The Invisible Force: Reimagining Consumer Engagement Beyond Gender Bias

In the contemporary market, an oversight seems to persist—a blind spot towards an immensely influential consumer base: women. Are businesses truly seeing the force behind the female consumer, or are they rendered invisible by ingrained biases?

The Ignored Power of the Female Consumer
It’s alarming how many products and services are designed without considering the significant impact and potential purchasing power of women. There’s a prevailing false assumption that women might not have the economic capability to invest in these offerings. This oversight leads to missed opportunities and a disconnect between businesses and a major demographic.

Shifting Tides: The Evolving Consumer Landscape
Industries that historically fixated on male-centric marketing strategies must recognize that the landscape has dramatically shifted. Women are catalysts for change in consumer behaviors, wielding substantial spending power. The outdated perception that their primary consumer base comprises men no longer aligns with reality.

The Economic Force: Unveiling Female Purchasing Power
By 2028, projections suggest that a staggering 75% of discretionary spending will be attributed to women. This figure serves as a compelling wake-up call for businesses still tethered to the belief that their primary consumers are male.

Rethinking Business Strategies: Embracing Inclusivity
It’s high time for a fundamental reevaluation of business strategies and market approaches. Recognizing the evolving spending power and influence of women is not just a matter of morality; it’s a pragmatic business move. Adapting marketing, product development, and service delivery to be more inclusive can unlock an untapped market potential.

Conclusion: Redefining Perspectives for a Thriving Future
As industries and businesses strive to leap ahead, the pivotal question emerges: Are you still viewing your consumers through an outdated lens? Shifting perspectives, acknowledging the substantial influence of the female consumer, and adapting strategies accordingly is the key to staying relevant and prosperous in the market.

The big shift in marketing for 2023

While the year has just started and I’d like to talk about trends in social media marketing, I must focus on the big shift happening right now.

This big shift is happening due to a change in the consumer behavior and since once one changes its behavior, there is no coming back. Companies either adapt to the new pattern or stay behind.

The consumer is less and less paying attention to any form of traditional advertising on social media or in other platforms. 

There is a huge need to grab the attention of the consumer in 3 seconds or less and use visual content.

The consumer is looking for what is called Micro-influencers on social media. People that are experts in niche content and can deliver content in an authentic and relatable way. 

Companies need to create video content regularly in an informal format but this content needs to be engaging and entertaining. 

No big production but relatable content is a must. 

We are likely to see more platforms and features focused on making it easy for users to buy products directly from social media.

Businesses and entrepreneurs need to focus on short format videos and distribute them constantly to TikTok, Youtube shorts and reels. 

It is also crucial to focus on good, to the point content and avoid trending songs, trending dances etc. People will engage with you if you provide good content that resonates on an emotional level with them. 

I don’t trust you!

I don’t trust you!

Your customers might not be telling you this but it is in the back of their minds: I don’t trust you!

We are living in a moment where we don’t trust media or brands. We believe or are lead to believe media is fake, companies betray us. Consumers feel ostracized and misunderstood. So you as a brand need to be thinking how to move forward and prove your trustworthiness to consumers.

Our environment is changing, our behavior is changing and our emotions are taking the forefront. As a marketer of your own business, you need to understand and adapt if you want to thrive.

Emotion is the new currency. You market to emotions. All the time.

Yes, people are angry and divided. They feel empowered to say what they feel even when it is a little bit too much. What do you do as a brand? You don’t want people talking bad about your business but you need to give them voice in a positive way. You allow them to participate!

People are looking for compassion, safety and privacy. How many people put a tape over their computer camera because they don’t want to lose their sense of privacy? I know my desktop does not have a camera either, just in case.

Because our level of trust is so low we are blocking cameras, news, e-mails. The younger the generation the worse it gets. Generation Z for example is really averse in sharing any personal data (even when they might get a 20% off coupon). So what will happen with those lead generation pages?

The approach will change drastically. Meaning and purpose will have to be there if they are to share anything with you.

So what is a brand to do? Understand what people want and give it to them. For example, people want to be respected, believed and heard. So having to walk a whole store to find one overworked employee to ask a question, does not work. Watching a video where the expert is telling them what to do, without their input does not work either.

You need to understand that if a customer came to you, he/she did it although he/she would rather be home, despite of day to day struggles, work etc. You should understand and respect that and give them the most personable and special experience. If you are just trying to sell them something, you are going to lose them.

