Brette Borow is the President and Founder of Girls Guide To, the “ladies only” guide to life, and spends most of her days engaging with the community’s over 140,000 members.

There are over 56 million women using Facebook in the United States, and for marketers this means one very important thing –- if you have a brand, product or company that targets women, Facebook is the place to be.

Unfortunately, unless you’re a brand that every woman knows or loves, then just being on Facebook is not enough. Facebook has done a great job of giving marketers a powerful tool with its Pages product, but like most things in life, it comes down to execution. To help, here is a list of 10 tips for marketing to women on Facebook.

The first thing I tell marketers, whether it’s a Fortune 500 company or a friend launching an online jewelry site, is to remember that women are bombarded by marketing messages all day, every day. On the surface, Facebook is no different than the “real world” –- constantly being pitched to and spammed is annoying. The main difference between Facebook and the “real world” is that on Facebook, fans can “hide” your marketing message much more easily than they can avoid the billboard on the way to work. As a result, you are going to have to try your best to connect with them. On Facebook, quality rises to the top more often than not.

So quality rises to the top, but what does that mean? For starters lets take a look at what Dove has done on Facebook. Dove is one of the few brands that seems to grasp the fact that on Facebook, content really is queen and that brands must deliberately create an emotional connection with their fans. This is a great strategy to emulate because in order to reach women on Facebook, you are going to have to connect with them by providing content that women can relate to. Something that ignites a reaction like “Wow, that’s me!” will encourage women not only to respond to your messages, but actually remember them. Making an emotional connection is one of the best ways to motivate women to use your brand or service.

Utility should be synonymous with your brand. It will allow you to create a relationship with your fans. Create a series of posts that your fans can look forward to on a daily or weekly basis — something they will feel a real connection to and will teach them something they can use. If you run a fashion web site, for example, provide a piece of advice from a designer every Friday –- it will make it much harder for your fans to block your updates if they have something to look forward to.

Women like to be heard. Stand out from the crowd and engage us. By creating a two-way conversation, you are personalizing your brand and making it one that can be trusted.

Your Facebook Page is also one of the best “focus groups” on the web. Not sure if you should add a product to your line? Trying to decide which functionality to add to your iPhone app? Just ask your fans. A great example of this type of interaction is H&M. They are constantly asking their fans what pieces they want to buy, what they would pay and what they want H&M to carry. This type of feedback is invaluable and brings the fan into the overall experience. Women can share their thoughts, and you can enjoy the free insight you’re receiving straight from your target consumer.

Not only do we like to be heard, we also like to know we’re actually being listened to. If a fan posts a question on your page, answer it. If she compliments your brand, thank her. And if she complains about it, address her concerns and reassure her that you’re working on fixing it. This is a great way to build trust and showcase the great customer service and support your company offers.

If you’re doing a giveaway, running a great promotion or launching a new product, you need to keep the process simple. Cosmopolitan Magazine, for example, constantly offers giveaways and discounts, but always do it in a clear and simple way. The lesson here is not to overthink your promotions. Your fans will look forward to the next time your brand has something new and exciting to share, as long as taking advantage of the offer is relatively pain-free.

Unlike Twitter, where most people are following a plethora of people and information is passing by at lightning speed, Facebook has a tendency to draw attention to “spammy posts.” Facebook users do not want to see the same message posted multiple times in their feed. So if you’re promoting something through your Fan Page be sure to reword it and provide additional value before you post it a second time.

You need to remember that women tend to be the CPOs (Chief Purchasing Officers) in their households, and that they tend to ask friends for advice about brands and products. Women are more than happy to share a good deal when they find one.

The Limited was one of the first brands to really grasp that Facebook represents a huge opportunity to reach their CPOs. They have started to embed actual retail offers into their newsfeed. But unlike other brands, they do not drive their traffic off of Facebook. Instead, their feed stories open up into widgets on Facebook that can handle the entire transaction right there. This clever use of technology is a prime example of ways that brands need to think outside of the box to reach their social shoppers.

Women also tend not to be shy about sharing their distaste about a brand or product or talking about their poor experience, so never take advantage of your fans. The last thing you want is your target demographic badmouthing your brand on a viral platform like Facebook.

Keep your offers and processes clear and honest and always respond to feedback and criticism.

Fill your fans in on the positive but don’t be afraid to address the negative. As we all know, the web is transparent. Allow it to work in your favor. Just launched a new Android app? Let your fans be the first to know. Just got nominated for 6 Grammy Awards and want to share it with the world? Then do what Lady Gaga did and let your fans know the moment you find out. In a transparent world, you can share your news with your fans, and the sooner the better.

Last but not least, if your company is experiencing difficulties like supply shortage or a down web site, be the first to let your customers know. Be upfront and straightforward. Your honesty will speak volumes about your brand.

via 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook.

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Paid-search spending worldwide by US-based high-tech and consumer-electronics advertisers grew 16.6% in the fourth quarter of 2009 over third-quarter levels, after having grown 7.7% in the third quarter, according to a study from Covario.

