My wife will be the first one to tell you that I am far from a Jedi master when it comes to understanding women.
But, I know enough to say that I’m not surprised by a report released by Q Interactive saying that 75% of women who connected to a brand via social networks were NOT influenced to make more purchases.
Why?
Well, I don’t know for certain, but I think it comes down to relationship Cultivation (part 2 of Community Driven Marketing).
Women are very social beings. That secret is out. They share and converse.
Brands for a long time have been structured around broadcast and monologue. Many of them don’t know how to have conversations with customers and don’t genuinely care about their customers as PEOPLE. That’s the key.
Caring about them as people, holistically, beyond and before the actual sale.
Identifying your Raving Fans is pretty straightforward.
Activating them is fun and sexy.
The hard part is the cultivation. You have to earn the relationship. Earn the trust.
It takes time and empathy. It’s not easy. My wife will tell you that as well ;-)
But, if you skip it, whitewash it, or look at it as a “checkbox,” you’ll probably have a whole bunch of “fans” who aren’t motivated to become “Raving” and, most importantly, don’t turn that passion to sales.
