You just need to look at the accelerating progress of new applications, social networking forums, state-of-the-art video conferencing, and much more, to understand the unrelenting pressure to stay ahead of the curve.

More and more publications, including newspapers, are going virtual and cancelling their hard copy counterparts for good. Social forums, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ have become the preferred mode of communication amongst us, for personal, business and marketing needs.

To conduct effective and result driven public relations today, you need to be flexible and fast on the uptake, but the key is to know how to utilise different platforms and networks effectively. This may not be a simple exercise, as it involves time, money and a desire to really learn and apply in a targeted and relevant way to client campaigns to ensure they are successful.

There is a skill to offering a client successful social media campaigns, as they are so diverse in application, reach, style, content and tonality. Any small mistake can backfire and yield the communication campaign a failure.

There’s no denying the power you can yield from social media and yet many people continue to undermine it, or sideline it, for many reasons; some don’t understand how it works, some are too scared and some just don’t want to adapt. This is a grave mistake to make as social media is not a passing phenomenon, but rather its one that’s part of the communication fabric and here to stay. You really need to embrace it and understand how it works and how it impacts your target audience, or stakeholders.

If you look at Twitter, adoption is at times slower than Facebook but, nonetheless, it is fast becoming a social media networking force to be reckoned with. Whatever your business communication needs may be, they can be translated and tailored to suit the Twitter style and engage the growing number of businesses networking and connecting with each other on this platform.

There is so much you can do and ways to communicate, as well as chatting to your target audience, you can get widespread publicity for your articles, various developments in real-time, news announcements, achievements, announce and invite people to your seminars, launches, briefings, TV and radio interviews and engage them in competitions – the list is endless.

A really important tactic is to follow and study the thought leaders, experts and even the competition in your industry. There’s nothing wrong in getting a few tips from those who know how to work social media effectively.

Besides just following them, you need to monitor and digest what they are saying and how; understand what makes tick, what interests them and check out the sites they recommend. Learn how to engage them, through common interests, opinions, live dialogue, should they throw a question out to your audiences, and even attend Tweet ups or other gatherings they announce they will be attending on Twitter.

It’s also key to be up to speed with the common references used in various social media platforms, such as RT (retweets), FF (Follow Friday), # (Hashtdags), Tweeps, Post, Tweets and more.

To get an intimate insight into the media, following them on Twitter/Facebook is a valuable activity. Search for the key reporters who are a target for your business and communications. Join and follow their publication accounts and do your homework on what interests them, what they are writing about and get to know them better. By doing so you can then comment on their tweets or posts and refer to their articles, thus building a relationship with them, based on mutual respect.

I believe that most people would agree that Facebook is more straightforward and easier to master. The key here is to spend some time expanding your network. Build relevant relationships; it’s more about quality than quantity and the success of this is based on how many fans really want to engage with your brand in the long-term and are genuinely interested.

Your challenge besides securing those fans is to keep them engaged through interesting and eye grabbing content. You need to differentiate yourself from the competition, through fast-paced and incredibly creative solutions; it’s all about making a noise, but a noise that needs and wants to be heard.

At the end of the day, like any proper marketing plan, you need to manage, coordinate and stay consistent across a number of platforms and not look at each in isolation.

PR’ing your business through social networking doesn’t have to be expensive if you just remember to network and use all the tools available to you in an intelligent way. In fact, it can be a lot of fun, as you become part of the future and the digital social networking crowd and learn to adapt fast to evolving.

If you feel that you don’t have the bandwidth, or the know-how, you can call on the support of social networking experts who spend majority of their time on various platforms. There is no excuse for not getting on-board.

About

Sawsan Ghanem is the Joint Managing Director of Active PR. She has lived in the Middle East region for the greater part of her life. Sawsan lived and studied in the UK for a few years where she gained her BSc in Chemistry & Management from Kings College, London University and MA in International Business, from Webster Graduate School (London Campus).

Sawsan began her career in PR over 14 years ago, when she caught the PR & Communication bug. She founded Active PR in the summer of 2003 along with Louay Al Samarrai. Sawsan has in-depth experience in strategic PR campaigns, media relations, creative thinking, crisis management and more. She is the SMB Advisor Middle East winner [before the magazine was rebranded SME Advisor] in the category of Admirable Woman Entrepreneur (2008) and she won Arab Entrepreneur of the Year at the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011.

