OneUpWeb recently released a new report titled, “The New Rules of SEO.” Ironically, the findings reveal what social media strategists have been screaming the past few years – it is all about delivering user-driven content. Search engine optimization has evolved over time and it is no longer simply about keywords, meta tags and web pages to get to the top of the page. According to the report, variety and diversification across channels can make all the difference in the race to a first page rank. And with the top five results being more likely to get a click before the

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Filed under: Blogging, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | No Comments »

When I was comparing September’s “Women at NBCU’s Brand Power Index” with last month’s scores, it felt a bit like watching the BCS countdown last night. Even though I was trying to figure out which teams must win or lose so that my team can go on to win the National Championship, I know things will most likely change dramatically by next week. There’s a reason for that. Some teams will do things right this next week – and some teams won’t. The difference in college football is that there can only be one real winner at the end of

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Filed under: Advertising to Women During Recession, Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 2 Comments »

We talk a good bit about how all women are not moms. But it would also be wise for marketers to remember that moms are not just moms. They have other interests, and that is true for mom bloggers as well as mom blog readers. Yes, moms who blog are very influential and according to eMarketer, that trend is expected to steadily increase from 3.9 million today to 4.4 million in 2014. And yes, moms who blog have become important partners for many companies selling their products and services to the nearly 33 million moms who go online in the

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Filed under: Advertising during recession, Advertising to Women During Recession, Blogging, Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing-to-Moms, Social Media, Targeting Women, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 3 Comments »

If so, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you most likely have no strategy. You are not alone. A recent survey conducted by Digital Brand Expressions revealed that nearly 60% of companies using social media have entered the space with NO game plan. Yet, of those same companies that entered the space without a strategy, 88% agree that a plan is important. These findings confirm so much of what we are witnessing with online marketing. Companies “know” they must incorporate social media, because “everyone” is doing it. So they do what they “think” everyone is doing.

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Filed under: Advertising to Women During Recession, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Targeting Women, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 3 Comments »

I just love a good debate. Don’t you? Last week I received an email from a former male client in response to one of my recent blog posts – Men and Women Solve Problems Differently. Therefore, They Shop and Buy Differently. He and I worked together for quite a few years and during that time we were always honest with each other – rarely holding back on our differing viewpoints. So, less his name (we’ll call him Bob), but with his blessings, I’d like to share his opinions as well as my rebuttal. And you decide. Who’s right? Oh, and

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Targeting Women, Web 2.0 | 12 Comments »

“Consumers are turning to mobile, online and social media during their entire holiday shopping experience,” said Stacy Janiak, Deloitte vice chairman. And what will they be looking for? Deals, gift ideas and wish lists. This is a great opportunity for brands to engage with women. Make sure you are on her wish lists and implement clever ways to have her share your coupons. According to e-Marketer, Deloitte found that, overall, 17% of consumers would use social media during their holiday shopping this year. And just over one-half of that group was ages 18 to 29. Deloitte found even more consumers—19%—plan

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Filed under: Advertising during recession, Advertising to Women During Recession, Social Media, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 2 Comments »

Last week Google launched SideWiki, which allows people to contribute their thoughts or comments on any webpage. That’s right. ANY webpage on the Internet. Google SideWiki appears as a browser sidebar, where anyone who has subscribed to it for free, can read and write entries along the side of the page. Women communicate, connect and share. They are going to simply LOVE this. I think Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter summed it up pretty well on his blog when he said, “Google is turning the whole web into a social network.” This means anyone will be able to comment on YOUR

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Filed under: Marketing 2.0, Social Media, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 2 Comments »

“As a result of the Digital Revolution, traditional media are in a stage of dire retrenchment as prelude to complete collapse. Newspapers, magazines and especially TV as we currently know them are fundamentally doomed,” according to Bob Garfield in his new book, The Chaos Scenario. Garfield authors the “Ad Review” TV-commercial criticism feature in Advertising Age and is the advertising analyst for ABC News. Whether you agree or not to the extent that Garfield feels the Digital Revolution will impact the advertising’s traditional media in his new book, the one thing that caught my attention is his compelling argument for

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Targeting Women, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 1 Comment »

No matter how many times I go to The Home Depot’s Twitter page to use it as an example of a company using Twitter to address poor customer service, I have never been disappointed. Unfortunately for them, there is always a sample of them responding to a dissatisfied customer. But the good news is they ARE responding to dissatisfied customers. Women are more likely to recommend a product or service if they feel they have been treated well after a bad experience than if they had no bad experience at all. While I am obviously not advocating bad experiences, there is

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Filed under: Connecting with Women, Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Social Media, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 3 Comments »

When I think about what women want and respond to versus what we see from most advertisers, I am reminded of the Pink Floyd song, “Comfortably Numb.” A line from the song states, “Your lips move, but I can’t hear what you are saying.” I speak with several male marketers who are very proud to tell me how they conduct research and focus groups to study women. A few even have female review boards. It always seems to be a great start, but deeper discussion typically reveals that it seems to be more of a means to justify the advertising

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Marketing 2.0, Targeting Women, Web 2.0, Women and the Internet | 5 Comments »