Friday Feminine Gamification Viewpoint: 3 top tips for convincing the ladies
In recent conversations at gamification conferences a number of organisations looked for the the answers on how to convince the ladies. In fact some companies even blatantly admitted that their ambition to bring on board the feminine following didn’t work for them. As a lady I find it fascinating, because every single time I asked did you have women involved in the design, the pilot, the communication?…. and stunningly the answer tends to be “No, we didn’t think of that”….
Tip 1: Invite ladies to assist in the process
So the obvious first tip in response to this is, get women involved. If they are a core target audience they need to be part of the process, the earlier you can get them involved the better. Now, us ladies consider documentation and proposals as a starting point for discussions, not a done deal before you start. Proposal documentation in our view is a work in progress and it will evolve based on discussion and yes, we do reserve the right to ad more, question some of the original findings and debate some more, before agreeing on a practical way of doing this. We want to talk it through and make sure all angles are actually covered.
Tip 2: Epic meaning, value and benefits
When it comes to selling solutions or ideas to us, the key is to really zone in on the benefits. While selling to a male audience may require more tolerance of facts, the ladies want to the answer to ‘What’s in it for me?’ closely followed by “Why should I care and does this matter in the bigger scheme of things?”. If it is superficial and has no deeper value to offer, then we will question your motives and very likely send you away on the high road.
When ladies understand the over-arching meaning of what you are trying to achieve and find it something that is closely aligned to their values, then you have a chance to appeal to them and potentially create a fan or follower. When a female fan feels part of the community and can contribute to adding further value to the epic purpose of your project, you have an opportunity to do fantastically well. But communities need nurturing and moderating, when the interaction dies down, ladies will seek out the next best place.
I have participated in a number of online communities and really got involved in one called the High Vibe Tribe with as a larger epic meaning to find your authentic voice. Originally a 30-day challenge was the starting point and a private group with small sub-groups became the main interaction forum. We were all asked to support each other and the result was a very responsive and supportive community, where the person who was behind it found an easy base for her products. Equally the benefit for each individual participant was that they had gained confidence, found their own voice and got to know a number of people very well to the extent like in my case where we fostered lasting business relationships.
Tip 3: Ladies trusted circle of recommendations
In research ladies have been found to respond best to testimonials made by people they trust. It is often coined that social media is so successful because of the social testimonials and the appeal to our inner curiosity. I guess it is the same reason why some magazines always did well, because they give an insight into the live of people we may know or aspire to get to know. Ladies tend to value information from their inner circle best and often look for female role models that they can relate too. Just in case it wasn’t yet clear, exit the token supermodel… enter the trusted friend.
In social media I definitely follow the likes and recommendations of some of the ladies I respect and trust. If it is a random stranger recommending me something out of nowhere, I would really be tempted to remove them as a spammer. I don’t mind if some of my friends are also gaining in the process of the recommendation, as long as they are upfront about it and the recommendation is genuinely based on their own experience rather than a pitch for someone’s product or service. I definitely have bought products based on recommendation by a friend, girls tend to do this naturally and we grew up testing things out together with our girlfriends.
How will you implement these 3 tips in your gamification campaign?
