Selling To Women A Focus of Surfaces Education

National Floor Trends, in its March 2010 issue, did a recap of Surfaces 2010 in "Show goers, exhibitors upbeat at Surfaces 2010." Did you see it? The article includes a fascinating [!] section titled "Selling to women a focus of educational courses".

Can you imagine why that section caught my attention?

In addition to addressing a topic near/dear to my heart, I was really excited to discover that my Surfaces presentations were included in that section. More specifically, my Social Media 101 session.

Check it out!

"Social marketing and the role of female consumers were big topics during Surfaces 2010. Patricia Flavin, Beaulieu of America’s sr. vp. marketing, led “Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer: Women,” offering tips on targeting female consumers. Christine Whittemore, of Simple Marketing Now, taught “Social Media 101,” a course which included an overview of popular online tools such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs.

Flavin said 92 percent of decorating purchases are made by women, making it essential that retailers ensure their stores are women-friendly. “If your store is cluttered with too many things just strewn about, you will lose her business. Look at your store from an outsider’s perspective, and fix things that aren’t right,” she noted.

Whittemore added that 84 percent* of social media users are women. “To appeal to women, you must present yourself or your company in an information-offering mode, in-store and especially online.”"

[* Clarification - it's 84% of social media sites are frequented more by women than men. In either case, selling to women consumers remains of critical importance to retailers!]

Many thanks to Arpi Nalbandian, editor of Tile Magazine, for attending my session. I really enjoyed meeting her in person and look forward to seeing her at Coverings 2010.

If you attended Surfaces 2010, what did you find most inspiring?