Marketing to Women: In 2016 44% of Retail Sales Impacted by Web

Whether we buy online or research online, all retail is going to be impacted by online activity.  Not ten years from now, but just a couple of years from now.  How can that be, you ask, when only 5.4% of retail sales were reported as e-commerce in the fourth quarter of 2012?

Well, here’s the news bulletin.  While online retail sales are a smaller portion, many of today’s sales are web-influenced.  In fact, 70% of consumers research online before they make an in-store purchase.  And the average shopper may be using 10.4 sources of information to make a purchase decision.   Social media and mobile continue to become important  influencers in this shopping behavior.

Moms continue to be the heavy shoppers and one-third of all moms own a connected device.  Moms spend 6.1 hours per day on average on their smartphones – that’s more than magazines, TV or radio.   62% use shopping apps and 46% took action after seeing a mobile ad.  Mobile usage is growing among moms.  It’s  40% higher today than in 2009 for these mobile moms.  The statistics for moms shopping on tablets are off the charts - 97% made a purchase using their tablet in the last month.  And 46% actually want to receive information while they are in a store.

Warning to Retailers:  many retailers have been shown to be slow to adapt, and are without tablet websites or iPad sites.  When you don’t keep up, you are giving the competition the edge and giving iPad shopping startups a shot, like Pickie or Fab.com or others.

For more statistics on shopping, read more here.

Marketing to Moms (and Dads): The State of the American Mom 2013

The 2013 State of the American Mom report is out – and interestingly, they actually looked at opinions of both Moms and Dads.

Here are some of the results important for marketing to moms – and dads:

Men shop around too.  An equal amount of Moms and Dads, 78% and 76% respectively, shop at more than one grocery store weekly.  Most make the extra trip for the best sale prices.

Smartphones are the tool of choice.  Almost 60% of moms have a smartphone, compared to 44% in 2011.  It is certainly the primary organizer of life.  The report shows Moms are playing games (64%), looking up stores/locations (58%) and finding nearby restaurants (50%).

Baby wants a smartphone and a laptop too!  Of course, you know children won’t even know how to turn pages in a magazine or a book.  43% of Moms report their children start using a laptop or desktop at 3 – 6 years, and 25% of Moms say that’s when they start using a phone or tablet.

What are the trends behind these facts?

Multichannel Shopping.  Consumers are challenging retailers and brands to keep up with their multichannel shopping behaviors.  Two-thirds of all shoppers regularly use more than one channel to make purchases.  While the Mom report is talking about physical grocery stores, many are shopping online, warehouse stores, farmers markets, specialty stores and grocery stores to fill their pantries.  Some 70% still use bricks and mortar stores, but 47% are online.  And all research begins online before those “reality” shopping trips.

Life on a Smartphone.  We just feel smarter with a smartphone. Nielsen says in their 2013 Mobile Consumer Report that 61% of all adults have a smartphone and 94% have some type of mobile phone. Of course, we don’t actually talk on our phones.  We send and receive an average of 764 text messages versus 164 calls sent/received on our phones.  We use our phones for a variety of activities – email, music, shopping, location services and internet browsing.

Digital Children.  Hilary DeCesare, a cyberbullying expert and CEO of kids’ social networking site Everloop, thinks in an increasingly digital world, it’s important to expose children to different technologies early so that they are prepared to adapt and thrive in more advanced professional settings. The digital expert thinks kids as young as 2 can benefit from tablet use, as long as the parent “is monitoring what [the] child is watching.”

Marketing to Women: Just the Info, Please

Here is a great infographic on marketing to women, their habits and their importance online.   Top interest online?  Health.  Ahead of apparel, family and food.  How do they spend their time online – 18.5% of time spend with social networks.  Who dominates social networks?  Women of course; 56% of users are women.  For those who think email is dead, take note – 64% of 18-29 year olds read or send emails daily.  Search is the first place we go in the shopping process.  And mobile is the new frontier – more and more of us are getting smartphones which is synonymous with smart shopping.  Marketing to Women is understanding the online audiences, championing great content and provided useful engagement opportunities for women.