The results from Visa’s Visa Vue Travel Data showed that the total inbound Visa card spend in the UAE between the 5th of January and the 5th of February 2012, came to more than USD 497 million,compared to just over USD 406 million during the DSF 2011 period (20 January to 20 February, 2011) – equal to a year-on-year increase of 22%.

The event got off to a flying start from the very beginning, with spending for the first week hitting a high on the 6th of January, when USD 19 million was spent on overseas Visa cards. The good news for retailers is that spending continued at a positive pace right throughout the DSF period, with sales reaching a peak on the 29th January when they topped USD 20 million, over USD 5 million more than the USD 15.5 million average daily spend during overall the DSF 2012 period.

The statistics also revealed that cardholders from Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States were the top-spending countries during the DSF 2012 period, contributing more than USD 122 million, USD 106 million and USD 92 million respectively to the UAE economy – with each showing significant increases in spend compared to the DSF 2011 period.

“Other retail” came out on top of the merchant category, with more than USD 171 million spent during the month-long event. “Lodging” (hotels and apartments) came in second place with over USD 112 million spent; while “remaining merchants,”‘other travel and entertainment’”and ‘”department stores” completed the top five spending segments, with over USD 89 million, USD 35 million and USD 17 million spent respectively.

“It’s great to see DSF 2012 having such a strong impact on the local economy, despite the current global financial challenges,” said Karim Beg, Head of Regional Marketing for Visa for Middle East and North Africa (MENA). “Over the years, DSF has really helped put the UAE on the map, attracting visitors from all over the world to take advantage of the great promotions on offer. This year’s success proves yet again the ongoing popularity of the shopping festival, and of the UAE as a leading international shopping destination.”

Visa has sponsored the leading shopping and entertainment event since its inauguration in 1996. As the official payment partner of DSF, Visa has the ideal platform to educate shoppers about the convenience and security of electronic payments while simultaneously rewarding them with value added prizes. As part of this year’s activity, Visa ran a series of promotions giving cardholders the unique opportunity to attend the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games this coming summer.

Staples cited the communication approaches of governments to Hurricane Katrina in the US (2005) and more recently to the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan (2011) as ineffectual and uncoordinated. On the other hand, Singapore’s response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2000 demonstrated best practices in crisis communication.

Elaborating on this point, he added: “Within two days of the SARS outbreak, the Singaporean Prime Minister took responsibility for the epidemic and set up a national task force. In addition to actively involving the media, public education campaigns across schools and communities were launched in full force. The Ministry of Health declared the situation as a national crisis and offered continuous updates through holding daily press conferences. A dedicated SARS website and TV station were set up. Periodic polls were conducted on people’s satisfaction that indicated 93 per cent satisfaction to the way the government managed the crisis.”

Panellists in discussion at the Forum

Staples’ comments came during a panel discussion titled ‘Management of Risks and Crises in Governmental Media Communications’ on the first day of Government Communication Forum 2012. Dr. Nabil Al Khatib, Executive News Director at Al Arabiya, jointly headlined the discussion. Attended by leading government officials and top-tier regional and global media thought leaders, GCF 2012 runs until 27^th February at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

In his comments, Dr. Khatib said: “There is a need to redefine the role of public relations agencies (PR) in the Middle East. This is important if we are to avoid any tendency to ‘blackout’ or filter information that is communicated. Instead of talking about the crisis on hand and a possible solution, the audience is kept in the dark. Client in the media is the audience and the different departments of PR need to help them, not mislead.”

“The information ‘blackouts’ in the region are caused when the PR agency does not allow the real extent of the crisis to reach the public, thus keeping them unaware of the reality on ground. Media outlets rely on information from PR agencies. If the agency withholds information from the media and public, it can cause long-term issues for the government entity. It is, therefore, very important for the government to communicate the right kind of information and not just placate the client. ”

Brad Staples serves on APCO Worldwide’s executive committee. Formerly, the CEO for APCO’s Europe region and subsequently for EMEA operations, he led the company’s expansion throughout EMEA and helped develop client service teams across these geographies. Prior to joining APCO, Staples worked at a European affairs consultancy in London and Brussels.

