Between 2002 and 2007, the number of majority-owned (51%+), women-owned businesses rose by 20%, to 7.8 million.

If you’re interested, the ethnic breakdown looks like this:

• Caucasian:  50%
• African-American:  34%
• Latina:  9%
• Asian:  7%

While this report doesn’t account for the economic downturn of the past couple of years, the fact that women haven’t been as affected as heavily as men by job loss (combined with cultural shifts in which more women are choosing to work from home), is probably holding this number fairly steady.

Here’s what I find to be the most interesting part of the report: An economic impact study (in collaboration with WalMart), estimates that women-owned businesses contribute more than $3 trillion to the economy, even though only 20% of those businesses have employees.

That leaves 80% of women who have started their own businesses and work on their own.

That means you have a tremendous opportunity to position your product or service not only for consumers, but female business owners as well.

Take the garden center, which could easily create a corner display within the nursery to feature low maintenance plants that are perfect for the office.

Or the cleaning service that could offer a “Home Office Only” package.  A woman always thinks of cleaning the rest of the house for the family, but neglects her own office. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door to persuade her to hire you for the whole house.

How about a meal prep service that delivers a “Work From Home” series of healthy lunches once a week?  She can just pull one out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave, and then work while she eats.

I’ll bet you can come up with a half-dozen ideas on how your company can serve those women working on their own.

Let’s see… 80% of 7.8 million is 6.2 million women-owned businesses.

Is that enough customers for you?

I strongly encourage you to read the lengthy article (which you can do online), especially if you have daughters that will someday be entering the workforce.  But I thought I’d share some of statistics from the article that back up Ms. Rosin’s explanation of “how women got control – of everything.”

• In fertilization clinics, reports for “sperm selection to choose the sex of a child” (most still in clinical trials), runs 75% girls, 25% boys.
• A 2006 study measured the economic and political power of women in 162 countries.  In almost all cases, the greater the power of women, the greater the country’s economic success.
• In our current Great Recession, 75% of the 8 million jobs lost were those belonging to men.
• For every two men who receive a B.A. this year, three women will do the same.
• Of the 15 job categories projected to grow the most in the next decade, all but two are dominated by women.

Statistics like these, combined with the socio-economic and cultural shifts that trend toward a matriarchal society, mean that just about every tradition – from fatherhood to breadwinner to bill payer – is changing in a big way.

Just something to think about over your morning coffee… and something to start preparing for in planning ahead for the future of your business.

There is one sure-fire way to drive my husband nuts – ask him the following question:

“Do you smell that?”

He is instantly on alert, sniffing and scrambling like a Jack Russell Terrier on the hunt for a rawhide chewy.  He goes crazy trying to detect the smell while I describe the particular components of the odor.  “It’s like a fried egg with a hint of cinnamon, wrapped in a bouquet of kitchen cleanser.”  Inevitably, my husband gives up the chase, convinced that no such smell exists and I’m one cupcake shy of a full dozen.

Actually, I’m not (at least where smell is concerned).  Studies like a recent one conducted at Cardiff University report that when it comes to odor detection, women have a much more elaborate sense of smell thanks to elevated levels of estrogen in the body. And not only do women have a heightened sense of smell:  MRIs show that women link those smells to emotion, storing those feelings in the right brain of emotional and long-term memory.

What kind of smells does your retail location or office expend?

If it’s moldy, you’re in trouble; likewise, any one of myriad odors can trigger the “don’t feel good about this business” button in a female customer.  Realtors have known about the importance of smell for years – just visit any open house on a Sunday afternoon and you’re likely to encounter a warm batch of chocolate chip cookies on the kitchen counter.

Consider taking a group of women through your location and have them tell you what they smell (it won’t work to do it yourself, even if you’re a woman – your nose is too familiar what it encounters everyday).  Then, determine what you can do to improve it.  But be careful – don’t make things too “sterile.”  I once had a pet-store client that was so focused on the cleanliness of the store that it smelled like a medical facility.  We had to introduce a new smell (cedar) to subliminally change the customer’s perception.

The nose knows… what would her nose tell her about you?

A just-released study from the Pew Research Center indicates that the demographics of motherhood are changing in important ways – ways that should influence how you will advertise and market to this segment of customers.

• Between 1990 and 2008, the percentage of mothers younger than 20 dropped from 13% to 10%
• In the same time period, mothers older than 35 grew from 9% to 14%
• The Hispanic mother segment grew from 14% to 24%
• The Asian mother segment grew from 3% to 6%
• The percentage of married mothers dropped 13% – from a high of 72% in 1990, to only 59% in 2008

And (politics aside), population trends show that it’s likely that by 2050, 82% of the nation’s population growth will be accounted for by immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after 2005 (along with their descendents).

