likely to use a mobile app that offered different kinds of coupons.

So I assumed that CouponCabin has an app that delivers coupons.  I decided to give it a try.  The grocery coupons seemed good but I had to email them to myself.  There were options for some of the deals that were scannable from my phone.   I already have Coupon Sherpa and honestly I tend to forget that I have it since only a few of the stores are near me but their coupons have barcodes that can be scanned directly from the phone.

Currently 50% of all mobiles are smartphones and the number of smartphones will only continue to increase.  Some 59% of smartphone owners think it is important to be able to make purchases from their smartphones.  One out of four smartphone users are like me – they have searched for a coupon to use in a retail store – or scanned a barcode for comparison shopping.

Marketers should be ready for the coming onslaught of mobile coupons and comparison shopping.  Customer service, ease of check-out and speed of acceptance will be defining moments for the retailers that use mobile coupons.

Marketing to Women: To Be Fair to Facebook

Yes, we all acknowledge that Facebook may be entering a plateau, and it may need to re-energize itself.  But let’s be real, women still have a love and sometimes hate-relationship with Facebook.  Facebook is the most popular social network in every country of the world, with the exceptions of China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam.  One out of every five page views on the internet is Facebook.   The United States has the most Facebook users with 157 million members out of the 900 million active users. 

And 57% of users are women!  And two-thirds of all online Moms are on Facebook!

About half of all Facebook income is advertising.  Many think this number will rise.   And not only do women participate in a number of social media activities at higher levels, but they are also more likely than men to click on ads, according to an April release by Facebook ad management solutions provider AdParlor.  Worldwide, AdParlor found that the average clickthrough rate for men on Facebook ads was 0.066% in Q1 of this year and 0.048% in Q2. Women, by contrast, clicked at rates of 0.073% in Q1 and 0.063% in Q2—differences of 10.6% and 31.3%, respectively.

Here’s where the disenchantment began. A study reported by ad agency TBG Digital, in the first quarter of the new year, revealed that ad-engagement on the social network dropped 8%. Also, Facebook increased their cost-per-thousand impressions and their cost per click rates.  At the same time, they have upped the number of ads per page.

 Most marketing on Facebook, especially that conducted by large brands, still consists of non-advertising efforts, contrary to the staggering amount of buzz created by GM this week when they said they were going to pull their Facebook ads.   And many small businesses and other marketers are still finding Facebook’s easy, self-serve system effective in driving traffic either to their own sites or to Facebook pages.

Facebook Ads

eMarketer estimates US advertisers will spend $2.58 billion on the site this year, with another $2.48 billion coming from advertisers elsewhere in the world.  According to Greenlight, a UK digital agency, businesses are most likely to see clickthrough with their Facebook ads.  Facebook has an average 0.051% clickthrough rate, below that of Google’s 0.4%.  Facebook campaigns that I have been involved with have seen around a 0.25 percent clickthrough rate on average.  But  less you think these numbers are low, here’s the scoop – the display clickthrough rate for any online display ad is only 0.1%.

Advertisers are increasing investments in Facebook ads.  The percentage of Facebook ad budgets in the U.S. allocated towards social ads increased from 5 per cent to 23 per cent. Marin Software predict that by December 2012, advertisers will be dedicating 50 per cent of their Facebook ad budget towards sponsored stories over the coming months.  Sponsored stories are different to Facebook’s traditional ads because they are placed directly into the newsfeed to ensure they get the maximum number of views, usually they are regular stories that a friend or a page that you’re connected to has shared with you.

Facebook still delivers a high concentration of highly connected women.  Facebook still allows marketers the ability to market without spending tons of money.  And Facebook is still about conversation.

Here’s a handy infographic with some great stats for us geeky marketers:

 

Related articles

• Advertisers’ Facebook Budget Increase 4x As They Warm To Social Ads (simplyzesty.com)

Marketing to Women: Is Facebook a Fad?

