Is your Web site “pretty in pink?” If you’re trying to reach women, think again about your design scheme. E-Centric recently talked with Michele Miller and Holly Buchanan, authors of the new book “The Soccer Mom Myth” about what marketers are doing right and wrong when it comes to connecting with women online.
E-CENTRIC: Do women respond to Web sites differently from men?
BUCHANAN: Yes. The University of Glasgow did a study and found that women responded better to sites designed by women and men respond better to sites designed by men. I think we’re designing sites and writing copy that we personally like. The bias of the creator is still making its way into Web sites. The other thing we see is that people think women shop the same way online as they do offline. Research shows that’s really not the case. They don’t browse for hours. They really are task oriented.
E-CENTRIC: What mistakes are Web designers making when it comes to appealing to women?
BUCHANAN: Marketers default to pink, thinking all women will love it. Women are polarized by the color pink. Some like it, some loathe it. I always say design with colors that represent your brand. If you’re a bank or financial institution going for trust and solidarity, go with blues and grays. If you want to seem holistic and grounded, use earth tones and greens. Marketers also think women want these print-like wallpaper backgrounds, which make it nearly impossible to read the text. The sites are almost unusable.
E-CENTRIC: Who’s doing a great job of marketing to women?
MILLER: Dove, with their “Campaign for Real Beauty.” They walked up to their own industry and smacked them across the face for how they portray beauty products and women. Talk about a Web site where a community sprouted up out of nowhere. Women are uploading their own videos about body image. They have done a tremendous job talking about authenticity and getting women to participate in building brand loyalty in the program.
E-CENTRIC: Where do you like to shop?
BUCHANAN: I like sites that have a simple plain design. Many are so cluttered they give me a headache. There’s too much going on. Yahoo! just launched a new women’s community called Shine and I really like the design, I think there’s a good use of white space with a clean simple layout. What’s interesting is that it seems like all of the content sites geared toward women are talking about fashion, celebrity, diet, romance and sex. Where are the sites talking about things I’m actually interested in? I’d love to know more about books—and not just fiction. What’s new in the art world or politics? I haven’t seen anybody branching out of the set content mold of what they think women want. I like to shop where retailers make it easy for me. Say what you want about Amazon, but they make it easy. Women are very big about sharing their opinions, so any sites that allow customer product reviews are very powerful.
MILLER: I agree, especially about ease of use. I shop on Apple all the time, and I’m on Netflix constantly because of the customer reviews. And it’s easy to develop a relationship with sites like Zappos. They think of convenience and the little details. They don’t stop when you click the buy button; they understand that the experience can extend past the time the person has left your Web site.
For more on marketing to women, see the June issue of Direct.
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