Female Influencers

There are magazines for women, there are all kinds of arrangements for women exclusively, department stores have whole sections that focus entirely on female buyers. Then why is it, that online marketing seems to ignore female users and focus so much more on general user groups or men? It makes sense to create online marketing campaigns that target females exclusively. Women are practical, price conscious and are willing to communicate about products and online purchases more than men.

My friend's wife, mother of two children, knows much more about Apps, online shopping, SEM and what not, than he does. She's the perfect example of a Dutch career woman who is active on the web, and in Social Media. She is on LinkedIn, shops online, keeps track of new developments, all done for practical purposes: saving time and money.

A 70+ aunt of mine considers buying an Ereader for practical reasons also. Weight of books gets to be a bother when you get older. Imagine having wrist problems while you love reading in bed. That means holding a book for a long time turns into a big nuisance. Ereaders solve that problem because they’re so light weight. Prior to her online purchase, she looks into any which online information about Ereaders. Price, size, compatibility, and contrast, it’s all meticulously regarded. She even has my uncle to it for her as well. How practical is that?

Previously mentioned individuals are perfect examples of female influencers. They are women who are online savvy, and who are willing to purchase online, provided that products and purchasing processes can be done on their terms. They are the living proof of female influencers.

Obviously I base this proof-statement not only on these two examples from my private life. The data from an online survey I ran for a webshop showed that 60% of females shop, review, and communicate online, and would definitely keep doing that in the nearby future. Among my male respondents only 30% was this positive.

Arguments women posted were: low prices, trustworthy, excellent customer service, sites to talk to other women to share experiences, fast delivery, easy to buy, fastest way of getting useful information.

Based on my research and personal experience I am convinced that targeting females online for certain markets will prove to be profitable increasingly. They are users to reckoned with, they are the female influencers.

In Online Marketing, however, most SEA campaigns target a general user group, youngsters, or just men. This lack of vision might very well be a remnant of traditional, stereotypical Marketing where men are 'technical' and females are technically challenged... Well, I think my examples and research proves this biased statement to be definitely untrue. Besides, how many women do you know, who won't get on the Internet, buy Smartphones or use any other digital device, because, allegedly, they're 'technically challenged'? Probably none!