Some 900 million people worldwide use Facebook.  Yet, according to a new Associated Press/CNBC poll, half of Americans think Facebook is a fad.  And as a corollary to the IPO, half also say the social network’s expected asking price is too high.  Currently, some 40% of all Americans go online on Facebook at least once a week, so what’s up here?  Why the skepticism?

Young adults are the heavy users here.  Surely they don’t think it is a fad.  They represent 56% of American users –  two-thirds of Gen Xers and  81 percent of people 18-35.   Half of baby boomers — the parents of the young adults — use Facebook. And even one in five Seniors have a Facebook account.

But why would young adults be so fickle as to think Facebook is a fad?  They are constantly connected with the social network, with 55% of them going on Facebook everyday, and one out of three going on several times a day.  Heck, Facebook was built for them and they have taken it from college on into adulthood.

Fading Appeal

Despite the intensity of their use, a narrow majority of young adults predict Facebook’s appeal will fade down the road (51 percent), fewer think it will stick around as a service (44 percent).

The public overall is similarly divided on the company’s future. Just under half of adults (46 percent) predict a short timeline for Facebook, while 43 percent say it has staying power.

What’s the Next New Thing?

In today’s constantly changing times, young adults are the early adopters of new social media.  Some of us remember when My Space and Friendster were the big thing.  And now, Pinterest has grown so fast, it is the third largest social network behind Facebook and Twitter.  Our quest for the next big thing in the social media has vaulted new networks to heights quickly.

So are we just tired of reconnecting with our old high school and college friends?  Are are there other issues lurking.  Privacy seems to be one of the lingering issues with Facebook.  Only 13 percent of the people polled said they trust Facebook “completely” or “a lot” to keep their personal information private. More than half (59 percent) said they have little or no faith in the company to protect their privacy. And almost a quarter said they don’t even use Facebook because of privacy concerns.

But Facebook is still clearly dominant now – and can’t be overlooked for marketing to moms.  Earlier in March, Nielsen recorded that almost three in four mothers who went online visited Facebook.  But here again, 55% of younger moms show some dissatisfaction with Facebook saying they have de-friended companies on Facebook, citing too many messages and ads as their main reason.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/05/14/20120514poll-half-americans-call-facebook-fad.html#ixzz1uxguJRKI

Marketing to Digital Moms: 72.5% on Facebook

Can you hear them tapping away on their smartphones, laptops and tablets?  American moms are on social media incessantly with three out of four moms visiting Facebook during March 2012, according to Nielsen.  And those moms are very “like-ing” –  seems moms are 38 percent more likely to follow/like a brand online.

Blogging, anyone?

Moms visit blogs more often, and are 27 percent more likely to visit Blogger and 26 percent more likely to visit WordPress.com than the general online population. About one in three bloggers are moms, and 52 percent of bloggers are parents with kids under 18 in their household.  Half of all bloggers are aged 18-34.  Moms who blog are more than twice as likely to follow brands and celebrities compared to the online average.

Stop and Shop

We digital women love to shop and are shopping online more than most Americans.  We do it to save time and money.  It is really the only way we can get it all done.   “Moms are 35 percent more likely to shop for clothes, 50 percent more likely to buy toys, 29 percent more likely to buy music, and 23 percent more likely to purchase e-books online within the past 30 days,” according to the Nielsen study.

We Heart Pinterest

I may have to post this to Pinterest to make sure you read it.  Seems online Moms are 61% more lively to visit Pinterest than average Americans.  We love Pinterest!  It was the most visited site by Moms in the month of March 2012, followed by Disney Online, iVillage network, WebMD and Everyday Health.

Marketing to Women on Smartphones: That’s 50.9% of us!

Smartphones have crossed the tipping point.  According to Nielsen, a majority (50.4%) of U.S. mobile subscribers owned smartphones, up from 47.8 percent in December 2011.  And of course women over index the national stat - 50.9 percent of female mobile subscribers carried smartphones in March 2012, compared to 50.1 percent for men.

Shop till we drop our phone. So, is it any surprise that we are using those oh-so-smart mobile devices for shopping?  Of course not. Seventy-nine percent of us are using our smartphones for shopping.

