What does International Women’s Day Mean For Your Marketing?

Marketing Lesson of The Week

► What does International Women’s Day Mean For Your Marketing?

When I was younger, my mother worked to expand “Women’s Rights.” She thought the world would offer my sister and me better options for work and life than she had.

When my siblings and I were in school my mother went back to get her Master’s in Social Work. After getting her degree, she worked at a variety of jobs in the field. Despite her hard and caring work for her clients, my mother’s salary didn’t cover our family’s household costs.

Later, my sister and I earned MBAs to position us to compete in the male-dominant world of business. Our hard-earned credentials didn’t put us on an equal footing with our male classmates.

I hope that we continue to change how we work at our jobs and in our homes to achieve better equality for everyone. It requires a broader understanding across different backgrounds, demographics, ages and beliefs to ensure everyone has the opportunity to choose their path forward.

In honor of this year’s International Women’s (#EmbraceEquality), let’s examine the progress women have made.

► Earnings: Women Versus Men

Women earn less than men across every age group and this difference increases with age. This creates lifelong economic security implications for women, especially widows, divorced women or never-married women. Over their lifetimes, women tend to have fewer opportunities to save for retirement and develop financial resources.

Even worse, this earnings gap increases due to systemic racial basis. In 2022, Black women earned $835 per full-time week and Hispanic women earned $761 per full-time week while white men earned $1,172 per full-time week. (Source: AmericanProgress.org February 6, 2023)

Beyond race and ethnicity, women face employment discrimination for reasons such as LGBTQ and disabilities. (Source: Pew Research Center – March 1, 2023)

► Family Caregiving Hurts Women’s Employment Over Time

Compared to men, women disproportionately shoulder the burden of caring for family members, both children and parents, and its long-term economic impact. Women often work reduced hours or take time off to care for family members. This results in lower earnings over their working life and other benefits relative to men. (Source: AmericanProgress.org February 6,
2023)

Women with children at home tend to be less active in the workforce and work fewer hours. Over a woman’s career, this decreases their total earnings, savings and other financial benefits. (Source: Pew Research Center – March 1, 2023)

► Women In Management

Women remain under-represented in management roles. This difference is most extreme at the c-suite level where one in four is a white woman and one in 20 is a woman of color.

Women are leaving companies at the highest rate in years and almost half say the biggest reason is the lack of opportunity to advance. (Source: Mc Kinsey, October 18, 2022)

► The Challenges For Women And Businesses

Despite slow improvements, the annual Cranfield University’s Female FTSE Board Report 2022 highlights a number of issues still facing women and businesses.

According to Alison Kay Managing Partner for Client Service, EY UK and Ireland:

“[W]e have managed to increase the number of women at the very top of FTSE companies but have fallen woefully short of their intended outcome – distributing the power and influence necessary to achieve true gender parity.”

Ann Cairns, Global Chair of the 30% Club and Executive Vice Chair of Mastercard, says,

“We cannot be complacent. Commitment to diversity and inclusion in these turbulent economic times is crucial to preventing progress for working women being wiped out. It’s also vital to ensuring all the best and brightest minds get the opportunity to be around the leadership table. That’s what makes business better.”

► Why Do Employment Differences Matter To Your Marketing?

Beyond bringing new prospects and getting customers to continue purchasing, your brand and marketing need to attract qualified employees, management and investors.

This means moving towards a more level playing field across the range of employment opportunities and working to alleviate the challenges that have kept women and other minorities from achieving their full potential at work and beyond.

People’s perceptions of their capabilities and what they can achieve need to change. As a Senior Independent Director pointed out in the Female FTSE Board Report 2022:

“[Women] will think they’re not qualified for the job because they only have seven of the ten characteristics and the guy who has three of them thinks he’s perfectly qualified.”

Based on my diverse career, I recommend that you reach for the stars because life holds many options for you. So if one way doesn’t work, try another!

Actionable Marketing Tips

• Examine all of your career options. Don’t assume that you can’t do or learn some facet of a job you want. It may take you time to build the credentials you need.
• Keep learning since job opportunities will evolve throughout your career. So take advantage of every opportunity to learn. Read online materials and books, attend webinars and conferences, and take relevant courses to keep your skills up-to-date.
• Network broadly to improve your career success over time. Build long-term relationships with people regardless of their current position.
• Get and be a mentor. Make opportunities happen. Also, pay it forward since there’s always someone who needs your help.
• Support laws that provide equal pay and opportunities for women and men.

Content Communicates

► How Books Build Author Credentials (Marketing Required)

Despite today’s short attention spans, a book is a weighty piece of content marketing that can establish your credentials and change your business trajectory.

Since writing a book involves a major time investment to craft the best product you can, it deserves a marketing strategy and a plan to yield the maximum results possible.

Even if you have an established publisher, you often need to do most of the marketing leading up to and including the week of the launch. 

