The Social Media Marketing Blog: 05/01/2010

It turns out that it's pretty simple to understand what women want. All you have to do is ask them. Of course, you have to be listening and willing to put it into practice. Having been married for nearly 9 years, I'm no genius at dating; but there are some parallels here that even my feeble brain can pull out.

In March of this year, behavioral targeting company Q Interactive did just that when they surveyed 1,800 female Internet users about the practice of targeted advertising. It turns out that women are actually okay with it - to the extent that they view it positively and actually want more of it.

When faced with an online ad that was closely aligned with their interests or activities, only 11% thought it was "weird," while nearly 66% thought it was "cool." Admittedly, this is when faced with ads from trusted brands. There's no indication how the respondents felt when such targeted happened from untrusted or unknown brands, however.

With the recent uproar about Facebook's privacy policy - or rather their public handling of their privacy policy changes - the trust factor becomes even more important. And that's borne out in the survey, which states that over half of the respondents indicated that trust was a prerequisite to targeted ads.

This really isn't too different from the dating scene, where you want to get to know your partner before you give more information or get more deeply involved.

So once women have been effectively targeted online by their trusted brands, what kind of information do they want? According to the survey, they want more than just your latest bargain or special offer; they want you to get to know them, to share more valuable information, and to have regular and consistent communication with them. Again, pretty much like in real life. :-)

This kind of stuff isn't rocket science

(or brain surgery, for that matter) - it's really just a matter of common sense.

It's time to step away from the algorithm-driven, data collecting, automated approach and to start integrating a little humanity into the process. Through a strong CRM system that hits a number of touchpoints - email, social networks, purchase history, customer service interaction - we can begin to paint a better picture of each customer that allows us to give them a deeper sense of trust and more relevant information.

At the risk of oversimplification, if we can remember how people like to be courted and spoken with in the real world, and apply that formula to how we treat our customers, we might surprise ourselves with some response rates, pass-alongs, recommendations and loyalty numbers that are higher than we've seen in the past. That means more second (and third) dates.

Unless, of course, you're so nice that you end up being the brand that gets the "you're like a brother to me" line.

Are there some other salient points that I may have missed (due to my lack of dating skilz or the hour of this posting)? Or am I completely off base here? Add your two cents in below.

UPDATE (5/19/2010): Just in case you need a few "sweet nothings":

New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly Into Users' Ears

Photo credits: ATIS547 & Steven Vance
Images courtesy of eMarketer

Labels: Advertising, study

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

Ranked by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media, he has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

At Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog and cohosts I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, two literary undertakings. Scott has been featured in hundreds of news and business publications in print and on the web, in nearly dozens of books, and on a variety of mainstream media, including NBC, NPR, CNN and The Wall Street Journal. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of Rosh Sillars; a PDF version of Scott's bio is here .

Books in which Scott or his work is featured:

The Social Media Strategist

Social Business by Design

Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small

Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live

Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott

Twitterville
by Shel Israel

Six Pixels of Separation
by Mitch Joel

Monkeys with Typewriters
by Jemima Gibbons

Read This First
by Ron Ploof

World Wide Rave
by David Meerman Scott

Get Seen
by Steve Garfield

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium

Scott has been named to the Advisory boards of Pivot, SavvyAuntie, Business Smart Tools, The Hive Awards,
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards

Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators

Humongo occasionally does web work for me and designed this site

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request for Ford-related purposes or email me at speaking [AT] this site's URL (if you know what I mean) to send a general email request.. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the global head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views. My bio is available here and my headshots can be found here.