1. Reaching Female
Audiences Online
Why Brands Are Missing the Mark and What They Can Do About It

2. Introduction
 Studies show that women feel brands
don’t “get” them
o Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather reports that 91% of women
feel misunderstood by advertisers
o A 2012 Insights by Marketing study showed that out of
11,300 female respondents, 91% also felt brands weren’t
marketing to them effectively.
o That’s pretty significant when you consider that women
comprise 85% of consumer spending
o Not to mention, 42 million women are online or on mobile
an average of six hours a day and 22% of them shop
online at least once a day
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3. Case Study: Ore-Ida
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4. Case Study: Ore-Ida
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5. Case Study: Dove
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6. Case Study: Dove
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7. What’s the Difference?
 Ore-Ida assumed that ALL women
watch calories
and that we will only eat a food if
it’s low-calorie
 Dove kept it real and hit upon a
common theme/hot button for
women: self-acceptance
 Dove acted like a “person,” not an
advertiser
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8. Why are Some Brands Getting it
Wrong?
 They’re stereotyping women as “all the same”
(i.e. we all like pink, we’re obsessed with
dieting, we’re all moms)
 Their brand messaging is not taking into account
that women’s needs and expectations have
changed. Time is our biggest commodity. We
want products and services that make our lives
easier.
 They’re not getting that women themselves
have changed: We are more educated, higher
earning, and media savvy than ever before
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9. Why are Some Brands Getting it
Wrong?
 Product and service advertising is now more
about storytelling (to keep shorter, online-
centric attention spans engaged) and brands
remain too focused on traditional advertising
 Some brands are too focused on their
products and not on how the product can
SOLVE a women’s problems (lack of time is
number one)
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10. How Brands Can Address the
Challenges
 Get to know the female audience
authentically
o Do some social media listening and interacting to get
a feel for the language and hot buttons.
o Put together a focus group of bloggers or active social
media users and ask them questions directly.
o Hire a social media insider who works and plays online
with your audience.
 Focus on the content
o Woman are smart. Don’t talk down to us.
o Make us laugh or make us cry (i.e. make us FEEL)
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11. How Brands Can Address the
Challenges
 Keep the message simple
o Focus on one or two key messages.
o Get to the point quickly.
o Don’t focus on a long list of features and
benefits. Women want to know the value the
product or service will add to their lives (how
will it make our lives easier or better).
 Be real
o Act as if you care about the audience’s needs,
not as if your product is doing them a favor
 Focus on life stage, not age
o Not all 35-year-olds are married or have
children
o Not all 55-year-olds are getting ready to retire
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12. Reaching Women Online:
Strategies
 Engage, don’t broadcast
o When you enter conversations online via Twitter or
Facebook, “hey there!” and “I’ve got this great new
product!” won’t cut it. Read their tweets and say
something that shows you’re listening and not just butting
in.
 Consult the insiders
o Bloggers and social media influencers are your quickest in
to this audience. They are part of the conversations and
know what their friends are thinking. It’s not enough to
have a young “social media” user on staff, you need the
real deal.
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13. Reaching Women Online:
Strategies
 Be authentic and transparent
o Too many brands still use social media as another
brand interruption channel and mask their motives.
 Have women craft the message
o Pure and simple: women get other women.
 Tell stories
o Create social videos (i.e. Dove), not ads.
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14. Know the Audience: Social
Listening Strategies
 Search Twitter hashtags
for topics related to your
company’s product/service
o For example, #icecream or #doglover
o Listen to what is being said
 Google related topics and
search “Blogs” for real
feedback on products, ads, etc.
o You’ll find bloggers who’ve written about your type of
service/product
o Read what they’ve written
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15. Know the Audience: Social
Listening Strategies
 Use Twitter lists
o Create a Twitter list of tweeters whose
voice/tweets you value.
o Engage with them by tweeting links to
their blog posts or commenting on their
tweets without self promotion.
 Like related Facebook
pages
o If you sell a natural food product, like a
“Healthy Eating” Facebook page and see
what links are shared and what
commenters are talking about
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16. Final Recommendations
 Don’t ignore women over 50
 Don’t sweet talk or condescend
 Bring real women into the
consultation/messaging stage
 Plan a beta launch of trusted online users who
will give you honest feedback
 Make the message short, shareable, and
memorable
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17. Thank You!
 Website:
o www.twofunnybrains.com
 Twitter:
o @twofunnybrains
 Email:
o Twofunnybrains@yahoo.com
 Phone:
o 213-810-9077
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