Date: October 12th 2007
Do You Repel
Women…With Your Copy?
Hint: If you’re writing
to women the same way you write to men, the
answer is YES!
You
see, there’s a reason why books like “Men
Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,” “He Said, She Said,”
and “Sperm Are from Men, Eggs Are from Women: The Real Reason Men And Women Are
Different” hold such universal appeal across all age groups,
cultures and genders.
Why?
Because they speak to the inherent biological, psychological and emotional
differences between men and women—despite what certain feministas claim.
So What Makes Male And
Female Consumers So Different And How Does That Affect Your Marketing Results?
Let’s
start by discussing just a few of the most basic differences between men and
women. Then we’ll see how these characteristics account for radically
different purchasing behavior.
Me vs. We
Man’s Motto: “It’s
every man for himself.”
Woman’s
Motto: “All for one and one for all.”
What does this mean? Simply that a man’s mental
scripts often read like, “I can do it myself. I’ll make my own way.
I don’t need advice. I don’t expect people to help me. I mind my
own business and so should the other guy.”
A woman, however, tends to have these scripts
running through her head, “How can I contribute? How can I increase our
bond? How can I achieve greater life balance? How will my decision affect the
people around me? How can we succeed together?”
Now, I’m not saying one is right and the
other wrong. In fact both are critical for a balancing of the proverbial scales.
But what accounts for the difference? A difference in core values.
Whereas men tend to place a high degree of value on independence, freedom,
autonomy, and self-sufficiency, women place a higher degree of value on people,
connections, community and camaraderie. That doesn’t mean each sex ONLY
values those things, just that given a choice that’s where they’re
priorities generally lie.
And before you get up in arms about how you as
an individual are different or your mother, father, brother, sister, wife,
uncle, etc. is different, let me just say the
thing about generalities is they’re GENERALLY true.
Masters
vs. Students
As
Marti Barletta says in her book, “Marketing to Women: How to Increase
Your Share of the World’s Largest
Market,” men prefer to see
themselves as masters of a situation, while
women are more likely to see themselves as students.
This is why men are less likely to ask for
directions, less likely to request assistance at the office, and less likely to
admit they don’t know something. Why? Because in the male culture, it
makes a man look weak, less-than and inferior to admit these things in the face
of other men who are bound and determined to seek out and jump on any
opportunity to prove THEIR superiority. It’s not malicious. It’s
not bad. It just is.
Women, however, see themselves as students. They
share, they discuss, they encourage, and they relate to one another. This is
what their hard wiring is programmed to do just as men are programmed to rib
their buddies and engage in comical displays of what I affectionately call
“peacocking.”
Prioritize
vs. Maximize
Let’s say you gave a man and a women each
a list of 10 things to do. A man’s
inclination is to prioritize the list and accomplish that which he feel is
most important first, then work his way down to the least important last.
And generally speaking, if a man accomplishes 3
or 4 of the most important things, but doesn’t get to the rest,
he’s still happy. Why? Because he accomplished what was most important.
Women on
the other hand are maximizers. Instead of ranking their lists according to
importance, they rank their lists according to how many things they can check
off before the allotted time is up. For example, if a woman goes to the grocery
store, she’ll often ask her husband, “Is there anything you need
while I’m out?” A man, however, rarely dares to ask such a
question. And if he does it’s usually because he’s been reprimanded
for NOT doing it in the past.
Why the difference? For a woman, adding more
tasks that she knows need to be done anyway makes the trip worthwhile. It
justifies making the effort. It also appeals to her multi-tasking nature. Women
call it being efficient. Men call it being complicated.
What’s The Moral Of
This Marketing Story?
If
you want women to pay attention to your message, you’ve got to write in a language they understand. Women
don’t respond to single-focus ads and marketing based on competition,
financial power, or one-upmanship.
Instead
women respond to messages that reveal
how a product or service will meet MULTIPLE needs, provides the PERFECT
solution and incorporates values like teamwork, community, charitable
contribution, family financial security, life balance and so on.
A
woman doesn’t care how much horsepower a car has. She cares about
crash-test safety and what that means to her children.
She
doesn’t want to thumb her nose at the next door neighbor or her friends
by making them jealous of her newest toy. She wants to be the glue that brings
friends together by sharing her new toy.
She
doesn’t want to shop at Target because it’s the cheapest place to
buy laundry detergent. She wants to shop at Target because they donate 5% of
their income to worthy causes and support environmental protection.
Winning
with women means speaking to HER values, HER thoughts, HER feelings and HER
needs. After all, with 80% of the country’s purchasing power
in women’s hands…can you really afford not to?
Also check out: “Marketing
to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market”
by Marti
Until next
time…taste the inspiration,
Lina
Penalosa
The Write Solution
Phn: 757-377-1244
Fax: 757-299-8355
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