You’re going to have to start looking at the life stage these older mothers are in when having babies, which is much different than when they’re in their early 20’s.  Time horizons change, and you’re going to have to do a strong job of persuading her that you are a long-term brand she’ll love.

You’re going to have to learn about cultures different from your own (especially if you’re Caucasian) and create new ways and new messages that make you relevant in the customer’s life.  It won’t be enough (hey, it isn’t enough NOW) to simply translate your message into Spanish.  You will have to read and learn about Hispanic culture (just to name one), think about the values of that culture and how it views the concept of “family.”  Believe me: it’s going to require a whole new set of messages.

More and more, you’re going to have to fit into her life, not shout at her that she has to fit into yours.

Now is the time to start thinking about how your “marketing to moms” strategy is going to have to change. If you do, and if you keep working at it, you’ll definitely be able to navigate an unavoidable curve in the road ahead.

Have a little fun on this Friday and take the CramerSweeney Smart Marketing IQ Test.

As the homepage says, you’ll be measured through 20 questions in 4 different brand intelligence areas.

Take the test here.

I scored 95%, which makes me a genius.  How did you do?

A new Harris interactive poll, conducted by iVillage, shows the power of the Internet for women when it comes to research – in this case, health and medical issues.

While the information is not too surprising, it does play directly into your own business’ online presence, no matter what your industry.

• 49% of women surveyed say that anonymity and the opportunity to interact with other online members on a specific topic are what drive them to the Internet first when researching a health or medical issue.  Only 25% say they would go to a doctor first.




• Online peers helped 31% of the women (and 39% of mothers) with a specific issue.




• 30% of women say that the Internet research helps them be more fully prepared when visiting a doctor’s office.

This survey is a good example of how women are utilizing the Internet on an increasing level of frequency and depth; this information can also be applied to any industry.

Here are three things to think about:

1.  It’s the perfect place for conducting customer research. Do some Internet searches for forums that are related to your specific industry, and spend quality time reading what others have to say.  The “language” that women use in talking about your general product or service will give you an idea of how to create your message.  What words or phrases keep popping up?  Are you using them in your messaging, or have you fallen into the trap of industry jargon that means absolutely nothing to the customer?

2.  Find the gaps. Reading what others write and help each other with will show you areas where you may be missing out on important opportunities.  What are some of the most common questions and pieces of advice online?  Find the gaps between what your customer needs and what you can offer, and fill them.

3.  Become the portal for information. As Dr. Roland Goertz says, when it comes to your area of expertise, you need to become the portal for the right information.  Create a list of trusted online advice and offer it to your customers when you see them in person; you should also have it available on your website.  Trust me – customers remember who it was that directed them to helpful information, automatically ratcheting your “credibility” rating up a few notches.

Finally, don’t paint yourself into a corner by only paying attention to surveys and studies within your industry.  Statistics and human behavior findings in other fields are important for helping you understand trends and prioritize marketing strategies.

Setting aside the cringe-worthy “women cycle, men consummate” analogy used in the report, let’s look at Dr. Deutsch’s 7 Tips for Marketing to Women. If you had to rely on the analytical language used in the report, it’s likely that you’d run screaming from the room before getting through Number One.  Allow me to help – my translations are in red.

1. Pattern. Marketers should recognize that women have the ability to perceive more than the metric of a product attribute or an instance in time. They appreciate the underlying pattern (idea) that gives rise to the fleeting moment.

With four times as many connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, women are wired to detect grand, vast patterns.  That includes trying to decide where and how your brand fits into the pattern of her life.  Help her to figure that out, and you’re golden.

2. Authenticity. Beyond immediate appearance, marketers should realize that persona, biography (or history), and current contingency must all be factored into a brand, and that universal principles underlie particularities.

Okay, that one made my head hurt.  You have no idea which “angle of approach” a woman is using in deciding whether or not to do business with you, so the best thing you can do is be real.  Talk real.  Practice what you preach.

3. Quality, not just quantity (size). Marketers should understand that for women, bigger and more is not necessarily better. A steady build is often better than an impulsive response.

You can never predict your customer’s moment of need.  You also can’t tell your entire story in one piece of advertising.  Stop thinking that a series of “buy now!” transactional ads will keep drawing her in to your circle – start balancing your message with relational ads, as well.

4. Connectedness, not just individuals. Marketers should know that communality can reign over dominance. Women see people as all bound together.

Women “see” in patterns and look for connections – not just with people, but with incoming data to the brain.  Ask yourself if you’re part of her community, or if you’re just “selling” to her.  Be part of her life, not just part of her purchasing process – otherwise, you’ll gain no brand loyalty and will eventually lose her as a customer (sooner, rather than later).

5. Society, not just markets. Marketers should recognize that markets are numbers, but numbers are not people. Women are people and have personal feelings and social intentions.

See #4 above.