The former Executive Editor at Al Arabiya News Channel, Dr. Al Khatib has extensive experience in news reporting in the region. In addition to his earlier role as Co-Founder and Director of the Birzeit University Media Institute, he has also served as Chairman of the Department of Mass Communications and as Director of the Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) in Jerusalem.

The second day of the Government Communication Forum will host sessions on:

-       Case Study of the Governmental Awareness Campaigns in the US and UK

-       Role of Visual Media in Supporting Government Institutions’ Vision of Social Development

-       Turkey and Malaysia’s Experience in Developing the Government Media Sector, and

-       The Role of Caricatures in Correcting Misconceptions and Raising Levels of Awareness.

The golden rule to analytics is measuring income from effort. There is nothing complicated about social networking – all you need to do is apply the rules you do in everyday business to the online world, says Alan Devereux, Communication Officer, British Business Group.

One question that continually gets asked is How do we measure return on investment? I am not a fan of this question and think it has been created by communications companies rather than people like you and I. Communications companies are very good at differentiating themselves from their competition (as they should be) and the wheels of the ROI bandwagon are creaking and cracking under the strain.

You might be thinking that I am stating the obvious, well I am; and that is why I do not like the constant repetition of the ROI question. How do you measure your marketing campaign? How do you measure your PR campaign? Apply the same measurements to your social networking activity.

Product A is advertised on your Website. You have a www.google.com/analytics account and the code has been added to your Website, with this you can measure the incoming traffic and see how popular the page for Product A is. You then send 20 tweets with the link attached, add the link to your Facebook page, and message your LinkedIn contacts. At the end of the campaign you go into the analytics page (Google Analytics is free) and see how many people visited your site via Twitter et al. If on Sunday one person visited your website, came via LinkedIn, and one sale was made of Product A, you have return on investment.

Alan Devereux

Perhaps you don’t have a Website or don’t understand Google Analytics (perhaps you don’t have an interest). What then? The Internet is full of free tools. www.bit.ly is one of a multitude of URL shortening services and tells you how many times a link has been clicked, the country the click originated from, and the days the link was clicked. Using tools like Bit.ly you can find the time you should be sending messages. You can analyse the success of your campaign and make adjustments as you see fit.

Specifically for Twitter, www.timely.is claims to analyse interaction from your last 199 tweets and suggests the time you should tweet your messages. You simply add your messages to the box and click Queue. You can then spend four hours in a boring, but necessary meeting, knowing that your Twitter feed is active and when you return you can analyse the affect of your campaign.

Is your ROI reputation based on sales? Perhaps you could set a target of media relations for your PR team, or perhaps your goal could be community outreach – how many brand ambassadors can you create using social networking sites?

My Internet search for analyse my social media campaign yielded 36 million results. EU bailout showed 27 million results and stop slavery showed 24 million. If you have been unfortunate enough to have been dragged under its wheels, the ROI bandwagon might have you asking the ROI question; meaning you probably haven’t invested in social networking sites on a company level.

About

Alan Devereux is a husband, father, and Communications Officer for the British Business Group, Dubai and Northern Emirates, and can be found here: http://ae.linkedin.com/in/alandevereux He can be contacted at info@britbiz-uae.com.

He said that as the online world becomes increasingly accessible through a variety of devices more and more consumers are turning to the internet for information. Hamilton-Clark‘s message is that brands are now faced with the challenge of embracing digital media channels right across their business, or risk losing relevance.

“It is not simply about being good at digital marketing. It is about the success of the whole business in a world that looks to have embraced digital for life,” he said.

Hamilton-Clark’s observations are supported by the TNS Digital Life global programme which shows that 69% of Internet users in the UAE spend at least two hours a day online. Meanwhile, 90% of users nationwide use the internet for research.

The research also shows that 84% of the global population belong to one or more social networks and 47% of region-based respondents cited social networking as their most important online activity.

“We have been hooked and the trick now is for marketers to use this opportunity to really get to know their followers and provide them with relevant information as they gravitate towards an online experience that matches their needs.”

He pointed out that many brands, including media houses have indeed been fast to recognise the increasing use of the digital space for information, entertainment and social connectivity. He said that it is the task of online channels to keep us engaged, as well as to encourage complementary brands to join them in their space.

