Marketing to Women: Your Elevator Speech in 15 Seconds

I was cleaning up my office today (yes, that is my real office), and I came across a Forbes article and video that really impressed upon me the importance of cleaning up our brand pitch to market to women, or any customers.  Our messaging becomes a little bit like my office.  Crammed with things that were important at the time but have hung around too long.  Impossible to relate to anyone in less than minute.

I love the simplicity of being able to explain your business in one succinct phrase that differentiates you from your competition.  Clean, Compelling, Concise.

So in the spirit of cleaning up our brands, here are some steps to create your elevator speech:

Step One.  Create a Twitter-friendly headline that answers the question, “What is the single most important thing that I want my listener to know about my brand, product, service or idea?”  Now this is excellent advice because if you can’t explain it in 140 characters, I probably can’t absorb it in 15 seconds.  This exercise forces you to practice the art of sacrifice for the purpose of communication.  A great headline will also give voice to differentiation and end benefits.  Here are some great examples in addition to the video.

The USO lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families.

Wal-Mart saves people money to they can live better.

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Coca-Cola wants to refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, and create value.

AT&T wants to to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else.

Starbucks is out to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.

Tom’s says we’re transforming everyday purchases into a force for good around the world. One for One.®

Step Two.  Support the headline with three key benefits.  Three is the perfect number.  For some reason, our minds can remember three ideas, but struggles with more.  The Power of Three.  As a child, everything we learned seemed to be centered around three — A,B,C; 1,2,3; Three blind mice, Three musketeers, Trinity, and the three wise men.  Aristotle even knew the power of three and wrote about it in his book Rhetoric.  So what are the three most compelling support ideas for your brand.

Step Three.  Reinforce the three benefits with stories, statistics or examples.  These are the bullet points that more fully explain your benefits.  And yes, all of it should fit on a single page.

I use this type of process in getting to the core identity of brands for clients. When you look back at the examples I used in step one, you see that the USO doesn’t say it runs centers for troops, Wal-Mart doesn’t talk about physical stores, and Google doesn’t talk about search engines.  Your business must be explained in such a consumer beneficial manner that it allows you the bandwidth to provide that benefit in a variety of ways.  That’s why Starbucks doesn’t say it is a coffee shop; they have always explained themselves as the third place in your life – after home and work.

Try this exercise for your business.  Let me know how it goes.  And send my a picture of your messy office.  Maybe it will make me feel a little bit better.

Marketing to Women: 8 Reasons In Defense of Twitter

The Wall Street Journal published a survey in January revealing that just 3% of small business owners polled believed that Twitter had the most potential to help their companies.  However, 60% of those small business owners believed that social media was important to their companies.  I believe most businesses do not understand the way to use Twitter.  Most think only about sales leads, rather than thinking of the other important purposes of Twitter.

What social media did small businesses prefer?  LinkedIn was preferred by 41% of the respondents, 16% picked YouTube and 14% chose Facebook.  About 14% of the business owners surveyed said they use Twitter. That figure matches with research released last year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which found that about 15% of all online adults are Twitter users.

In Defense of Twitter, I think that many businesses do not understand the strengths of Twitter and how to use it.  So here are some of the strengths of Twitter —

1.  Research.  Because of the amazing topics covered on Twitter, you can use it for research, listening to customers and competition, and discovering new topics of interest.  The multitude of interests covered can help you stay informed on a wide breadth of topics.  You are exposed to an amazing array of thought, wisdom and insight.  One company learned a new use for their product just by listening to their Twitter users.  Twitter is often a quick way to get a response to a question, find out about referrals or get comments on new ideas.

2.  Customer Service.  Twitter is a wonderful customer service tool.  Everyone from airlines to local restaurants sue Twitter to connect with customers to offer information, assistance, updates or apologies for poor service.

3.  Real Time News.  This is where the real breaking news is – across all topics – across the planet.  Citizen journalists across the world come to Twitter with news bulletins for almost any topic.  Even Twitter users in countries that are war torn or in rebellion have used the media to get their message out.

4.  Syndication of Your Content.  Your content is news on Twitter.  Twitter is an effective tool to share blog posts, pictures, videos and others relevant content.  Some groups hold Tweeting Parties, giving a way for groups to interact.