2013 Marketing to Women: Psychic Predictions and Prognostications!

I don’t have a crystal ball for 2013.  I don’t know if Facebook will continue to grow – or if retail stores will start to shrink because of online shopping. I subscribe to the John Naisbitt philosophy that “the most reliable way to anticipate the future is to understand the present.”

But in the spirit of the season, I thought it would be fun to gather some of the best predictions in one place for your reading pleasure.  Tell me if you think they are psychic, premature or PR poop!

Inside Facebook 2013 Social Media Predictions for Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and more. Some good input here.   Facebook users will continue to be disenchanted as Facebook tries to ad advertising value.  Google+ will become more business and local friendly.  Pinterest and other visual media will continue to grow with visual content.  Pinterest launched business pages and will soon open to third party developers.  Peer reviews will continue to be integrated into brand operations.

Forbes 2013 Marketing Predictions:  Content Marketing and Social Business  Great thoughts about the growing importance of content marketing.  We have to give customers valuable content that they want.  I am a big believer in the concept of brands as publishers.  The idea that a constant flow of curated information gives brand authority.

Hubspot 8 Insightful Marketing Predictions for 2014 and Beyond.  Hubspot correctly points out the overlap in search, social and content as SEO influencers.  It’s more than keywords.  It’s about high quality content.  And for those who think email is dead, think again.  In 2013, it will be more personalized and targeted.  Marketers will need to segment their lists and personalize content.  Marketing will be seen as more of a revenue generator.  In 2013, CMOs and senior executives will allocate more resources to creating a strong inbound engine — generating interest, traffic, leads, and conversions — to support the demand generation engine. And here’s a big one – marketing “campaigns” will decline as more marketers take advantage of the power of real-time communications to grow business. In 2013, buyers instantly engage with brands on their websites, talk back via social media like Twitter and Facebook, and follow breaking news in the markets they are interested.

Content Marketing Institute Social Media and Content Marketing Predictions for 2013.  ”My prediction is that the “Content Strategist” role will become an important part of the marketing department in more than just a handful of brands. Michael Brenner,  Senior Director, Integrated Marketing and Content Strategy, SAP.  Yes, it’s about content.  And content includes more visuals – videos, pictures, creative graphics.  And as much as I like infographics, they may have reached their peak.  As Pinterist, Instagram, Slideshare and YouTube continue to grow, we have to think about visual content.
And as mobile usage soars, we need to understand how to maximize content for each type of screen.  Responsive design is really important for web sites.

Search Engine Journal B2B Marketing Predictions of 2013.  Inbound marketing becomes more important.  It’s less about push and more about providing information that your prospective customers seek out.  It’s about responsive design of websites – and shut my mouth, maybe a return to targeted direct mail to stand out from the online clutter.

Media Post 2013 Predictions from Online Ad, Marketing Experts.  The term is “opt-in push” here, allowing consumers to feel more comfortable allowing brands to recognize location, intent and preferences through devices.  Six experts weigh in here on the death of static web pages, campaign integration, integration of search with display advertising, Google dominance in search and the continuing complexities of SEO, and the death of the term “social media campaign.”

PSFK 2013 Predictions.  This is a great compilation by PSFK of thought leaders on a variety of subjects.  One of my favorites is George Parker – The Continuing Bastardization of the English Language.  He tell us that Shakespeare created 1700 words which included advertising!  And puke.  But today we use words in advertising like “artisanal pizza”; get a grip copywriters!  Shantell Martin thinks there will be more personalization with hand-drawn images.  Tom Evans of Saatchi LA thinks brands will become more focused on creating campaigns that engage the consumer based on their interests and passions—as opposed to which social network they prefer.  Yeah!

Forbes Google News Crumbles and More 2013 Media Predictions.  Ashley Harrison says 2013 will be the year that mobile consumption finally raises the bar on both advertising and publishing in the digital age.  It’s a year of change.  Mobile devices will become the #1 way to read news.  I received my final print Newsweek in the mail, and I was a little relieved that they had faced up to the change.   I made a cake from Gourmet Live, the replacement for the venerable Gourmet magazine, that re-invented itself last year.  The gap between consumer time spent and spending on mobile (10% and 1% respectively) creates a truly significant opportunity for advertisers and platforms alike. As digital publications and super blogs get smarter and begin to tap into online and mobile advertising, it will become a major revenue stream for the top players worldwide. In the past year alone, newspapers have lost $13 in print revenue for every dollar earned in digital revenue

Marketing to Women: 7 Tips for Selling Gift Cards Right Now!