6. Quality of life, not just accumulation. Marketers should learn that women have material and spiritual needs made up of individual wants and musts, which are cast in the context of a social matrix.

Marketers need to understand that not only do women approach decision making differently from men, they also approach it differently from each other.  Learning the Four Neighborhoods of Women and how they communicate is a good start toward smart marketing.

7. Reasonableness, not extremism or absolutism. Marketers should see that all issues have grays, and exaggerations to one side or the other only cover-up the reality of subtlety and nuance to which women are attuned.

Women’s bullshit meters are in overdrive.  Stop with the hype.  Get on with being real and honest.  Everybody wins.

This report offers good insights.  It also offers a final lesson, one that was probably never intended: Don’t make the mistake of trying to communicate a message in a language that only a few people understand.  Getting stuck inside industry-speak isn’t going to be very effective in persuading readers (or customers) that you know what you’re talking about.

There are two basic styles of advertising – Transactional and Relational.

In this post, let’s take a look these styles and what each offers.

TRANSACTIONAL ADVERTISING

Advertising used to promote a sale, event, or price point items.

Look at this TV example from Moon Nurseries:

Advantages:

• Creates a sense of urgency – “limited time offer”
• Allows for promotion of surplus inventory and discount pricing
• Gets traffic through the door of your business

Risks:

• Rise in sales will be short-term
• Done too often, customers get used to it and will just “wait for the next sale”
• No long-term branding effect – if your competitor offers lower prices, you will have a mass exodus of customers

RELATIONAL ADVERTISING:

Advertising used to promote your brand and make customers feel good about your business.

Look at this example from Tim Horton’s Coffee:

Advantages:

• Long-term investment in brand building  = substantial impact in customers’ minds
• Allows a customer to imagine herself interacting with your business
• Creates deeper connection with customer, for longer-term brand loyalty

Risks:

• Greater temptation to try and say everything in one ad, diluting the impact of the message
• Takes longer to build your audience – advertisers often “chicken out” early in the process

Start listening to radio and television ads more closely and try categorizing them into these two styles.  What works better, and why?  Which brands are doing a good job?  Do you have a preference of one style over another?

In the next post, we’ll look at how and when you should be using each type of advertising.  Used correctly, they can have a profound effect on your bottom line.

If you’ve made the wrong choice, it could be costing you a truckload of customers.

Research results issued by Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the University of Illinois at Chicago indicate that gender difference plays a role in the “thinking vs. feeling” debate.

In two different studies, participants were asked to rate which ads they found to be most persuasive.  The basic information of each ad was the same; it was just framed in different ways.

Take, for example, blood donations:

… one message, entitled “My Feelings About Blood Donation,” started with, “I feel that donating blood is one of the most important contributions I can make to society.” It went on to include several more arguments framed in terms of the source’s feelings — for example, “I feel that blood donation is the most fantastic thing I can do with 30 minutes of my free time.”

In a different condition, the message was entitled “My Thoughts About Blood Donation,” and opened with, “I think donating blood is one of the most important contributions I can make to society,” and went on to frame the exact same arguments in terms of the source’s thoughts — “I think blood donation is the most fantastic thing I can do with 30 minutes of my free time.”

Aside from the use of the word “feel” or “think” throughout the message, the content of the arguments was identical, yet those more emotionally oriented were more impressed with (and persuaded by) the “feel” arguments, while those more cognitively oriented liked the “think” arguments better.”

Another study used movie advertising to measure the reactions of participants.  Women were more influenced by reviews that began with, “I feel…”; men were more influenced by reviews that began, “I think…”

Yet another reason Burger King may want to be careful with its next advertising campaign. A woman may think your ad is creative, edgy, and funny, but will she feel good enough about you to be persuaded into purchasing your product?

It’s a slim distinction that makes all the difference in successfully marketing to women.

Some highlights:

A study from RAMA and BIGresearch states that women with children at home are more likely to use Facebook (60.3%) than average adults (50.2%).   According to the study, moms use social media tools to search for coupons or deals. (Hint: make your Facebook page about her, not about your company.)

ShesConnected has a new report that says more than one-third (36%) of women in the U.S. and Canada would give up chocolate or Prada before giving up their connection to social networks… but only as long as the service remained free. (Hint: don’t limit yourself to one social media outlet; there’s no doubt that some will start charging a fee somewhere down the road.)

According to BabyCenter, LLC, the number of tech-savvy mothers is shooting upward off the grid.  Between 2006 and 2009, the number of mothers using social media increased 462%; the number using cell phones to go online increased 348%. (Hint: start investigating the creation of a mobile phone app that applies to your business and makes her life easier.)

We’re seeing the first wave of a generation that was born with a mouse (or trackpad) at their fingertips.  What are you doing to ensure you’re keeping up with their morphing process for consumer research and purchases?