Smartphones are really the mobile shoppers dream for  the following:  “Locating a store” (73% vs. 42% for tablets ), “using a shopping list while shopping” (42% vs. 16% for tablets) or “redeeming a mobile coupon” (36% vs. 11% for tablet owners).   However, tablet owners are much more likely to use their device for online shopping: 42 percent of tablet owners have “used their device to purchase an item,” compared to just 29 percent of smartphone owners.

For marketers, it is important to understand how our target is using a mobile device so we can tailor messages and design appropriate engagement opportunities.

Pay As You Go  Currently we are buying online, but Nielsen points out that soon we will become comfortable with using our smartphones to make payments for items.  I can’t wait. ” Just one less thing to worry about,” says Forrest Gump.

Marketing to Women: Who’s Wearing the Pants in the Family?

Here is a great infographic from EducationalLeadership.com that illustrates the huge shifts going in women’s roles in society.  It seems that activism is not the primary force fueling these changes, but rather it is actual organic change.

Created by: EducationalLeadership.com

Marketing for Moms: Mother’s Day Is the Second Most Popular Gifting Holiday

You can be late with our birthday present, but don’t fool around on Mother’s Day.  Research from Unity Marketing shows that Mother’s Day is ranked the second most popular gifting holiday after Christmas.  It’s estimated that consumers will be spending $18.6 billion for someone special on Mother’s Day. Individual consumers expect to spend an average $152.52 on the holiday compared to $140.73 in 2011.

The Mother's Day Gift Givers in My Family

NRF reports that of the 86.5% celebrating Mother’s Day this year, nearly 65% will shop for their mom or stepmom, while others will buy gifts for their wife (22.4%), daughter (10.5%), grandmother (8.2%), sister (8.4%), friend (7.6%) or godmother (2.1%).

And here is another bit of good news for Moms:  Chocolate and other consumables are some of the most popular and fastest growing categories for Mother’s Day gifts.  What’s not growing?  Greeting cards are seeing a bit of a decline, even though NRF reports that 83% of us will buy a Mother’s Day card for someone.

Unity Marketing findings show that consumers feel that the ideal gift is one that a recipient wants but is unwilling to purchase for themselves.   NRF’s 2012 Mother’s Day consumer spending survey says gift givers will spoil mom with special meals and/or outings, clothing, electronics, flowers and more. Two-thirds (66.4%) will buy flowers, spending a total of $2.2 billion, and more than half (54.3%) will take Mom out to eat.  Mother’s Day has long been the highest volume restaurant sales day.  It’s the Superbowl for most sit-down restaurants.

Unity Marketing reports the ubiquitous gift card is not growing as fast as previously seen.  Buying a gift is still personal – and represents a type of emotional consumerism.  The gift giver seeks to strengthen the emotional bond between themselves and the recipient.  According to Hallmark research,  the most-appreciated Mother’s Day gifts have a personal touch and reflect that some thought was invested in the gift.

Recently my daughter Katie gave me an autographed cookbook from Susan Feniger because she knows I love her restaurants.  She followed that up with all the ingredients to make one of the restaurant’s favorite dishes Kaya Toast.  It was a special treat and very much personalized to my obsessive foodie self who lives 2,000 miles from Street Restaurant.

In gift shopping in general, Unity Marketing reports that 52 percent of all gifting consumers consider the internet/online websites as their regular ‘go-to’ destination for gifts.  This new percentage of online shoppers represents a big increase over 2010 when only 39 percent of gift shoppers rated online as their top destination. The NRF report says that one in four will actually buy their gifts online.  Many are doing their research, comparing prices, redeeming coupons and looking up information on products and stores.

Some tips for retailers:

1.  Don’t forget your own Mom’s present.  Does she like dark chocolate?  It’s healthy and indulgent.  And, a card would still be nice.

2.  Create some type of emotional connection to your product with references to the connection with your Mom or shared memories.

