Effectively Marketing to Women
- By Greg Allardice
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- 11 Jul, 2016
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With Linda Mc Gregor - All About Eve
“ Effectively Marketing to Women ”
Linda McGregor
Founder and Business Principal
All About Eve
Media Futures recently interviewed Linda Mc Gregor at the AMI CX Summit
Here’s a snap shot summary of what Linda had to say –
1. Question : Can you tell us about shared values and how that relates to marketing to women?
Response : We talk a lot about what we call the Fundamental Four™. That is the 4 fundamental differences of marketing to men versus marketing to women.
Top of the list is shared values. Look at what values your target female audience holds, matched against shared values of what your brand offers. This allows a shared and bonding process to occur which makes it easier for women to feel that the brand understands them.
Female values can be quite different from that of males;women are much more about people and connections and they tend to be influenced by the people around them and look to influence those around them as well. Whereas for males it’s all about values around power and status. Knowing that the likely core of the female values sits around people and connections - that helps your brand create a perfect fit as opposed to a forced fit.
2. Question : Why do women spend more time in research for products and services?
Response: The female brain works differently to the male brain. Females have up to 40% more membrane between the two hemispheres of the brain. Those 2 hemispheres, right and left, one is more about rationality and one is more emotive. This membrane between right and left allows women to use both sides of the brain at the same time on a task. That can be a great thing as the decisions can be much more holistic but, as Shakespeare would say, “ and here’s the rub” , it potentially means women spend much more time researching because they are looking for factual input and emotional input. Women mostly want people involved in research and decisions. They often go to trusted advisers, people they believe will tell them an honest opinion, and ask for their input. When you look at these factors you can see why research would take longer for women. Add to that what we call the Perfect Answer™….not just a good answer but the perfect answer. Anthropologists will tell you that comes down to making the absolutely right decision, women do more research to make sure they are getting perfect answers all the time. Sociologists would say it’s not necessarily better it’s just different. Women will take much more time and make holistic decisions.
3. Question : What rewards do women expect and what is Maxi-Tasking?
Response: A reward can be many things, both for men and women. A reward can be a great product, an extra free product, a discount, an experience. The main point is that there needs to be more reward factor than effort factor involved. If you make it hard for women to get the reward they don’t feel really motivated. Simply put, reward must exceed effort for behavioural change to happen. Maxi tasking …..yes women have a natural ability to multi-task but it’s not just about nature it’s also about nuture. Men are equally good at multi-tasking because they have learnt to be. Maxi-tasking is about achieving more rewards at the same time. For example, I drive my car to a meeting, park the car in an underground car park and get the car washed at the same time. It’s about better use of time for women.That’s classic Maxi Tasking.
4. Question: Why surprise and delight her, is it not all about the product and selling more units?
Response: Don’t forget 90% of decisions are made in our subconscious mind, which is largely an emotional mode rather than rational consciousness. Brands and marketing are about getting to the emotional part of the brand versus just the generic product itself. This is true for both men and women. With women however they tend to want more, expect more and research more. Part of that is that they then think they know more about what they are getting. Surprise and delight comes into play when you, as a consumer, actually find out that there is more, and good more.. Also most marketers forget about follow up to females, stage 4 of the marketing process, making her feel good about her decision It’s that joy of purchase, getting what you want and more good stuff on top of it, that surprise and delight. works and sells more unitsas well as leading women to want to tell more people about that great experience. So surprise and delight is a good path to actually selling more units to her and her friends!
Media Futures undertook this interview as an update on trends and thinking within the broader communications industry.
The aim is to be more predictive and how that effects future media models and audiences.
The payback to companies, organisations and advertisers is to be more precise in how they go to market and be able to operate more effectively.
If your media policy, media strategy, media planning and media buying have not addressed Effectively Marketing to Women it is worth investigating this important sector.
Contents Copyright Media Futures Pty Ltd 2016
Hopefully the audience will remember your message or have a call to action where you can sell your products or create a change in perceptions.
