Maria Reitan  and I had a great conversation on her radio show Purse Strings.    She wanted to know about how you can better understand your target demographics.  Maria asked some great questions about marketing to women, how women use the Internet, and the burning question on everyone’s minds – why I spend all my holidays in the bathroom.

Give it a listen.

...continue to read "Holly Buchanan Interview on Purse Strings"

The other day I was looking at a website – justforgirlssports.com – and saw an excellent example of why product reviews do a better job of selling products than product descriptions do.   I was looking at the product page for a girl’s bicycle helmet.

The product copy had this to say about the helmet:

“The ergonomic designed padding and an additional pad set for the perfect individual fit guarantee ultimate comfort.

The product review had this to say about the helmet:

“The helmetÂ…

...continue to read "Why Product Reviews Are Better Than Product Descriptions"

Guy Kawasaki recently blogged about an article that attempts to explain how women work.

There are some interesting tidbits including why women may be more stressed than men, how Barbie has affected women’s eating disorders, and some cool brain differences.

I wrote about some of these differences in The Soccer Mom Myth.  Differences between men and women DO exist.   It’s ok to say so.   But what’s even more important is to understand how…

...continue to read "How Women Work"

Is there a difference in the way men and women use search?   Is there a way to better meet the needs of women in your search strategy and campaigns?

These are some of the questions I discussed with Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro Research.

More and more studies are showing there are differences in how men and women use websites.   Is there a difference in how they use search as well? …

...continue to read "Women and Search-an Interview with Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro"

I was recently looking for a new speaker stand for my iPod. It would never even occur to me to go into my local electronics store to see what was available and what might be right for me. I do what I always do when researching a new product. I go to Google. Once I do my research on the Internet and decide what I want – THEN I may go to a brick and mortar store to buy it.

Seems…

...continue to read "How Online Searches Affect Offline Sales"

Would you like to join me at a marketing to women event here in New York City?

About.com and Brandweek are presenting a roundtable and cocktail party Thursday, July 17, starting at 3pm. You can join me as part of the exclusive in-person audience for “Online She Trusts… or Does She? “- an expert roundtable discussing women’s interactions in the virtual world – where they go and what and who they believe, what they respond to, and what they steer clear…

...continue to read "Marketing to Women Event in NYC"

Social media is exploding. Everyone’s talking about the huge advertising potential. I see companies and marketers getting positively giddy:

“Think of it! Millions and millions of people we can hyper target with relevant messages and offers, contextual targeting, behavioral targeting – THINK OF THE VIRAL OPPORTUNITIES!”

Um, you’ve got a little bit of spittle there at the corner of your mouth…there, yeah, you wiped it off.

Yes, the potential is huge. But some companies have been disappointed with the results in their early…

...continue to read "Tapping the Power of Social Media to Advertise to Women"

I’m a sucker for a good cartoon. Not only are they humorous and entertaining, they’re also wonderful ways to express an idea.

While attending a Google Website Optimizer presentation, our good friend Sean D’Souza crafted some cartoons that do a great job of “getting the point across.”

It’s amazing when you actually take the time to do testing, how all that accumulated learning leads to some pretty impressive results.  It may not happen all at once, but, in the long run, you’re…

...continue to read "Google Website Optimizer Cartoons"

What’s hot and exciting in customer research? A neurological breakthrough? A fancy new psychological tool? Nope – Analyzing text. That’s right – analyzing what people say.

A recent Advertising Age article, What All That Chatter Is Really Saying, talks about how text analytics can turn customer feedback into more meaningful insight.

Today it is marketers who are increasingly turning to text analytics to mine information from the mountains of customer data they’ve accrued from customer-service surveys, e-mails, online forums, hosted feedback sites…

...continue to read "New Customer Insight Using Oldest Form of Communication"

In test after test, it seems “Free Shipping” is still a great incentive for online shoppers. I know I’m a sucker for free shipping. It just feels like, well, like I’m getting real value in the transaction when the company is going to eat the shipping costs.

Call me mean, but I like that thought.

I’ve long held a theory that women are more sensitive to shipping costs than men. I have no proof of this theory. It’s mostly anecdotal. When I…

...continue to read "Do Women Respond to “Free Shipping” More Than Men?"