Capturing women’s attention in marketing a product has many factors, but the most important is trust. Women buy from those they trust, they ask their trusted network for information before making a purchase and listen to other women who they can identify with for their opinions. Social networking for women is huge, because it is another line of communication to learn and share.
Savvy marketers get that. P&G has a whole area on their website for women to share information about P&G products, get coupons and read about relatable items. But the company that has my attention today is VocalPoint. They connect women to new products by sharing experiences with the products through the eyes of other women. That is, women sample the product, then share their views and experience via a newsletter. So how could that work for radio?
I think most car dealers’ radio commercials are horrible. They really do nothing to bring women into the show room. But what if you went to the Ford dealer and pitched the idea of giving a group of women listeners a new Ford Flex for the day. They could drive it, pick up their kids, see how roomy it is, talk about the better gas mileage and then go out for the night on the town. All the time carrying a little video camera recording their exploits. You then use the experience to create a radio spot, video on your website and video on the dealers’ website. It’s word of mouth, women talking to women about a great new product. The trust factor is there. That’s what VocalPoint did and it has been huge for Ford.
By developing a group within your database of women who are active consumers, you can then use that group to create word of mouth opportunities for your advertisers that not only will help them create better advertising campaigns but will also help you stand out from the competition, getting bigger pieces of the pie. By using the radio as a portal to your audience, you can then help create word of mouth campaigns for your clients that not only include radio, but also website and email campaigns. It’s not just value added, it’s really marrying all the technology together to create a real word of mouth strategy. And in today’s economic world, creative will win.
Women love to learn about new products. It is their nature to share what they’ve learned with their friends and family. That is how the trust is built. And by using that trust, radio can become the conduit between advertisers and listeners, selling access and creating word of mouth that is much more effective than a screaming car dealer voice yelling at me about $49 down. If you’d like to learn more about how to begin to create word of mouth with your advertisers and listeners, give us a call. It's tough out there and new perspectives can help.
