Marketing to Women Online

I found some amazing information when I recently prepared a class for the Women’s Council of REALTORS on marketing online for women. I wanted to share some of the information I found.

Women make 83% of all household purchases in the U.S.

Women account for 58% of total online spending and complete more online transactions than men do.

More than 62% of women say they’re the primary decision makers for their families’ healthcare (only 27% make these decisions jointly with their spouses/partners, parents, or adult children).

The gender gap on social media is growing

It’s no shock either that men and women act very different online. The web is an extremely social medium, with Web 2.0 being all about social. Men traditionally are early adopters, especially when it comes to tech, but when it comes to social media, women are at the forefront.

Women are much more relationship driven and less transactional than men. They spend more time on social networks building relationships, communicating with friends, making new friends, and more.

When it all began . . .

Thousands of years ago, we were divided into two groups. The hunters and the nurturers. When a man went out hunting, they would keep their prized fishing hole or hunting spot to themselves. Men are programmed to not network unless there is an extreme benefit for them to do so.

Women on the other hand lived the opposite. By nature they nurture. They work together back at the camp, collectively getting the work done and caring for their families. They didn’t compete but cooperated. (Now friends, I am just making a point and poking a little fun here, no reactions on the cave man analogy, please).

I watch my daughter sharing child care tips of Kellymom, I ask for and find recipes that people share with me on Facebook, and ask where to shop when I am traveling. Women want to make an emotional connection with anything they buy.

So with that said, gear your social marketing campaign to women as a way to make their lives easier through recommendation, deep content. A women goes online after she has put the kids to bed and needs to find all the answers she needs on your website. Make is easy, simple and she will be a loyal client.

It is the same with houses as with any other commodity. When I was shopping for a new car, I wanted to make sure that I was not going to be intimidated by the car dealers. I did alot of research and ended up being their worst nightmare because they did not expect a woman to know as much as I did about the car I wanted.

When women call or email you, answer their questions and give them all the details they need to make a decision.

How to use social media to market to women

In a recent email interview with Holly Buchanan whose blog is called Marketing to Women Online, she told me:

“In one corner, you have brands, products, services, companies who want women to buy their stuff.
In the other corner you have women having conversations on the Internet – Women writing blogs, on Twitter, on Facebook, in discussion forums, doing research and shopping on the Internet. What’s missing is the emotional connection between the two.

“The biggest mistake brands make is thinking they can talk to women directly about their products.  Now, I know that sounds crazy, but I’m giving you some tough love here. Women don’t care about your products.
Women care about what’s going on their lives.  Women care about things they have emotional connections with.” Check out her blog.