Don’t take my word for it, best-selling author David Meerman Scott says:

“My rule of thumb is to spend as much time marketing your book as you spend writing it. You should be working on your marketing in parallel as you are writing the book.”

Since today is the official launch day of two books by three of my favorite marketers, become a purchaser and reader of their books to expand your marketing smarts!

► Jonah Berger’s Magic Words: What To Say To Get Your Way

Wharton Professor Berger continues to examine how to improve your ability to have an impact on other people in his new book, Magic Words: What To Say To Get Your Way.

Become a reader of Berger’s latest book to learn how changing your language can produce the results you want. It’s chock full of strategies you can use before you finish reading it.

► My friends and colleagues Joe Pulizzi (aka: The Godfather of Content Marketing) and Brian Piper have updated and extended Epic Content Marketing. The Second Edition is launching today as well.

What’s the epic addition to this new edition?
The input and interviews with a wide variety of top content marketers.

So don’t wait to be a reader of this new, expanded edition!

Once you own it, become a student of Epic Content Marketing, Second Edition: Break Through The Clutter With A Different Story, Get the Most Out of Your Content, and Build a Community in Web3 to improve your content marketing.

Actionable Book Marketing Tips

• Choose your title and book cover with care to lure people in. Since many people judge a book by its cover, get feedback on a few cover options.
• Gather book quotes from well-known sources. For example, Jonah Berger’s book was endorsed by Daniel Pink, author of Drive, and Adam Grant, author of Think Again.
• Create a website to promote your book. Joe and Brian developed a site to promote Epic Content Marketing, Second Edition.
• Build a launch team. Ask your friends, colleagues and followers to help promote your book. Joe and Brian created a promotional calendar to keep the book visible across platforms leading up to the launch. Alternatively, hire a book launch specialist.
• Involve influencers and contributors. If you’ve mentioned anyone in the book, use this opportunity to connect and let them know! For example, Joe and Brian sent signed copies of Epic Content, Second Edition. Even better, they included cookies decorated with the book cover.

  

  By contrast, Mark Schaefer, author of Belonging To The Brand, sent handwritten notes and circular stickers.

  

  Recommended Reading

  • AMG Author Interview with Mark Schaefer:
    Belonging To The Brand: Why Community Is The Last Great Marketing Strategy
• Line up interviews and podcasts to discuss and promote your book. For marketing books, reach out to Douglas Burdett to be a guest on the Marketing Book Podcast.

  

• Use your owned media to support your book launch. On launch day, Brian wrote an article, Six Content Creation Strategies For Content Entrepreneurs, for The Tilt. It appeared in the newsletter and on the website. Like Brian, tailor your articles to the needs of the platform’s audience! 

  

• Keep stoking the fire. Continue to communicate with your audience. Jonah Berger’s sent this last pre-launch email.

  

New York Marketing Minute

► Clinic Uses Content Marketing To Help Patients Destress

Last week, I had a medical test at a neighborhood Weill Cornell clinic. In the waiting room, they had a display offering patients and visitors activity books, a form of content marketing. They had different versions for adults and children.

The goal of this content marketing:
To reduce patient stress while they waited for their tests.

Unlike the endless televisions in waiting rooms, this content marketing felt like someone had considered the state of mind of potential patients and tried to put them at ease.

BTW, NYU Langone Hospital offered me a swag bag during my recent stay. It ensured patients had necessities they may not have brought with them.

Actionable Content Marketing Tips

• Assess how to develop fun content marketing to help your target audience while they’re in your business or retail space. Depending on your products and services, use trivia and other types of puzzles. Many diners integrate these options into their placemats.
• Create useful checklists and/or worksheets related to your offering to help prospects and customers decide to buy. Among these options include free patterns or recipes and project checklists.

Plan Ahead: Mark Your Calendar

► Podcamp – March 11, from 9 am to 4 pm in Philadelphia, PA

► Social Pulse Summit: ROI Edition – Online, March 16, All day

► Project Voice 2023 – April 24 – 28 in Chattanooga, TN

The number 1 event for Conversational AI / Voice tech in America

► Creator Economy Expo – May 1-3 in Cleveland, OH

If you run a content-first business this is the event to be at!
Use the code AMG100 to get $100 off any pass. I’ll be there along with Jesse Cole (Savannah Bananas), Joe Pulizzi, and other inspiring creators.

► CX Connect– June 13–15, Online via Zoom

► The Conversation Design Conference – July 24th – 25th in London, UK
bringing together the leading thinkers and doers in Conversation Design

► Are you hosting an event that you’d like us to add to the Marketing Calendar?

If so, let us know by using our Contact Form with the Subject Line:
Event For AMG Newsletter Calendar.

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Happy Marketing,
Heidi

P.S.: Want Heidi Cohen to contribute a quote or other commentary to your next article, presentation, video, research, or book? Then hit reply to this email and ask.

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