Due in large part to a growing demand for ad space by consumer electronics companies during the holiday season, growth exceeded the 10% increase forecast by Covario in the previous quarter.

As advertisers continue to reinvest in paid-search advertising after a contracted first half of the year, spending is forecast to grow 14-18% in 2010.

Below, findings from the 2009 year-end edition of Covario’s Global Search Spending Analysis, which examines paid-search spending by US-based global high-tech and consumer electronics firms.

The Rise of Bing

After the Yahoo-Bing deal in August 2009––whereby Yahoo agreed to standardize its technology on the Bing algorithm for both paid and organic search––spending on the network soared, doubling Bing’s (MSN’s) US market share from third quarter levels to 13.3% in the fourth quarter.

Fueled by a 158% in increase in 2009 search spending, Bing quintupled its market share in the US over the course of the year.

Google, which continues to dominate the search industry, recorded its lowest market share in the US in the three years of the study: 72%. Google also dominates foreign markets, particularly in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, where it recorded a 97% share in the high-tech sector.

Yahoo’s growth this year was fueled by its advertising campaigns, which generated annual ad spending 36.5% higher than 2008 levels.

However, Yahoo’s 2009 performance outside the US was weaker: Market share decreased 32.1% in the Asia-Pacific region, where its dominance is being challenged by Google, and its share in EMEA fell 74.6%.

Looking for solid, substantiated information about search engine marketing from the industry’s best resources? The 84-page Search Engine Marketing Factbook featuring 55 charts provides data on who is using search engines and how, as well as data on keywords, clicks, and paid search metrics. This search-related factbook consists of chapters 1 & 3 from the larger Digital Marketing Factbook a 144-page compilation of data and 110 charts that also covers email marketing and social media.

Cost-per-Click Rising

With increases in search spending that occurred in the fourth quarter, cost-per-click (CPC) rates increased as expected, nearly 15%, during the same period.

In 2010, CPCs are forecast to climb 10-15%, driven by increases in spending on brand-building or generic terms, which are more expensive on a CPC basis.

Other 2009 CPC Findings:

• CPCs in the fourth quarter rose to $0.68 from $0.62 in the third quarter. In 2008,  the average CPC was $1.04—and $1.19 in 2007. Prices are roughly 40% of where they were two years ago for same keywords.
• Yahoo’s Dynamic Pricing program continues to drive large improvements in CPC for advertisers. Average CPC in the second half of 2009, since the service launched, is down 20–25%, making the clicks more affordable on the network.
• Bing CPCs increased the most in the fourth quarter (to $0.72 from $0.41 from the previous quarter) due to the large increase in spending on the network driving prices higher.

Cost of Search Platforms

Google is the most price-effective search platform, according to Covario’s Acquisition Cost Index (ACI), which shows the relative cost per acquisition for the major search engines in the US:

• Google’s average cost per acquisition is 9% below the market average in the fourth quarter. (This means that if the average cost of customer acquisition across all of paid search is $1 for a particular advertiser, then acquisitions on Google are $0.93.)
• Bing has an average cost per acquisition that’s 75% higher than the industry average for a consistent set of conversion events measured across the high-tech industry. The ACI on Bing has been improving since the first quarter when the cost was 94% higher than the industry average.
• Yahoo has been more expensive for advertisers throughout the year. In the first quarter, the ACI was 55% higher than the industry average and reached 91% by the fourth quarter.

About the data: The Covario Global Paid Search Spend Analysis is based on paid-search spending from US-based high-tech and consumer-electronics advertisers, and spans Q1 2007 through Q4 2009.

via High-Tech Paid-Search Spend Up 17% in 4Q09 : MarketingProfs.

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Via B2B Mobile Marketing:10-Step Starter Guide for Integrating Mobile Into The B2B Marketing Mix.

View more presentations from Christina “CK” Kerley.

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RESTON, VA, January 14, 2010 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world today reported the top 15 ad networks based on their reach among U.S. Internet users in December 2009. The ranking showed that AOL Advertising remains the top ad network, reaching 187 million U.S. Internet users, or 91 percent of the total audience, followed by Yahoo! Network (180.9 million) and Google Ad Network (178.1 million). The fastest growing ad network by audience reach among the top 15 was Microsoft Media Network U.S., which grew 31 percent versus year ago, followed by Collective Network (up 22 percent) and Audience Science (up 16 percent).

“Ad networks continue to be a powerful mechanism for delivering a large audience online, with eight different networks reaching at least 75 percent of the entire U.S. online population,” said comScore senior vice president Jeff Hackett. “Increasingly, however, ad networks are improving their capability for reaching more targeted audiences as well, which delivers enhanced value to advertisers and helps sustain higher CPMs for the channel. 2010 should bring us continued innovation and performance from this growing online sector.”

via comScore Releases December 2009 Ranking of Top Ad Networks – comScore, Inc.

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