5.  Grow Your Circle of Influence.  As you find people who are of interest to your business, you can follow up to 2,000 Twitterers without any limits.  This service allows you to interact with potential customers, current customers and peer groups.  It’s a great way to meet people that complement your services and to learn from others.  Twitter is very democratic.  You can converse with business contacts online that you might not ever be able to meet otherwise.

6.  Search Engine Optimization.  Activity on Twitter will boost your search engine visibility.

7.  Strut Your Social Savvy.  Depending on what business you are in, it might be embarassing if you do not participate in Twitter.  I always advise clients to check out the social activity of potential marketing partners to see if they practice what they preach.  It’s amazing how many don’t.

8.  Public Relations Opportunities.  Since journalists troll Twitter, it is a great place to be seen and potentially picked up and to add to your authority.

Marketing to Women: Are We Addicted to the Internet?

Do you get that panicky feeling if you forget your phone?  Do you suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)?  Well, you are not alone.

More than half  (55%) of respondents to a Siteopia study of internet usage feel they are addicted to the internet, while almost 62% of us admit we “need’ the internet to function in everyday life.   

One in ten of those participating said they can’t go longer than ten minutes during the day without catching up on social media or email.

The Siteopia study of 2,000 internet users reported that, on average,  most respondents only go a maximum of 90 minutes during the day without checking Facebook, Twitter or email.

Many of us are using mobile as the device of choice for checking in and updating our status - 10% of people now access the internet primarily on their mobile, with 5% accessing primarily via tablet.  75% have already been online before 9am every day, with almost one in five checking their e-mail or catching up on social media during their commute to work.

A whopping 62% now do all their banking online.   A third do all of their clothes shopping online, with free returns and delivery becoming an ever more common feature.

How Many Devices Do You Use?

I am on my laptop as I write now, but earlier today I used my iPad and iPhone to check in.  Seems I am fairly normal - the average internet user can now get online via three different devices.  But some 10% of us have as many as five devices, illuminating the growth of smart devices like televisions and gaming consoles.

Usage by Gender

Surprisingly, even though women spend more time with online shopping and social media, it’s men who spend more than 19 hours a week online – more than 42 solid days each year, and over a third longer than women, who only spend 14 hours per week surfing the web.  Men spend more time on news, Twitter, gaming and Not Safe for Work sites.

Marketing to Women: Why Marketers Don’t Understand Women

Things are changing for women.  For the first time in history, women now outnumber men in the workforce. We are more educated, accounting for approximately 58% of students in tw0- and four-year colleges.   We account for 85% of all consumer purchases, and we are not just talking about diapers and milk.  Our purchases include homes, healthcare, cars, travel and computers.  And 96% list “being independent” as their single most important life goal.

So when research says 91% of women don’t think marketers understand them, what are we saying?

First, women don’t feel they are being accurately portrayed.  Using the color pink is not advertising.  Women respond to marketing in a more emotional level.  Women place importance on personal and proactive customer communication.  We want authenticity, relevance, honesty and an exchange of information.  Also, families don’t look like the stereotyped mom, dad and 2 children.  Some 40% of all births today are to unwed mothers.  Only 4% of families with kids under 18 fall into the working father and stay-at-home mom model.   And many young say being a good parent is more important than marriage.

Second, men control much of today’s advertising messages.  Only some 3% of advertising agency creative directors are women.  Why is that a problem?  The female perspective is not always accurately represented.  We have men left to their own to interpret how they communicate to and with women.  That’s why campaigns from advertisers like Dove celebrating real people and Chico’s use of older models and stars are seen as rare and innovative.

Third, many marketers have overlooked the dominance of women online.  Women dominate social networking, instant messaging and email.  Women compose 56% of the social media population; that’s 81 million of us.  Women dominate Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Women spend  8% more time online daily and 40% more time on social media than men do.  And peer-to-peer recommendations are trusted more than any type of advertising – 92% rely on people they know!

Fourth,  smartphones are the most important tools in women’s handbags.  50.9% of smartphone users are women and we are using smartphones to stay in touch with our families and friends, interact on social media, and shop, shop, SHOP!!  If women can’t easily find you on their mobile phone or if you are not competitive, she will move on to another source.  Moms are on their phones six hours daily and  readily admit that their smartphones are more important than sex!