Gift cards are set to reach an all-time high in sales this year.  National Retail Federation’s 2012 holiday consumer spending survey  shows that 81.1 percent of shoppers will purchase at least one gift card and will spend an average of $156.86 on gift cards, the highest amount in the survey’s 10-year history.  Total spending on gift cards will reach $28.79 billion.  We have put together seven tips on marketing gift cards to women right now!

How do you get the most from your gift card business?

1.  Sell an experience.  Maybe you could package a special experience for the shopper – a set of cooking lessons, a day at the spa, a day fly-fishing or a set of special bed linens.  It makes the gift card more personal for the giver and the recipient.  The recipient gets to pick the time or the sizes.

2.  Sell a popular package or specific amount that covers a popular item.  Don’t assume the shopper knows your store.  The shopper may have budgets for spending and may not know what an appropriate amount buys in your store.  A man may need help to know what to spend in a cosmetics or lingerie store.  Almost anyone needs help knowing what to buy a teenager.  And nothing is worse than getting a gift card to an expensive restaurant that doesn’t even cover the cost of the appetizer.

3.  Put together suggested gift lists.  This is another way to let customers know what a appropriate gift card amount might be.  A list of items for $25, $50 and $100 should suggest the right amount for the buyer.

4.  Make sure your website is gift card friendly.  Some 77% of retailers sold gift cards online last year. We know that consumers buy gift cards for convenience so the ability to buy gift cards on your website is extremely important.  Research indicates that many times gift card purchases come from outside the state where you are located.  Make the gift cards prominent on the website and make sure that buying a gift card is extremely easy with as few clicks as possible.  Allow people to share their experience online as well.  Make sure gift cards can be purchased on those smartphones as well.

5.  Make Gift Cards a Main Message.  Restaurants and department stores have long known the value of gift cards but other industries have lagged.  It’s not too late.  Get messages up in your store and at your check-out areas promoting gift cards.  Think about corporate sales and incentives.  Use social media to promote gift cards and the ease and convenience of them.  Put a voicemail message on your phones to promote gift cards.

6.  Send well-timed emails for more online sales.   Time your emails to land in inboxes on appropriate days like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  This year Hanukkah begins December 8 and ends December 16.  Kwanzaa begins December 26 and ends January 1.  First class domestic mail deadline this year is December 20 and parcel post is December 14.  Research has shown that 50 percent of instant gift card sales take place within 48 hours of Christmas, with December 24 being the top day to purchase a gift card online.

7.  Treat the buyer as well.  Promote a creative offer that rewards the buyer as well.  ”Buy $100 in gift cards and get a $20 gift card for yourself.”  Not only do gift cards help your after Christmas sales, but a bonus may cause the buyer to create another occasion for using your business.  Offer specials for people in your neighborhood who may not get out to shop often.  Think about other business owners, first responders and retail workers.

 

Marketing Healthcare to Women: Use of Social Media by US vs. UK

I am always surprised at how the UK surpasses the US in areas of advertising and social media.  Here is an excellent example.   Here’s an excerpt of an infographic showing the relative use by hospitals in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States of Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.  The compiler  Tom van de Belt created the data by crawling through the websites of hospitals in the same way an interested patient might do so.   This comes courtesy of a former hospital CEO Paul Levy who has had an active blog for several years.

Currently there are 1,229 hospitals using social media.  That means that approximately 20% of the 5,754 U.S. hospitals are active in social media.  But the numbers using Facebook are much smaller.

 

Marketing to Women: The Overlooked “Breadwinner Women”

Breadwinner Women

Stereotypes are hard to break.  We all harbor old stereotypes about nuclear families that are not true in today’s society. One is about breadwinners.  The majority of all American women (53%) are now breadwinners in their households, according to a survey conducted by Prudential Financial.  Among the 1400 women surveyed, 40% are single and 22% of married women earn higher incomes than their spouse/partner.

Some of the traits of breadwinner women are -

•  Women are more collaborative in decision making.