“Although markets differ in openness and infrastructure, the reality is that social networks are fast becoming a primary channel of communication. Brands have a golden opportunity to tap into the vast potential through compelling, relevant connectivity,” he said.

Hamilton-Clark’s observations are further supported by Digital Life statistics that show that mobile access to social networks has grown from 14% in 2010 to 25% in 2011, worldwide.

“Brands must keep in mind why users are online in the first place if they are to harness the power of the social explosion.

“From a consumer perspective Digital is less about brands talking about themselves and more about their individual needs being fulfilled. Online content has to be engaging and entertaining. Marketers need to understand and embrace this fact, and fast,” he concluded.

When Google announced its new offering, much of the media touted it as a Facebook killer; the thing that was going to attract Facebook users, who had become tired with privacy concerns. But, Google has never called G+ a social network site. Instead it has marketed it as a product that allows a new way to share. And it is exactly that.

Google’s users, who inhabit much of the connected world, now have a new drop-down menu. Google has made it very easy for people to sign up for Google+ and they have been signing in their millions.

Google+ is an amalgamation of the company’s existing products, with a few new additions. The main page is similar to the Facebook timeline, as you can see what people who you have “circled”, have shared. The similarity stops there. Differing from the large social networks, Google+ makes it easy for users to target messages to different groups of people, using the aforementioned circles.

For instance, I have a number of circles for the 800 or so people I have chosen to follow. Some are in the UAE circle, others in the friends and family circle. Items I share with my UAE circle are not seen by my friends and family circle (unless of course I have added a person to two circles, which it is possible to do).

Allow me to use the BBG as a very basic example of how these circles can work. There are BBG members and potential BBG members. Why should existing BBG members read messages about joining the group? Google+ allows communicators to target specific groups with specific messages, groups predefined by the company itself.

Alan Devereux

There are many ways in which a company can use these circles. Perhaps a group of people could be invited to take part in a focus group, important documents could be shared with a circle ensuring, or maybe companies could do something as simple as devising a competition in which contestants need to work together for a prize – the contestants would be grouped by the company and given specific instructions. The point that I hope to make is, that with a little imagination Google+ can be a very effective way to communicate with people.

Another excellent aspect of Google+ is the “Hangouts”. Google has given us free teleconferencing abilities. Yes, there are already free video calling services on the Internet but are there any that allow users to watch YouTube videos while conferencing, or share documents all parties can edit? Companies can now play tutorial videos that they have uploaded to YouTube while talking to the clients through the finer aspects of the product. Google+ is an excellent development and I am a convert.

About

Alan Devereux is a husband, father, and Communications Officer for the British Business Group, Dubai and Northern Emirates, and can be found here: http://ae.linkedin.com/in/alandevereux He can be contacted at info@britbiz-uae.com

Organised by SPOTON Media and Events, the two-day conference brings together a panel of international and local speakers, who are experts in their field, relaying their knowledge and experience to students, business professionals and colleagues in attendance. Topics up for discussion include: Social Network Marketing, Top Digital Media Trends and The Road Map to Digital Advertising.

The conference will kick off with Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett Group MENA, and Joe Ghoussoub Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MENA Communications Group (MENACOM), on an opening panel moderated by Ali Ajouz. There will also be a special presentation, given by Osman Sultan, CEO of du. The sessions will then proceed to open with the topics below and the first day will round up with a Gala dinner hosted by MEC, one of the world’s leading media agency networks.

Sharing their knowledge will be Ajit Joaker, the founder of Future Text, who will be moderating the ‘Mobile Applications’ panel. Dan Stuart and Caroline Ernst will discuss ‘E-Commerce: What are the Opportunities’ moderated by Nick Whetham from Havas Digital. Fadi Salem, Director of the Governance and Innovation Programme, and Fellow, at the Dubai School of Government will be on the ‘Top Digital Media Trends’ panel.

Tarek Daouk, the Chief Innovation and Integration officer at Starcom will head the conversation, ‘TV Wherever and Whenever’, along with Phillipe Brodeur, Director of AerTV at Magnet Network; and Peter Einstein, Richard Windsor, Analyst at Nomura International, will be on the ‘Mobile Applications’ panel.