3.  Make sure your website offers 24/7 access to an easy-to-navigate online shopping experience.  Also make sure your hours and seasonal offerings are correct.

4.  Provide free shipping for most things.  It’s expected, so get over it!

5.  Send reminders to your customers about last minute shopping needs and expedite those last minute orders to make that gift giver look like a hero.  Because we all know those busy kids may have the date slip up on them.

Marketing Healthcare to Women: What Does Patient Satisfaction Mean?

Hospitals are beginning to realize they are in the “hospitality” business.  And the things consumers value in hospitality are going to have to invade the hospital.  Things like “Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen” will help hospitals begin to score higher in patient satisfaction.  Increasingly, warm friendly service, appetizing food, entertainment amenities like WiFi and cable, and a pleasing atmosphere are becoming more important to patients.

Patient satisfaction has always been important to patients and hospitals, but it’s getting ready to hit the most important nerve in the body for hospitals – the one attached to their pocketbook.

Based on new health care reform legislation, beginning October 1, patient satisfaction surveys will factor into how much money a hospital gets paid by Medicare.  Patient ratings will compose 30% of  the consideration, and clinical quality will determine 70% of the payments.  Hospitals could lose 1% of their Medicare payments.  The only way to earn it back will be improvement of scores.  There will even be a bonus pool to reward those that do well or show improvement.

Why is this important?  Medicare is the leading payer for most hospitals, accounting for 35 to 55 percent of overall revenue.  And rate adjustments have been raining down lately.

Many healthcare providers will argue that the quality of healthcare is more important than patient satisfaction.  The types of issues covered in patient satisfaction surveys include courtesy, respect, listening, attentiveness, cleanliness, quietness, pain management, medication counseling, and how likely you are to recommend the hospital.

Hospitals have long measured patient satisfaction.  The national average of patients rating hospitals overall as 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale is around 68%.  If we were talking about the restaurant industry, that would not be such a great score.

What’s important to patients

Patients can only measure the things that they see and experience.  Most of us have very little way, other than personal recommendations or health ratings, to determine the skill of any physician or clinician.  In focus groups with patients, I often ask them to create mind maps of those things that were important to them during their hospital stay.  The responses always include communication with them and their family, creature comforts, time and speed, respect, cleanliness and safety.

Here are some of the things that are important to them and yes, food is one of them:

Amenities – Food, Private Rooms, Entertainment options like cable and music, Wi-Fi, Easy Access and Convenient Parking

Atmosphere – Cleanliness, Hospitality, Friendliness, Comfort, Relaxing Environment

Treatment – Pain Management, Services Offered, Technology

Safety – Patient Safety, Personal Safety, Privacy

Nursing – Attitude, Attentiveness, Responsiveness, Courtesy, Caring, Respect, Treatment of Family

Physicians – Access to them, Listening ability, Knowledge, Manner, Compassion, Reputation

Admission and Discharge – Quick, Timely, Follow-up, Discharge, Support, Affordability, Information

Where Consumers Get Their Information

It looks like hospitals and healthcare providers are going to need their own form of Trip Advisor.  Consumers get their information on healthcare providers mainly from online searches, recommendations from friends and family, physician referrals, past experiences, and advertising/media exposure.  These sources are why testimonials are so important whether they are served up by advertising, social media or one-on-one.

It’s the soft side of healthcare that is going to shape patient satisfaction.

Marketing to Women: Healthcare Missing Out on Social Media

In the South, we would say that healthcare organizations are taking their sweet time in the adoption of social media, while community sites like Caring Bridge, Daily Strength and Baby Center have become vital platforms for healthcare conversations.  Healthcare organizations are lagging in social media usage when one out of three consumers are using social media for health discussions.

In a recent survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, eight in ten healthcare companies (hospitals, health insurers and pharmaceutical companies) have a presence on social media sites, but community sites have 24 times more social media activity than health industry companies.

