While the marketing industry itself is fairly well-balanced in it's numbers of male and female marketers, the upper management of most marketing companies and departments still suffers from an overwhelming male employee bias. When you break that down further to look exclusively at internet marketing companies the high percentage of both male managers and employees is staggering.

In many cases decisions on marketing and promotion can are conceived and critiqued through a testosterone filter which blurs the true message of the product as it applies to female consumers. Frequently enough, high-profile examples find themselves under mainstream scrutiny, sometimes with an explosive and unexpected backlash toward both the marketer and the product he is promoting.

How can you prevent your web marketing from making the same gender-insensitive mistakes? A number of high-profile and experienced female marketers have written numerous books and articles on marketing to women, and many assure readers that the principles they promote are as applicable to web marketing as they are in any area. These are some of their major points:

You know the old adage, girls mature faster than boys. What's true in high school is also true in marketing. What may seem like humor in the male-dominated meeting room can be perceived as childish and offensive to an adult woman who isn't in a locker room, rather she's at home with a glass of wine, surfing the web to the strains of classical music. While it is true that you can't please all the people all the time, keep in mind the more mature and higher educated consumers out there also have the most money to spend.

Women are shoppers. They will want to spend a lot of time reviewing and exploring before choosing to make a commitment. Help them by not using time-pressure tactics that will only serve to make them uncomfortable. Often websites are riddled with high-pressure language that seems invisible to marketers, as it is so frequent in many of our day to day lives. However familiar phrases like "Take Advantage NOW!" or "Limited Time Offer" can drive female consumers to sites which feature less antagonistic sales language.

Women are much more aware of the disingenuous nature of false flattery. They perceive overt platitudes as unwanted attention and quickly sniff it out for what it is, naked salesmanship. Treat your female audience with the same respect you would for a close female relative, with honesty and respect. Avoid anticipating women shoppers to react in predictable and cliched patterns.

Female consumers are much more sensitive to subtle emotional cues in your advertising. They will respect honesty and reward it, as long as you don't push the wrong emotional buttons. Pushing the right emotional buttons can benefit you as well, women, as much as any of us want to feel positive about their purchases, and that includes feeling good about the decision to purchase itself. Women will be more likely to repeat an emotionally rewarding shopping experience, making every positive emotional impression you make a double investment.

As an adjunct to the emotional appeal you can make to women there is an overall impression to be made that appeals to women's overall sense of trust and respect. Studies have shown that women shoppers will base their decision to purchase as much on an overall positive impression of the website as tangible values like price and convenience. Studies have shown that women prefer to make purchases from sites that have a soothing visual style that is accompanied by a trustworthy and professional design.

Don't clutter up you point of purchase with unnecessary buttons, overly technical or intricately involved texts or instructions. Women are smart enough to ask for details when they need them and, unlike men, not particularly interested in browsing comparison charts, technical specifications, or detailed instructions when they decide to make a purchase. This is not to say that women don't use these items, and most certainly they should be available when necessary to all your customers, rather, don't clutter up pages that don't need them, particularly your checkout and shopping cart pages.

One of the greatest benefits of internet marketing is the ability to quickly gather and respond to consumer impressions, communications and complaints. Studies have shown that female consumers account for a high number of customer communiqués, and respond with high favoritism to companies who show they are open to and actively responsive toward consumer criticism. While customer service and short response times should be the goal of every online business, it's especially important for those companies hoping to attract and maintain a female consumer audience.

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Article Submitted By: Kathryn Dawson
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