Day two will commence with Gareth Deree, a key member of Ipsos MediaCT’s global team, who will elaborate regarding ‘Digital Research’ on a panel moderated by Abim Onasanya, representing MBC. Also on this panel is Jordi Ferrer, Global Head of TNS Digital and member of the WPP Digital Advisory Board. Dr. Milad Sebaaly, founder and CEO of several leading Educational Technology start-ups and investments, will speak about ‘E-education’.

Giovanni Galluci, an online marketing expert will explore ‘Social Network Marketing’ along with Mitch Neff, who helps companies apply social media tools to build their brand and increase awareness.

Jayant Bhargava, a Principal with Booz & Company, will be discussing ‘Future Monetization Opportunities’ joined by Jim Griffin, Managing Director of OneHouse LLC. Zafer Younis, a marketing specialist who is paving new ways for companies to connect with consumers in the digital space, will be a panellist on the ‘Social Network Marketing’ panel.

The Digital Media Forum will conclude with a special question and answer session with Ahmed bin Ali, Group Senior VP, Corporate Communications at Etisalat.

Najla Semaan Mazboudi, Managing Director of SPOTON Media Services and Events, commented, “Bringing together local and international experts in the industry, the forum is a platform for growth and education. Led by the great minds and industry leaders; as they come together to share and exchange vital information, the pace has been set for digital media explosion in the region.”

To register, please go to www.digitalmediaforum.me, for the opportunity to learn from leaders in the industry.

Mankind has thought in visual terms since the dawn of time. We painted long before we could read and write. You only have to think of the power of ancient cave paintings in bringing a long forgotten world to life to realise the power of visual expression. Art has been highly prized right down through the centuries because it connects with us at an emotional level, bringing about incredibly strong reactions and feelings.

A company’s brand can exploit these reactions by creating a unique visual expression of what it stands for, why it’s different and where it comes from. Think of any brand you admire and I’m willing to bet you are already thinking in visual terms; the way the product looks, the colour, the packaging, the advertising, the environment it’s sold in and even the logo.

Here are some tips for creating and managing a great visual expression for a brand.

Step 1 — Brand strategy

The first step has got nothing to do with type, colours and pictures so put your paint brush down for a moment. Before we can create the visual expression of a brand we need some solid foundations. Your brand must have a reason to exist; a belief in what it stands for and a unique and differentiated point of view. If you can believe with total conviction what your brand stands for and who you want to talk to, you will be able to convince people to work with you to achieve your goals and your customers to buy your product or service.

Step 2 — Communicating your vision

Now we can begin to bring the brand to life visually. We need to express the brand in terms that are synonymous with brand positioning and personality. We need to think about our target audiences. It’s a great idea to create mood boards at this stage. Cut out images, patterns, colours, even typefaces that you feel match your brand personality and positioning and that will appeal to your target. Once equipped with these visual cues you can either create the brand yourself or create a powerful design brief for your design team that will communicate clearly the type of brand that will capture your business in a unique way.

Step 3 — Creating your brand toolbox

A brand is expressed visually through a number of different elements all working together. Most common brands include a logotype, typography, colour, pattern and imagery.

Logotype — This is the most easily identified part of your brand. Done well, it should work as visual shorthand for what your audiences can expect your brand to deliver.

Colour — The days of owning your own unique colour are gone. All the key ones have been claimed long ago. While you will certainly have a primary colour or colours, these days we think in terms of colour palettes. This allows you to talk to different people in colours that appeal to them while still retaining consistency.

Mark Rollinson

Typography — There are literally thousands of typefaces, all evoking different feelings and personalities. The choice of typeface for your logotype and for your communications is an incredible powerful factor in determining your brand’s personality. Try to ensure you select a font that is unusual for your logo or create a unique one but choose a font that is widely available for your communications particularly online so that it doesn’t default to something hideous.

Imagery — Your brand should last a lot longer than one set of images so make sure you choose a style that can evolve with time and also consider mixing photography with illustration to add more flexibility. Do you want your imagery to be literal or symbolic? Would metaphors communicate what your brand is about? Or perhaps a reportage style will imbue your brand with truth and energy?

