Talking to the Other Half

Merchants had been trying to figure out what women wanted even before Sigmund Freud popped his famous question. Aware that women hold the purchasing power at home, those looking to lure female clients have tried a variety of gambits. Do women want "feminine" packaging? A focus on traditionally female interests? A unisex approach? With the shaking-up the web has given the business world, these questions have become even more puzzling. Surely the new breed of techie women can't be approached in the same old way, but how should they be approached? Webmasters scratch their heads and try one gimmick after another.

And that, says Cybergrrl Aliza Sherman, is exactly why their approaches aren't working. She created the Cybergrrl web network in 1994 because she knew women didn't want gimmicks. They wanted solid sites that didn't dumb down their approaches or get cutesy. They wanted sites that exemplified what Sherman was just beginning to learn.

Let Women Tell You What They Want

It's a classic advertising mistake - instead of asking customers what they want, marketers tell them. Sometimes customers listen, more often they don't. Sherman said that in the earlier days of the web, companies were so busy trying to attract women that they didn't listen to what the women were asking for. "Be responsive," Sherman advises. "If you're going to be in an interactive medium and you can get feedback, then welcome it. Be prepared for it. Respond to it and then act on it as well." Sherman says that webmasters should first try to understand what type of woman they're trying to reach. Then they can engage that type of woman in a two-way conversation.

"Do surveying online, do online focus groups," Aliza says. "Get them engaged in helping you come up with ideas to create or to include what you've created. People will tell you online exactly what they think and if there's a lot of negativity, then you really have to re- evaluate what you're doing." Even more importantly, Sherman says, let women be a part of the plan from the get go. "It's not as prevalent now as it was a few years ago, but what used to floor me is that teams put together to market to women rarely had women on the team," Aliza laughs. "It's definitely changed now, but I just thought that was the silliest thing I've ever heard." Not only are women team members important, Aliza asserts, consultants familiar with the women's market are vital too. "Corporations, even if they're serving women, sort of, in the real world, should look to companies like Cybergrrl for advice," Aliza says. "They should consult companies who have been online for more years than they, who have been very, very involved with women's communities and issues on the Internet. These are the places to turn to for advice."

Realize There's No One Women's Market

The only thing most women have in common is their physiology. What does a grandmother in Skokie have in common with a hipster in San Francisco? A website that tries to appeal to all women ends up appealing to none.

"More than anything, don't try to be all things and don't be afraid to partner with or link out to other resources that might do something better than you do," Aliza says. "Don't assume you know what women want or that all women want the same thing. It's very, very difficult to find universal themes or topics or categories that really cross the board through all ages and all places. It's a big mistake is to make these kind of assumptions."

Forget Sticky

Sherman says she is offended by the concept of a sticky website and so are women on the web. "It's a horrible, horrible word and the concept of trying to get people stuck within your site and not taking advantage of the wonderful vast web that is out there is a mistake," Aliza asserts firmly. "Women don't want to get stuck. They want to be led to things that are valuable. If you do that and they learn to trust you and value you and your site, they're going to bookmark it and you will become an intrinsically important part of their lives. But the whole concept of stickiness is a real cop-out."

Women are powerful consumers and marketers know it. They are the decision-makers that buy everything from powder puffs to Mack trucks. "Companies are getting savvy," Aliza claims. "They may not know how to reach women properly, but they do know how important it is. Women are out there making money, making decisions. They're walking down the aisles of the drugstores and the grocery stores." Smart businesspeople have their eyes on the growing number of women online because these women are going to form brand loyalty to someone. Shouldn't it be you?