Join Women’s Conversations to Create Better Ads
If you want to know what women talk about, why not just ask them? That’s exactly what we did when we conducted our attitudinal segmentation research last year.
We’re women and advertisers; we’ve known how insufficient advertising has been at reaching women over the years. We’ve pushed for progress through our work and want to empower brands to empower women. There are many ways to elevate women’s voices, and last year we chose to conduct research exploring the perspectives, pain points, challenges, beliefs, and needs of 600 women, and now we have a better understanding of what women talk about with the people they spend time with.
Today, we’re sharing these insights with you so you can look beyond demographics, assumptions, and stereotypes; when you know what women care about most, you can show them how much you care. If you’re serious about what your products and services can do for women, you have to get serious about understanding women. It’s how you refine your offerings, improve your messaging, and, dare we say, change the world—for women and everyone else.
What she talks about with the people she knows
Women often don’t see themselves in the body types, clothing choices, careers, lifestyles, emotions, and more presented in ads. The bar isn’t going to raise itself. It’s up to us. Can’t we create ads that resonate more? As far as we’re concerned, an ad hasn’t done its job unless the women in the audience can say, “I feel seen.”
There’s often such a profound disconnection between advertisers and the women they’re trying to reach, and ads showcase a real dissonance between the on-screen, on-page, on-post portrayals of women and their day-to-day lives.
So, let’s illuminate another aspect of women’s lived experiences: what they talk about with others.
By tapping into the topics women care about most, you can increase your chances of connecting with them through advertising. Let’s look at the differences in what women talk about with people they are closest with (friends) and those they have more casual relationships with (coworkers, extended family, etc.).
Women discuss the following topics with close friends:
relationships (84%)
physical health (81%)
diet, food, or cooking(81%)
families and children (76%)
careers (73%)
Most women talk about these top five topics with their close friends. These are the topics on their minds, that they seek commiseration and support on, and that you, as a brand, can consider potential sources of problems that need solving.
Our research shows that women talk about slightly different topics with people they’re less close with and in smaller percentages.
Women talk about the following topics with people other than close friends (family, coworkers, etc.):
careers (73%)
business ownership (73%)
diet, food, or cooking (64%)
families and children (64%)
motherhood (57%)
As you can see, there are some notable differences here. Women are less likely to talk about relationships or their physical health with people they are less close with. Business ownership appears high on the second bulleted list, with motherhood at number five. We tend to look at the topics women talk about with those they’re less close with as less polarizing and, therefore, less likely to be associated with stigmas or shame. There are layers here.
You need to reflect these nuances in your ads targeted toward women. Let’s add another slice of nuance on top: There are two segments of women who you can bet will speak their minds about a range of topics with people they know.
The women who speak openly and often
Our research found three segments of women who differ in their mindsets about advertising, how they feel about women’s issues, and their engagement with taboo products and services. Of the three segments, Boundary Pushers are the most vocal and revolutionary in their experiences as women; they want change and advocate for it. Female Favorers are avid supporters of women, keep the women in their lives close, and support women-owned businesses. Brand Approvers tend to be more private than their peers, younger too, and less likely to take issue with the ads they see.
Boundary Pushers and Female Favorers are often significantly more likely than Brand Approvers to discuss these topics with their close friends.
If you count these two segments in your audience, know they’ll appreciate an immersive experience that speaks openly and honestly about topics near and dear to them.
Make your advertising conversational.
What can you do with these insights? We recommend two strategies:
Emulate women's conversations with the people in their lives through your ads. Acknowledge women’s relationships with their close friends and the differences in what they talk about with people a little further out in their social orbit. Explore what dialogues look like when they talk about topics that are important to them. Bring their lived experience alive in your ads.
Join the conversations. Don’t stop with this blog. We’ve shared what topics women are most likely to discuss with close friends and other people. Now, it’s time to go further. Your ads will be more effective if you witness and participate in these conversations. Observe what women who follow your brand are saying on social media - and not just to you. How do they talk about the topics they care about most? What questions do they ask? What words do they use to describe their perspective? Know the women in your audience. Be more than a brand; create spaces where women can discuss what matters to them.
When in doubt, you can always just ask. Women. And us.
Email us at hello@fancynyc.com to become a leading brand in women-forward advertising.
