What Women Want - Understanding Women Online

by Jim Peterson, President, The Concrete Network

We think us men dominate the world of building, do we? I know that at least around my house it is my wife who makes things happen. When we built our house- she engineered most of the product decisions. I confirmed I'm not alone on this count- Jill and Dan Tate, friends of ours here in Yucaipa, recently built their dream home. Jill found information about most of the products they used online. In some cases educating the builder about what was available.

Here is some information about the power women have in the marketplace. And some tips of what you should do about it if you want to properly display your construction services or products to this potent group.

In a nutshell, women find the Web essential to decision making. Seventy-eight percent use the Internet to obtain product information before making purchasing decisions. Thirty-three percent research online and then purchase the products offline.

Women are no longer a mystery -- well, at least not online. This is according to Seana Mulcahy, Vice President, Director of Interactive Media at Mullen and says she has finally uncovered a few gems while digging around, so I thought I'd share what she found with you.

According to Mulcahy:

Solid demographics are probably the easiest numbers to come by. For example, we know that women have a dominant presence on the Web. In the U.S., women outnumber men, and the population on the Internet mirrors the population at large. According to AC Nielsen, 52 percent of women are online (67,380,376). Many other countries mirror such usage numbers.

According to @plan, 86.5 percent of women online are 18 to 54 years old. The largest group of women online are the 35 to 44 year olds. The exact numbers are:

18-24 years old: 9,306,874
25-34 years old: 14,460,222
35-44 years old: 18,728,066
45-54 years old: 16,007,764

Here is some of the qualitative data Mulcahy discovered (pay close attention- this impacts how you should design your web site):

Women are destination-driven.
They want convenience.
Women view the Web as a time-saver.
They feel the Web enhances their lives.
Women feel that the Web offers tools to communicate, shop, and receive news and information.
Women seek current information that is easy to access.
They are comfortable with the medium.

Women say that they feel confident and in control while online. They feel as if the Web makes them more knowledgeable, and they feel a sense of accomplishment. The unlimited choices online give women a sense of empowerment.

According to @plan, women embrace the Web as a multipurpose tool. They use it for research but hone in on information within news, parenting, personal fitness, health care, meal planning, and entertainment channels.

In a study by Content Intelligence, most women were found to have used the Internet for less than three years, in comparison with only 35 percent of men. However, women are more likely to become frequent users. They are also said to dominate e-tail spending.

Planning Media for a Female Audience

Here are the Mulcahy's top 10 tips on planning media geared toward a female target audience:

Always keep your/your clients' business objectives in mind.
Research Web consumption against the target audience.
Consider loyalty indicators such as stickiness and frequency within sites.
Capitalize on any lifestyle indicators you may know (e.g, active, likes to go to movies, etc.).
Seek opportunities with creative units, such as chat, greeting cards, and coupons.
Determine environments where women may be most receptive to your message/offer.
Utilize areas that allow the opportunity to test messages.
Consider viral elements in ad units or creative/messaging (e.g. refer a friend).
Take advantage of database-building opportunities, such as free registration on sites.
Consider using promotional opportunities, such as sweepstakes.

Do some simple testing: Ask 4-5 women to look at your web site and see if they can easily accomplish the three or four most important tasks you want site visitors to do. Can they easily find your contact information? Is it absolutely clear what you do? Do they the feeling your company is professional by your web presence? Does the site load quickly (remember: Women view the Web as a time-saver).

Ignore this powerful group at your own risk!

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