Gender matters when planning your online product marketing

Published on June 27, 2012 Gender matters when planning your online product marketing

There is no standard formula when working out a strategy for converting your site’s visitors into buyers but research into gender differences in online buying processes has shown that (in general) men and women go through a different process when choosing a product to buy.

You can use this information to your advantage in your online store if you have a clear understanding of the type of customer you are selling to, and whether your potential customers are predominantly men or women.

What are the key differences?

It’s long been thought that women and men think differently when it comes to purchasing online, and research from late last year has confirmed this theory when a study in the UK into the importance of product reviews found that women place considerable weight on the strength of product reviews whereas men do not.

Furthermore, women do not read product description pages in as much detail as men. They will either be drawn to a product or they will click away to another. It’s therefore very important to have an appealing product page if you are targeting women and want them to read more.

This is consistent with the findings of other surveys and research pieces from the US and UK which have found that women make up approximately 80% of all online spending and men tend to take less time to complete an online purchase than women (10 minutes for men versus 14 minutes for women on average).

In terms of how people shop, the studies show that women will use traditionally “social” times like lunch breaks at work to shop (between noon and 1pm), whereas men are more likely to purchase after their evening meal (between 7-8pm). A willingness to make a quick decision however, makes men more likely to purchase more expensive, big-ticket products. Women however, will be more likely to use social media sites to search for sales and discounts for the products they are buying, so if coupons and sales are a big part of your marketing, use social media extensively.

One exception to these trends is in the area of buying gifts where men have a higher anxiety than women that they will buy the “right” thing for their partner, friend or loved one, and may refer to reviews and advice in those situations. If you’re selling gifts consider offering a suggestions service, showing “you might also like” option or writing articles on how to buy gifts in your particular product category.

What can you learn for your online store?

• If you are targeting women, you need as many reviews as possible. Use store features like automatic email followups to encourage customers to write reviews either for your site or Facebook, or if you have a small customer base you might want to go with the more personal approach of writing to customers manually.
  Furthermore, if you are targeting women you need to have an excellent main product image and quality additional images, as female consumers won’t look at all of your photos unless the first one is good, and might not read any of your product description unless your products are inviting.
  Use stickers, banners, product videos and great photos to entice female consumers to your cart button. Making the cart button itself appealing might also play a role in encouraging click throughs to the cart.
  If sales and coupons are part of your marketing strategy, make sure that you don’t forget social media. Make it prominent in your site, make it easy to share and place discount codes, offers and sale information directly on to your social media pages like Facebook and Google+. Women may also respond to a “people who liked this, also liked this” section on each product, as they act as pseudo endorsements for products that have few or no reviews.Submit your site to reviews sites or shopping comparison sites with review facilities as this may help build a trusted reputation for a particular product.
• If you are targeting men, you will want to downplay reviews and focus on product specifications.
  Men value social interaction in the buying process less than women, preferring to have all the information presented quickly and in one place – so a decision can be made on the spot. So men would prefer to see “evidence” of the product rather than the opinions.
  So, include tabs with product specifications, longer product descriptions, more product photos and embedded YouTube videos from the manufacturer (non reviews based) or self-created ones if you have them.