There are various reasons that healthcare has been slow to utilize social media.  There are concerns about HIPAA and patient privacy.  Some think that the majority of healthcare consumers are not active  in social media.  Others don’t have staff to manage social media, and many can’t measure the effectiveness and ROI of social media efforts.  Among those using it, many have not created a formal strategy for how to use social media.

But here are some notable facts from the report that healthcare providers should take to heart.  Of course, most of those active in social media are women.

Social Media Activity

• 42% of consumers used social media to access health-related consumer reviews.

• 30% have supported a health cause.

• 25% have posted their health experience.

• Younger consumers are more likely to share information.  More than 80% of persons 18-24 are likely to share health information, compared to 45% of ages 45-64.

How Social Media Can Influence Consumer Decisions

• More than 40% said information found through social media would affect the way they dealt with a chronic condition.

• 45% of consumers said information found through social media would affect their decisions to seek a second opinion.

• 41% said social media would affect their choice of physician or medical facility.

• 34% that it would affect their decision about a medication

• 32% that it would affect their choice of a health insurance plan.

The missed opportunity.  Trust is important to consumers, and 61% are likely to trust information provided by healthcare providers.  That trust gives healthcare providers a headstart in social media.  Word-of-mouth is the number one influencer in healthcare decisions, and social media is just one form of word-of-mouth.  Nothing is more powerful than patients sharing their positive healthcare experiences.

Those healthcare providers that can navigate the media landscape have the opportunity to provide meaningful conversations with patients, give meaningful information to consumers and gather important feedback on services.

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers report titled “Social media likes healthcare: From marketing to social business,”  is based on a social media survey of over 1,000 U.S. consumers and 124 members of the eHealth Initiative (eHI) — a national association of industry organizations focusing on health information and technology.

photo credit: CarbonNYC via photopin cc

Marketing to Women: Why Women Give

Women and men tend to give differently.  A study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that men give to fix immediate needs or shortfalls in government or foundation giving, or to get their names on things.  By contrast, women give for deeper  reasons, combining an emotional response and a personal responsibility to help those around them.  Women understand how lives can be transformed by giving.  Women also see philanthropy more as a democratic, collaborative activity.  Groups or circles of women’s giving are growing, as is wealth of women.

THE POWER OF THE PURSE IN PHILANTHROPY

The US IRS reported that 43% of people with assets over $1.5 million  in the US are now women. Women tend to instinctively recognize the fact that the world cannot change as long as half of the world’s citizens are trapped in a cage of poverty.   “Seventy percent of people living in poverty around the world are women and children,” says Christine Grumm, president and C.E.O. of the Women’s Funding Network.  According to Social Edge,  Former SUN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali once said that any country that marginalizes half of its people can not succeed financially, culturally, or politically.   So, there is much to do.  But the rewards are great.

My how times and women have changed.  Globally, more than 145 funds, with assets of nearly half a billion dollars, exist today to improve the lives of women and girls. Many focus their efforts domestically; about a third work internationally. Not one existed in 1972 when the Ms. Foundation, the first national fund for and by women, was established.

The “C”s of Giving for Women

Here are the “C’s of women’s motivations for giving, courtesy of  the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University:

Create
Women want to create new solutions to problems.
Women like to be entrepreneurial with their philanthropy.

Change
Women give to make a difference.
Women are less interested in providing unrestricted support to preserve the status quo of an organization or institution.

Connect
Women prefer to see the human face their gift affects.
Women want to build a partnership with people connected with the project they fund.

Commit
Women commit to organizations and institutions whose vision they share.
Women often give to the organization for which they have volunteered.

Collaborate
Women prefer to work with others as part of a larger effort.
Women seek to avoid duplication, competition, and waste.

Celebrate
Women seek to celebrate their accomplishments, have fun together, and enjoy the deeper meaning and satisfaction of their philanthropy.

Plus three C’s for the 21st century: The results of women’s giving

Control
Women are taking control of their lives, their finances, and their philanthropy.

Confidence
Women have gained the confidence to become philanthropic leaders.

Courage
Women have the courage to challenge the old way of doing things and take risks with their giving to bring about change.