Use 2013 to understand your target audience better.  Chances are a large portion of your audience are women – smart, connected, independent and pink-resistant.

This is a guest post on http://www.Sparkah.com/blog, a great blog on getting seen on social media by Robert S. Kims, Guerrilla Marketing Korean.  

Related articles

• 2013 Marketing to Women: Psychic Predictions and Prognostications! (jamiedunham.wordpress.com)
• Marketing to Women: Top 12 Posts from 2012 (jamiedunham.wordpress.com)
• Marketing to Women: Google Ranking Factors (jamiedunham.wordpress.com)

Marketing to Women: Top 12 Posts from 2012

2012 marketing saw unanticipated events like the rise of Pinterest and Instagram – and disputed practices of Facebook and Instagram.  Facebook reached 1 billion users.  Changes to healthcare funding made marketing healthcare hugely important, and patient satisfaction rules. So here’s a quick read of what Lipstick Economy readers were interested in.

12. Marketing to Women:  Should You Focus on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter?  Overall, almost two out of five (38%) online consumers follow retailers through one or more social networking sites.  You need to understand the demographics and how it the social networks are used by your specific channels.

11.  Marketing to Women:  Blogs Drive Purchase Intent.  Recent research from BlogHer shows that 61% of active blog users say they have made a purchase based on a recommendation from a blog.  One of the leading indicators of purchase intent is trust.  And 81% of women trust the information and advice they receive from blogs

10.  Marketing to Women:  Facebook $1 Fee to Message Non-Friends.  Facebook calls the little charge an economic signal to determine relevance. I call it “selling my inbox”.  On a blog post, they say ”This test will give a small number of people the option to pay to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with.”

9.  Marketing to Women:  Women Rule Social Media.  LinkedIn is the only exception to the more than 50% rule by women; the male-female split is 50-50.  Back in March, Google+ was the third largest social network, yet to be usurped by Pinterest.  An interesting infographic gave us real demographics for the networks such as 54% Tweeters are on Mobile, 36% Tweet at least once a day, and average time on site is 11 minutes.  Google+ users are more likely to be single geeks looking for friends.  The average number of Facebook friends is 130.  Two million companies are on LinkedIn.

8.  Marketing to Women:  A Picture on Pinterest Is Worth A Thousand Words.  Pinterest is the third most popular social network behind Facebook and Twitter.  The beauty of Pinterest is we don’t have to read someone else’s opinion  We can make our own.  It’s a beautiful thing.

7.  Marketing to Women: Instagram or Instagrim?  New Policies Announced.  Since Facebook went public and purchased Instagram, the pressure is mounting for added advertising income.  Some new policies were announced and within a week were revoked due to customer pressure.

6.  Marketing Healthcare to Women:  What Does Patient Satisfaction Mean?  Based on new health care reform legislation, 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, and a real understanding and delivery of patient satisfaction.  Warm friendly service, appetizing food, entertainment amenities like WiFi and cable, and a pleasing atmosphere are becoming more important to patients.

5.  Marketing to Women:  The Ultimate Travel Agents.  80% of all travel decisions are made by women.  Surprised?  75% of those taking cultural, adventure  or nature trips are women.  And boomer women are major players having the money, time and interests.

4.  Marketing to Women:  Pinterest Rules!  Pinterest has been a winner in driving traffic for many retailers.  Some even more than Facebook.  Pinterest is inspiration for purchase decisions.

3.  Marketing to Moms:  Childhood Obesity Number One Health Concern. With one-third children overweight, the epidemic is of concern because 50% of overweight children become overweight adults.  It’s an important topic for all marketers.

2.  Marketing to Women:  10 Cool Ways to Use Pinterest. Since 70% of women are on Pinterest, marketers should be there to.  But 2012 was a year when marketers were trying out Pinterest, trying to ascertain how best to use Pinterest.   It’s about research, common interests, promotions and linking.

1.  Marketing Healthcare to Women: Ten Things You Need to Know.  Since 80% of all healthcare decisions are influenced by women, it is appalling that two-thirds of women feel they are misunderstood by marketers.