•  Women are focused on household expenses.

•  Women are concerned about taking care of others first and not being a financial burden to loved ones.

Think a minute about your customer base.  You probably have many “breadwinner women” in the ranks.  I personally know many of these strong, successful women.  Thanks to the fabulous Bridget Brennan and her blog on Forbes, here are three important reminders on how to appeal to “breadwinner women” and one more from me!

1.  Invest in Customer Service.  Women have higher expectations of customer service than men do and are willing to walk when they are not treated with the appropriate attention or service they deserve.  Just one example – For years, women have been taking a “token” man to car lots and mechanics to ensure they get the best deal.  But they won’t much longer.  Sales training should include a long look into who is making the purchase decisions for a wide variety of purchases.  Currently women have 80% of the purchase decision power on buying the family car.  Women also make 62 percent of new car purchases and have over $5 trillion in purchasing power. And when the car breaks down, women make 65 to 80 percent of the service and maintenance decisions.

2.  Provide convenience in-store and online.  Women are multi-taskers and their time is limited.  They expect retailers to offer multi-channel solutions.  They expect physicians to be open after five and on weekends when children really get sick.  They expect everyone to have easy-to-use websites that are easy-to-view on all mobile and laptop.  They want services personalized and customized to their needs.

3.   Provide a helpful experience.  Women buy more than just a product.  They buy a service.  Women love Nordstrom’s not just for the beautiful shoes, but also for free shipping and free returns that puts them in charge.  Women love Lexus because they also care about roadside service, giving you a loaner and making sure your car is washed and clean inside and out when it comes back.

4.  Provide help in making decisions.   Women like to gather information and collaborate on decisions.  That’s why providing a steady stream of information is important in the healthcare setting.  And it’s why 9 out of 10 women seek online health info.  It’s why women want to understand financial products before making a decision on them. It’s why women spend time on blogs, message boards and product fan pages to research products and get firsthand product reviews and recommendations.

Marketing to Women: More Connected with More FOMO

New information released from My Life shows that while women are more likely to be a member of Facebook and login more frequently,  they also exhibit a “fear of missing out (FOMO)”.  The study also reinforces the fact that women are more likely to check their e-mail accounts more often.  We are all living in “real time”.  Social media and email brings the world to us on a constant basis.  The world is increasing our interactivity constantly.  As I write this the first Presidential Debate is airing.  It was the most tweeted and Facebooked political event in history.  Social media has become the proverbial “water cooler” and “backyard fence”.

Facebook Fascination

Lots of studies have shown that women are more active in social media so what’s the news here?  Well, not only are women more likely to be a member of Facebook but they also check-in with more frequency.

• 95% of women surveyed belong to Facebook vs. 86% of men
• 67% of women login to Facebook once a day or more as compared with 54% of male Facebook members
  • 21% of women login 2-3 times a day vs. 15% of men
  • Only 13% of women say they login to Facebook less than once a week. One in five (20%) of men said the same

Women are also checking into their email more regularly than men.

• 83% of women check their primary email once a day or more vs. 75% of men
  • This goes up to 90% of females age 35-44 as compared with 85% of men the same age

Why the FOMO Funk?

Why do women have this fear of missing out on things?  For email, could it be that women are constantly in charge as the Chief Operating Officers of their families?  They are dealing with children, family, spouses.  Women are juggling work expectations and dealing with family schedules.

In connecting to their social networks, women are looking to their friends for the news they can use.

• 65% of women (vs. 59% of men) say they keep an eye on their social networking profiles because they don’t want to miss news or an important event or status update
• One quarter of female respondents (25%) said they typically visit or log-on to their social networking profiles when they wake up, before they check their email accounts. Only 18% of men report checking social networking profiles before e-mail
• 47% of women wish there was a solution to help them manage all their social networking profiles (vs. 40% of men)

Related articles

• Marketing to Women: OMG! Do you have FOMO? Social Media Addiction? (jamiedunham.wordpress.com)
• Jeffrey Tinsley: FOMO Trumps FOPL With American Adults (huffingtonpost.com)

Marketing to Women: Showrooming and the Holidays

“Showrooming” is all the talk among retailers as the holiday shopping season approaches.  Showrooming is the practice of shopping in a physical store and then buying online.  It has become a concern for retailers because of the proliferation of mobile devices that allow comparison shopping to be as near as your smartphone.  A fact for those marketing to women:  some 45.9% of online shoppers have engaged in showrooming.