Step 4 — Be consistent

Implement your brand with ruthless consistency. You must ensure that whatever the medium, your brand is conveyed with style and flair but also in a way that leverages the brand’s positioning and personality.

The best way to ensure you are consistent is to create brand guidelines. Don’t create a straitjacket; good brand guidelines are a creative springboard that allows your agencies to understand the marrow of your brand quickly, so that they can produce brilliant creative work. Try to have as few rules as possible and make them simple. The more complex your identity system is, the quicker it will fall apart.

Step 5 — Stay the course

Brands are built over time. Avoid the temptation to chop and change. Great brands evolve with time but remain true to their original conception.

About

Mark Rollinson is the founding partner and CEO of All About Brands PLC, an international marketing and communications agency with business divisions that cover public relations, marketing, brand strategy, design and advertising, with offices in London, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India.

Mark has more than 30 years’ experience working across the fields of design, advertising and public relations. He is an experienced practitioner of each discipline and has built a solid reputation on being able to create award winning integrated campaigns. Mark was heavily involved in the 1997 election of the British Labour Party. In 2007 Mark was appointed to assist the Executive Affairs Authority, Abu Dhabi with the development and launch of a new brand for the Emirate.

Mark has won many awards both for creativity and effectiveness across numerous marketing disciplines. In 1996 Mark was made a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and in 2007 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Facebook has become one of the most influential companies in the world and many of us have an active account. I was a huge fan of Facebook a few years ago; but all that changed when the company started changing its privacy settings and deciding personal account matters, on my behalf.

I am still, however, a fan of Facebook’s Fan Pages (or Business Pages as some call them)  you can build your own Website. For small businesses, this can be an effective channel to communicate with both existing and potential customers, as well as previous and current employees.

If you think a Facebook page is right for your business, creating one is simple. Firstly, type www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Facebook will then ask you to choose what type of page you want and will guide you through the first few steps. Very easy so far and you can actually leave it there and start working. You’ll have a place to store photos, a wall to have discussions on, and an events calendar you can use. But we aren’t stopping there.

Facebook can attribute much of its success to the applications it allows third-party developers to create for use within the site. You know the message box that appears when you want to play a game or send a gift asking for access to your information; that is an application. Fan page applications are slightly different and we are going to focus on just one for now and look at how to customise our fan page.

If you need to add an application for your page. You can do this simply by:

- Typing Static HTML into the search-bar and look for the application with the silver star in the grey background.

- Click the link and in the bottom left you’ll see ‘Add to my Page’.

- Add the application and then return to your page, you will see a new icon on the left; a grey box with a silver star inside and the word Welcome.

- Using this free application, there is no way to change the design of this icon.

There are many developers that can do this and you can find all of them on Facebook.

Alan Devereux

If you are following these instructions as you read, you would have probably already clicked the word Welcome, and you’re probably staring at two boxes and wondering what they are for. We’ll come back to those in part two.

Now that we have a page and the application added to that page we need to know how to use it. The application is called Static HTML. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, and is the language that computers understand; behind every Website are pages and pages of HTML code. You need to turn your company logo or image into HTML for the application to understand, which is easier than you think.

Firstly you need to create an image to upload. You can do this in Photoshop and get quite creative or you can use Microsoft Paint and resize an existing image. You need an image that is 500 pixels wide and 600 pixels long. This size will ensure the optimal experience for visitors.

Once you have decided how your page is going to look (via your picture) you need to upload it to a free image hosting website. I use www.imageshack.us. It is only a matter of creating an account, logging in, and clicking on the Upload Image button. The Website will then open a page with a small version of your picture and a selection of code in boxes. You have now turned your picture into HTML code, a language the application will understand.

About

Alan Devereux is a husband, a father, and Communications Officer for the British Business Group, Dubai and Northern Emirates, and can be found here: http://ae.linkedin.com/in/alandevereux He can be contacted at info@britbiz-uae.com

Marketing in general requires a marketer to truly understand that a proposition means the end-to-end experience at all touch points across the lifecycle of the customers.

Marketing to women requires the marketer to not only understand what designing a proposition means, but also requires the marketer to understand the difference, subtle or not, between men and women.