Media Licensing on the other hand is an investment into a theme or device in which you have a vested interest. It maybe a song, a musical work, a character, an intellectual property or linked to another brand name that fits with your company brand or service.
As such you are renting or licensing something of substance that becomes an asset over the term of the licence without having to go through the process of creating it yourself. All the hard work has been done, you simply hitch your wagon to the licensed device and grow your presence through the goodwill that comes with it.
Media and Licensing are often overlooked in a desire to spend time in the creative process of making your own theming.
Licensing when done properly and well matched cuts down on wasted time and allows you to prosper through the imagery and persona already in place.
To find out more about media and licensing contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
This pattern has persisted for decades. Possibly because business owners think that people dont spend money or that for some reason people stop using media.
In an age where media usage is portable and the mobile phone is the dominant medium it makes sense to be flexible in your media strategies and take advantage of an audience on the move but still seeking information and content
And yes believe it or not they have money to spend.
Whilst most media usage is focussed around selling your stuff, this more relaxed time of year is when consumer plan for the future and where their next investment or activity is to happen.
Hence content creation and storytelling about who you are, your products and services on offer are valuable.
Consider presenting them in a non retail format that can inform and allow your target market to make informed decisions.
Media does not sleep over the summer period. Make it work for you.
To find out more contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
Through building layers of media you build frequency of message that ultimately has an impact which translates into a positive result for your company brand or service.
Like the layers of bark on a tree, media also changes through seasons providing renewal and regrowth.
Consider the number of mediums you choose, how they are rotated, how the time of day messaging works and the duplication or over exposure leading wastage of your budget.
Media layers have proven to be effective over decades of planning and buying.
To find out more contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
Every hour new mediums come online or are created through traditional bricks and mortar media owners.
This may seem very exciting and you believe a new untapped audience awaits.
The fact is its the same old audience being fragmented into ever smaller parcels of media.
What is the impact on your business of Media Overload and how do you combat the ever increasing wall of clutter.
The impact is not good. It means you have to spend more for less.
There are 3 clear options.
1. Exit the media business all together
2. Concentrate on smaller niche audiences
3. Spread your budget thinly across multiples of mediums to reach the maximum number of potentials.
Making the right decision depends on many intricate decisions on how you want to structure your business.
Making the wrong choice will set you back by months and regaining lost ground costs even more.
To find out about Media Overload, contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
Wednesday 30 October 2019
Credit to CEBIT 2019 for arranging this interview
Here's what Stephen had to say.
Q 1. Has social media peaked? Is there too much of it?
I don’t think social media has peaked.There are still a lot of people in the world who don’t have the internet. In many ways social media is useful like electricity and water. Facebook has 2 .6 billion users and there are 7 billion people on the earth so in that sense there is a long way to go. Social media absorbs our attention and has AI to support it.
Anything of too much can be bad and there are limits and there are limits and how it interfaces with your psychology and emotions.Some of that is not understood and we are starting to understand it.
It can be disconnecting and alarming, like the telephone, how can you talk on that contraption for so long and you cant see them. Humans are adaptable.
Is there too much social media..... I don’t think so, but we need the right kind and right quality of social media.
Q 2. With the recent investigations into social companies, has the integrity of the social sector been damaged?
It depends on your perspective as a user, as a social scientist or an advertiser or government.
They all have slightly different perceptions. We have left the age when social media was universally good.
Thats behind us. There is good and bad in the internet and social media.We tend not to understand the bad things and if we do not understand them then we don’t know how to put in mitigations.
I urge companies like Google and Facebook to open up their platforms and ask the experts to come in and ask what good and bad effect is this having on individuals, societies, politics, how opinions get formed. Some are easy to identify and can be removed but it’s the subtle effects those are the ones we need to understand more deeply.
Q 3. How can SME make money from social media if a bidding system exists?
Facebook is pretty good as a platform and they and others have built tools to reach audiences. Before the internet if you were a coffee shop as an example you could not afford to run TV advts or radio advts or place newspaper advts, the audiences were too big and the advts too expensive.