Recent research by Exact Target says that 44% of customers use mobile to shop in-store, and a similar number (45%) said they would leave the store to buy online when the online price was 2.5% lower.  At 5% lower, 60% said they would leave.

But retailers with mobile sites and apps should take heart.  New research from Foresee surveyed more than 4,000 customers who had visited the top 20 retailers’ mobile site or used their app within a two-week period.  Research showed that 59% of the mobile devices were being used from home and 16% while preparing to visit a store.  Those most likely to use mobile sites or apps   are those more familiar with the brand.  So brand is still important no matter where the shopping is taking place.

What can a retailer do to prepare for this retail season?

1.  Remember that your brand is still important.  Many things make up a brand. A differentiated shopping experience is a draw to consumers.  Unique product selection, smaller stores, unrivaled customer service, personal shopping, pick-up service, in-store demonstrations/classes and personalization can be important components of your brand.   Target pushes its suppliers to offer exclusive products that can’t be found elsewhere. It also has quadrupled the number of items available online and is sending special coupons directly to customers’ mobile phones.Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is emphasizing in-store pickups for online orders—many available the same day they are purchased—allowing customers to avoid shipping fees.  Lululemon offers a unique lifestyle brand.

2. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile.  Do you have a website optimized for mobile?  Do you have a full selection of your products and services online?  If comparison shopping is going on, you must have a full complement of products for that comparison.  Email and text messaging are strong methods of communication.  Big box retailers like Target, Walmart and Home Depot are developing indoor navigation tools for shopping.  Walgreen’s customers can make a shopping list and the items will be spotted in a store map.

3.  Pricing and Value.  Okay, so you know that the real competition is online.  Is it all about pricing?  Well, if your goods are not unique, curated to your shopper and part of a branded look and feel, then yes, it is all price.   Online sales still represent only about 8% of total retail sales in the U.S.—but that is up from just 2% in 2000. Amazon ranked as the 13th largest retailer in the U.S., up from 19th one year ago. By the end of this year,  retail analysts expect Amazon to rank 10th, replacing Best Buy on the top ten list.  And Amazon prices are 9-14% lower than most retailers.

Marketing to Moms: Smartphone Moms are Apple Moms

I have been writing for some time about how smartphones are a Moms best friend.  And of course, my phone of choice is the iPhone.  Oh, and the iPad for Facetime and Skype.  And of course, my MacBook Pro for Facetime.  I have long believed that these are the tools of choice for Moms and recent new research reinforces this maternal love of Apples!

So here’s how the Apple rolls – as expressed by Arbitron and Edison Research Moms and Media 2012 Research:

•  92% of Moms own a cell phone

•  61% of Moms own a smartphone. The number of Moms with smartphones doubled from 2011 to 2012.   In 2009, only 8% of Moms had a smartphone.  By the way, the iPhone celebrated its fifth birthday this year.

•  51% of Moms own an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod

•  25% of Moms own iPhones, and 32% of Moms own those Android phones.  Yes, Android did have a growth spurt as they modeled their phones after iPhone functionality.

•  iPhone users exhibit more loyalty than non-iPhone users.  When asked which they couldn’t live without – the iPhone or television – 70% chose their iPhone!

•  Yes, we sleep, eat and go to the bathroom with our iPhones.  93% say their smartphone is always nearby.  

What does Apple love have to do with marketing?  Well, I am glad you asked.  Moms know a thing or two about purchasing.  They have a buying power of $2.4 trillion in 2011.  And mobile devices are part of their purchasing behavior.   A new report from Mojiva shows that 97% of tablet-owning Moms made a purchase using their tablet in the past month.  I know, I was one of them.  I purchased plane tickets, shoes and books. When you look at all connected moms, you find that 62% use a shopping app and 46% want to receive information while in a store.   

Can you imagine how many more Moms will jump at the chance to have the new iPad mini and iPhone 5 coming out this Fall?  It will be a GREEN Christmas for Apple.