Before I dwell into the marketing implications arising from the differences between men and women, it is important to note a few differentiating factors and marketing engagement rules that will accentuate your marketing efforts to women.

Here are a few basic rules of marketing engagement that any small business owner or SME marketer should keep in mind before targeting to women:

Launch a proposition to commemorate an eventful day

Launch a proposition targeted at women to be introduced on a commemorative day, like Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, or even, Father’s Day.

At times, women, more than men, can connect emotionally to the relevance of a day and will generally, women appreciate marketing activities targeted to special days more than their male counterparts.

Design should be easy to use, functional and importantly stylish

Although this would apply to any customer, it is really important to ensure that your product features are easy to use and are able to do what they are intended to do. Adding a dash of relevant style will help to differentiate it as a proposition targeted to women.

Build brand credentials and target women as its primary customer base

If you are an SME, you probably are not established in the minds of your potential women customers. Aligning your proposition through a product bundling or channel alliance, with established brands that have women as their primary targets, will help ensure that your marketing gets the momentum it needs.

Include women in your marketing and sales team

Ensure that you have women in your marketing and sales team. No matter what men claim, they can never understand women as well as women do. This will not only ensure that your proposition design, function and style are commensurate to the needs of women, but also will ensure that your communications efforts are not “off message” and irrelevant.

Ensure channel suitability

Ensure that your go-to-market models reflect the needs, aspirations and expectations of your women target market.

Cleanliness, safety, design and style are basic considerations. Also, insist your sales team are friendly, honest, empathetic and caring.

Communicate relevantly and differently

If you’re in the business of targeting women as your primary customers, then you will have to ensure that your communications messages are not only relevant and functional, but are also able to evoke the emotional stimuli that matters to women.

The devil is in the details

Women are very detailed oriented. Do not attempt to hoodwink them with headline pricings that are misleading. Ensure that your offer, its terms and conditions and other relevant information, is fully communicated up front. Although this is practiced by most businesses, they do it primarily as legal caveats. For women, it normally conveys discipline, reliability and honesty.

Women are more loyal customers than men

Women are loyal. Once you have interested them as a customer, they will more than likely give you a second chance, if you miss a score.

Design retention propositions and ensure that the loyalty reward value is communicated clearly and directly to your female customers. They will certainly ensure that you get the full benefits of the “network effect” by recommending your brand and propositions to their network of family, friends and co workers. Imagine the compounded multiplier effect of this on your business growth and your marketing activities.

Understanding the differences between men and women

It is important that we know and understand some of the key, and not so obvious, differences between men and women. A keen observation and understanding of these differences are critical before you attempt to craft a proposition targeted primarily at women.

You can also refer to my previous article, Who really rules the roost? (www.smeadvisor.com/2011/04/entrepreneurship-who-really-rules-the-roost/), where I have written extensively about the relevant differences between men and women.

Interpersonal and social networking skills

Women, generally, tend to connect and form longer lasting relationships with their peers, friends and work mates, and as such, are seen as more equipped to maintain these relationships.

Any small business owner or SME investor targeting propositions to women will have to leverage this aspect through:

Social networking tools

Actively promote your proposition through widely available social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and micro sites. If the offer makes sense, profits will follow, as women will promote, recommend and refer your brand to their network.

If your proposition experience does not live up to its intended or stated claims, then your business will be equally damaged, as the social networks can also openly criticise.

Friend-get-friend offers and discounts

As women are better networkers, offers of friend-get-friend discounts and promotions will succeed better.

Special offers targeted to a circle or network of women

An offer targeted at a group of women, like professionals or entrepreneurs, or, through your local chamber of commerce is effective. Women are very effective networkers and an offer approved by one member has a high propensity for adoption by the rest of the circle.

Implications for women’s keener senses

Colour vis-a-vis the sense of sight

Marketers need to be especially aware of what this means in terms of colour for their packaging, presentations and premises. The colour cannot be too loud, but instead should have a soothing and softening effect.

Sense of hearing and listening

Small business owners and SME marketers will need to ensure that your sales personnel are trained to speak clearly, concisely and honestly. The music or the jingle for your brand or retail premises should also not be too loud. Keep in mind that sound which is considered normal by men, is at times perceived as too loud by women.