Social media is built for the long tail of small business that traditional media could not build for.
The fact it is a bidding system should not make any difference as its a sustainable business and if a level is not found then prices come down. There is tension in an auction and small business should not be at a disadvantage to big business.
Q 4. How far can social media go? What are its limits?
The key insight from social media is that it taps into a human desire, to be connected to other people and it uses technology to do that.
There is a lot more energy left in social, we have not seen the end of it.
There are 2.5 billion smart phones now,10 years ago there were none. Theres a long way to go.
Its based on what people want to know. Whats going on in my world.The things that are disruptive and exciting are the advancement of data privacy and and consumers will have more control. The things to watch for the future is virtual technology like VR I phones. As an example if my friend is in Bali I can go surfing on VR with that friend.
Copyright Media Futures
Media Futures interviewed Stephen Sheeler at Cebit 2019
Darling Harbour Sydney October 2019
Website mediafutures.com.au
AI is basically having pre set computer models make your decisions, which means that the data input needs to be done by a human and the computer model is only as good what the human inputs.
AI may be the latest thing however there is one ingredient missing the human interaction between buyer and seller of media space and time. This element has always been the backbone of media relationships and AI needs to be rethought before assuming it will work work for you.
If you are concerned about AI and the long term effects it might have on your business then contact Media Futures
Website medifutures.com.au
The fact remains that media is simply a combination of mediums that delivers an audience. This audience either reacts favourably to your messages or through the sheer volume of messages the audience simply cannot remember your company brand or service.
Media is wrongly perceived as a way to make money.
That silly phrase " monetise" from the media is just another buzz word from those who talk up investing in media with no responsibility on delivering new dollars nor bringing in new paying customers.
In an age where media is now dominated by online and social its too easy to believe that these relatively new mediums can actually bring in new customers and make money. The fact is most of it does not work and you are simply shifting your dollars from traditional into online and social.
Shifting media dollars into the latest hot media in the hope of a return is a waste of time. This is why media does not work and the loser is you.
If you do seek a better way to invest into the media and get results, contact Media Futures.
Website mediafutures.com.au
Where does this lead?
Down the path to nowhere. No presence, no new customers and no sales.
So the recessionary vicious cycle takes over every thing grinds to a halt.
However those clever business owners who use recessionary media wisely can spend the right amount without going broke and continue to dominate their sector of operation.
How do you find such mediums and use them wisely? The answers and solutions are not in text books or self help blogs or social media.
The solution comes comes from sitting down with an independent media specialist who has endured multiples of recessions, has come out he other side intact and knows how to make the most of whats on offer during these boring recessionary days.
To find out more contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
Apart from a few media companies and agencies that have recession proofed themselves, Australia is seeing daily reports of staff sackings, cost cutting, falling profits and rationalisation.
Has this happened before, yes it has. Will it happen again, yes it will.
As an advertiser what does this fragile media climate mean to you.
It means get right into the market and establish a dominant presence whilst most companies are looking to deal keen deals to gain access to your bank account. What you dont want to do is rush the market and buy volumes of media rubbish and become part of the mindless advertising clutter.
To find out how to maximise your exposure in a media recession contact Media Futures
Website mediafutures.com.au
The media business has morphed into one big blob of communications where there is little or no distinction between media ownerships or between mediums. They all look and sound the same.
What has made this happen?
Simply the convergence of traditional media with the internet and social media.
The single medium is a thing of the past and now any one medium has its 2nd, 3rd, 4th generations in another form.
Media is at the cross roads which poses the question, what medium is right for you and how much do you need to invest to effectively reach your audience.
There is no simple answer as it requires a media specialist to unravel the tangled web of offerings and make sense of what fits best for your business.
Dont follow the pack on what they do, or assume what you did last year will work again this year.
Contact an independent media specialist with no vested interests and dig deeper for the truth.
Website mediafutures.com.au