 

Marketing to Women: Instagram or Instagrim? New Policies Announced

I really love Instagram.  Apparently, others do as well.  There have been 5 billion photos shared through the network.  But there are new Instagram policies brewing giving marketers and personal users some things to think about.

The free photo-sharing social media program released an updated version of its privacy policy and terms of service today (December 17) and they include lots of long stipulations on how photographs uploaded by users may be used by Instagram and its parent company, Facebook.  Alert!  Alert!

Remember that Facebook bought Instagram for a measly $1 BILLION recently and then we all started having problems with our Instagram photos on Twitter because Instagram had disabled Twitter integration. These new policies seem to hint at adding advertising to Instagram.  

So now, what’s up with the policies that go in place on January 16, 2013?  Apparently they will not apply to photos shared before this date.  Instagram says that the new policies would primarily help the company combat spam, which has grown along with the popularity of Instagram.  The new policies will not alter how it handles photo ownership or who is able to see the pictures.

Here’s five important considerations that the New York Times reported today:

1. Instagram can share information about its users with Facebook, its parent company, as well as outside affiliates and advertisers.  They say it’s to make functionality and sharing easier between the two groups.    But certainly this information will inform targeted advertising for Instagram when and if that happens.  And allow Facebook advertisers access to Instagram information.  So, this is probably good for marketers.

2.  You could be featured in advertising without your knowledge, just like Facebook does now.  Instagram will also be able to use your photographs and identity in ads.  The “Rights” say “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”  So let’s say you upload a picture to Instagram of yourself and others who are not users of Instagram or Facebook.  Bam!  They may be in an ad along with you.  Maybe not so good for users or marketers if the images are not appropriate.

3.  The unsolicited use of photos applies to underage children as well.  Instagram requires that users must be at least 13 years of age, but the new policy states that they are agreeing that a parent or guardian is aware that their image, username and photos can also be used in ads.  This use of underage children is troubling.  Not so good for marketers.

4.  Ads may not be labeled as ads.  There may be no disclaimer that says you are viewing an ad.  “You acknowledge that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such,” says the new Instagram policy.  Maybe okay, but does not smack of transparency.

5.  Are you in – or are you out?  Deleting your account is the only way to opt out.   If you log into Instagram  through the Web site, mobile applications or any other services offered by Instagram, you  are agreeing to have your content used in ads. Instagram’s new terms of service say that “by accessing or using the Instagram website, the Instagram service, or any applications (including mobile applications) made available by Instagram (together, the “Service”), however accessed, you agree to be bound by these terms of use.”  Guess that’s what happens when your service is free.

Marketing to Women: The Pope and Twitter?

I love Twitter.  I have always loved the way it seems like running headlines from the lives of people around the world.  Very business-like one minute and intimate or goofy the next.  Usually not the preferred social media for older folks.  But hold on - His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI just announced he was joining the throngs of Tweeters like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.  I can’t wait to see what the Pope has to say.

 And before the octogenarian has posted his first tweet, he already has 500,000 followers.  His handle is @pontifex.  His first tweet will be December 12 if you want to mark your calendar.

According to the New York Times, “Benedict’s posts will go out in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.  The messages will mostly feature the contents of the pope’s speeches at his weekly general audience and Sunday blessings, as well as homilies on major holidays and reaction to major world events, like natural disasters.”

Seems even the Vatican has embraced social media to get their message out to their flock.  The Pope will be successful because he already has a built-in audience, even if the younger ones are not as regular at mass anymore.  This new medium will allow him to reach that audience on their terms.  Oh, and in six years Twitter has amassed 500 million users, has an incredible immediacy of communication and is used in countries where free expression is not the norm.

The Pope is on to something.  The church is losing young people as they launch in life.  And Twitter is ripe with a 400% growth in Twitter usage by 18-24 year olds.  And since 53% of the users are women and they influence the religious habits of the family, it is a good gender choice..  

 The demographics tend to skew young as shown in this chart which also shows the amazing growth in the younger demo.

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: 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: Social Media Explained

 

Since everyone knows I always compare branding to food, why not social media?  Thought everyone would enjoy this take on social media.