Women also have a keener sense of picking up social cues, nuances, intonation, meaning and, intensity of conversations. This implies that all your communications across all touch points including “above the line” communications, collaterals and Websites, are designed to reflect this keener sense of nuances and listening.

A small business owner or SME marketer should ensure that all front customer facing employees are trained to be friendly, honest, sincere and non-condescending.

Women are nurturing and caring

Women are by their very nature, nurturing, caring and giving and marketers have a tremendous opportunity to craft and leverage this unique aspect of a women’s trait.

Marketers should be extremely cautious to ensure that their offer designs are not superfluous or falsely claimed. As caring and giving that women are, they will not hesitate to severely reject any business that attempts to promote propositions that do not deliver the desired experience intended for their loved ones.

Deciphering detail from a wider range of information

Women think locally and so rely on details and nuances that really matter – their attention to detail is something that should be considered before designing any offer.

Small business owners and SME marketers have to pay very special attention to the details of the product design, function and style. They also have to ensure that no hidden costs are camouflaged within the headline price.The detail oriented nature of women means that they will shop around and seek the best value.

Sharper vision

Men have a need to track, trace and navigate the path to their goal. In other words men see in a narrow field – mild tunnel vision – with greater concentration on depth.  Women, however, take in the bigger picture – literally speaking.

Not only do women have a wider peripheral vision but they can also store for short periods at least, more relevant and random information than men. This wider peripheral vision combined with the acute sensory awareness and overall intuitiveness makes women an interesting market to target, attract, communicate to and sell.

Retail channel location and store

The peripheral vision scope of women will dictate that any small business owner or marketer will have to pay special attention to the entire external and internal surroundings of their retail store, office or location.

What this means is that safety, cleanliness, convenience, play area for their toddlers and immediate attention are some of the key attributes that a female customer will appreciate more than men.

Marketing communications

Marketing communications is often focused on a core message. The intensity of focus depends on the type of media. If it is a billboard, then it is more intense versus a print advertisement. The visual abilities of women will require you to design and create a message that communicates the big picture of what you are trying to sell.

Women seek out comments, opinions and suggestions of others

Keep note that while men are generally more independent in their thoughts and actions, women generally seek out and are open to suggestions, comments and opinions from others.

SME marketers should design their propositions in a way as to enable your customers to give feedback. You should have a medium to share your customers’ opinions and feedback through online, print, or other media.

You are in a better position to generate real buzz and excitement around your proposition if more positive opinions and feedback are communicated back to your target market. Therefore, your proposition design should ensure that you are able to capture this feedback and communicate it back to your wider target.

The tools used in this are not just the obvious social media tools like Twitter or Facebook, but also could include 800 numbers, where customers can call in, as well micro sites specifically created and targeted for the launch of a single proposition.

Marketing communications using “real world” testimonials would certainly be effective when targeting at women. This has the compounded effect of creating and communicating a personalised message for your potential female customers.

A final note

I am sure that most readers would agree that the advice given here could be relevant and applicable to any marketing target. The point of this article is to highlight the differences between men and women, that really matter.

As the famous American author, Camille Paglia, said “Women are in league with each other, a secret conspiracy of hearts and pheromones”.

Woe betide any marketer who truly cannot fathom what this means.

About

John Lincoln has over 20 years telecommunications experience in the USA, Japan, Europe, India, Dubai, Malaysia, Latin America and various other countries. He has extensive senior expertise in international telecommunications sales, marketing, business development and customer service delivery.

John also has executive experience with general management, marketing, P&L, product development and revenue management responsibilities in both consumer and enterprise segments for both the fixed and mobile sectors. In addition John has an impressive operational and management portfolio of established proven expertise in incremental business value creation and management of large multi-cultural teams in Vodafone Global in the UK, Japan Telecom in Tokyo, AirTouch and Pacific Bell (now AT&T) in San Francisco and Tokyo, Airtel in Delhi and other telecom and technology companies.

Additionally he has extensive large scale business development, M&A and operational project experience across the USA, Europe, Asia and Latin America. John has an MBA and MS in Telecommunications from the Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, USA. You can find John’s personal blog at http://www.johnlincoln.biz.He can be contacted via: john.lincoln@gmail.com, Twitter: @lincolnjc.