Did I say they’d rather stay home? It is a safe place we trust. Now we just need to make it self-sufficient. Robots, technologies, machines that talk to us and make us fee special, delivery of goods (Why do I even need to go to a supermarket)? All these products and services are on the rise. As well as services that give us instant access to what we want: Netflix, Spotify, Curiousmondo.

Consumer now relate better with small. Small or local brands. Even if you are a big company, you can market as a personal brand with real people, with hobbies and purpose. Small gives us a perspective of control and in a moment where society is evolving, something that makes us all uncomfortable, we seek control and reach. The sense of small gives us that. If you look in the restaurant industry- portions are getting smaller too.

When we get out of our home, we want to do things in groups. Because we need human connection and validation and because the enormous amount of time we spend in social media is making us really bored. Companies that cater to this need are growing like Plantnite that partners with restaurants and bars. But going out in a group also means doing something together like spinning, knitting, making or cosplay.

 

You can say culture is the new media and if you empower culture with your customers you will be in the winning end. People don’t want to be advertised to but they do want to be reached. That is why you need to talk about them and their emotions and needs not about your product or service. You need to market to them in their groups, neighborhoods and social circles.

It does take more work but it works better than any ad out there, lasts longer and most of all increases the level of trust in your company.

Narcissists Can Be Manipulated into Caring About the Environment

Although narcissists tend not to care about the societal benefits of pro-environmental activities, their attitudes change if their “green” behaviors are likely to be seen and admired by others, say Iman Naderi of Fairfield University and David Strutton of the University of North Texas. For example, narcissists considered an environmentally friendly laptop computer to be more attractive when they were told it was for use in public, rather than at home (3.7 versus 2.7 on a seven-point scale). Narcissism may be on the rise in the U.S., the researchers say: A nationwide analysis shows that college students’ scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory rose steadily between 1982 and 2009.

SOURCE: Can normal narcissism be managed to promote green product purchases? Investigating a counterintuitive proposition

narcissist

Do You Have to Be Perfectly Qualified Before You Can Apply for That Promotion?

An internal review at Hewlett-Packard revealed a striking difference between female and male employees, Katty Kay and Claire Shipman write in The Atlantic: Women applied for promotion only when they believed they met 100% of the qualifications listed for the job; men applied when they thought they could meet 60% of the requirements. The difference comes down to confidence, the writers say.

Narcissistic CEOs Take Bold Action When There's an Appreciative Audience
SOURCE: The Confidence Gap

How Mental Biases Distort Perceptions of MBA Program Rankings

When considering MBA programs and colleges that move up in published rankings, people are most impressed when the movement crosses a round-number category, such as from number 11 to number 10, as opposed to moving from 10 to 9, say Mathew S. Isaac of Seattle University and Robert M. Schindler of Rutgers. This “top ten” effect shows that consumers mentally divide lengthy rankings into smaller sets of categories and exaggerate differences between numbers that cross category boundaries. Organizations that depend on their public rankings would do well to invest aggressively in improving their positions if doing so might push them into a higher round-number category, the research suggests.

SOURCE: The Top-Ten Effect: Consumers’ Subjective Categorization of Ranked Lists

Your Tendency to Put Things Off May Have Been Inherited

46% of the trait of procrastination is due to genetic influences, according to a study of hundreds of sets of twins. The research also lends support to a theory that procrastination, in its tendency to undermine adherence to long-term goals, is a byproduct of impulsivity, which may have had an evolutionary origin: Hunter-gatherers had an advantage if they acted swiftly to satisfy their survival needs. Your genetics don’t necessarily condemn you to a life of procrastination: The 46% figure means procrastination is only “moderately heritable,” according to the researchers, led by Daniel E. Gustavson of the University of Colorado.

What is happening to your brain [Boomerology Revealed TV #06]

How the Spine Affects your Brain with Dr Shannon Parisi (I was not aware of this at all!) We also talk about the Lifestrength bracelet and how that affects your health, a list of films that every baby boomer should watch, the art of multi-tasking and some fun pictures.

 

 

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Your Ability to Size Up a Face Probably Isn’t Based on Experience

If adults assume that their ability to discern trustworthiness, or the lack thereof, in strangers’ faces is a skill honed over a lifetime, they’re wrong. Children ages 5 and 6 made very nearly the same judgments about the trustworthiness of computer-generated faces as adults, and children ages 3 to 4 were off by just a few percentage points, says a team led by Emily J. Cogsdill of Harvard. People make inferences—right or wrong—about strangers’ characters within 50 milliseconds of viewing their faces, prior research has shown.
baby girl face

SOURCE: Inferring Character from Faces: A Developmental Study