I was having Lunch with a friend last week and we started talking about social media marketing to men versus women. I decided to cover the subject in the current podcast because it plays a major role for any small business with big dreams and a limited budget hoping to reach their target market.
I told my friend about a photo I placed online. In the photo a young woman stands looking dreamily off into the distance and I put the caption “Resolve to work until your idols become your rivals”. I assumed women would like the quote because I heard Madison Keys mention during the Australian Tennis Open how amazing it was to have grown up admiring Venus Williams and then having the opportunity to play her in a quarter-final match. What surprised me was that women did not respond to the photo to the degree I had expected.
My friend suggested I perform an experiment around that photo and the podcast is the 
result of that research. keep in mind that some of the findings do not apply to ALL women or ALL men but are more along the lines of behaviors in general. Be sure to click the strip above and listen to the podcast which covers the points that follow in greater detail.
How women and men view competition colors their life view and seems to begin in childhood: Girls typically take part in play like tea parties where there is not actual competition and everyone takes a turn. Boys on the other hand, lean toward games that involve competition and status where there are winners and losers which socializes them to be competitive.
Fast forward into adulthood and in terms of achievement thinking men focus on independence and the status aspects of situations. Women on the other hand want to achieve success just as much as men but their definition of success is different with a more cooperative and internal thinking not necessarily tied to beating someone else. This explains why messages like the one given in the photo I mentioned tend not resonate so much with women.
The role of status and relatability
According to Dr. Daniel Amen a clinical neuroscientist and linguistic professor Deborah Tannen men apply a status test to a great deal of their thinking while women value cooperation and perceived utility as filters to their impressions. Broadly speaking women like marketing that features women who appear honest and don’t give the impression that they are perfect which puts them outside the “best friend” category. Oprah Winfrey is a good example of this approach. Men on the other hand like images that imply alignment with success.
Price does and does not matter
For women it is a point of pride that they are savvy shoppers but this does not mean the cheapest price as long as value has been demonstrated. In other words what they purchased, in their minds, was worth more than they paid. Men on the other hand tend to give less thought to price and think more in terms of perks or bragging rights to their buddies.
Stories versus factual information
Women respond to personal stories and men tend to focus more on what they consider fact based information like baseball scores during interactions. For women hearing personal stories is inspiring. Yet, men regard getting too personal as potential vulnerability and a loss of status.
Once you begin to think along these lines the response to that photo makes perfect sense because I was sending a mixed message to my target audience. I’m glad my friend suggested that little experiment and it brought into clear focus how anyone can craft a better message.
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