3foldComm

The first time I can remember feeling jealous of another girl’s clothing was probably in sixth grade when Rachel Fox came to school wearing a long sleeved flower print body suit with Guess denim shorts. She looked hot, and she knew it. The boys knew it too. Since then, I’ve gone through my fair share of trends thanks to classmates, roommates, and office mates influencing my fashion choices. (Patent leather Airwalks in 1995? Yeah, don’t remind me.)

As a woman, I care about what other women think about me more than what men think of me. I’m happily married to a guy that thinks I look great in sweatpants, and tells me so frequently. That also means he doesn’t understand that when I whine and whimper inside the closet every few weeks about “nothing to wear” it’s usually because I’m dressing to compete with all the other women who look fabulous.

It’s easier to admit my own insecurities knowing I’m not the only woman in the world with them. In an article last week by Sean Silverthorne with Harvard Business School, researchers discovered that seventy percent of all actions on social networking sites are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people’s profiles. While men use social networking sites to look at women they know and don’t know, women are not looking at pictures or profiles of men. They are looking at women they already know.

To me, this discovery only solidifies my theory that social media is changing the future of marketing because it gives women an easy avenue to see, read, and hear about the things their female friends love. For good and for bad, women depend on each other to discover the latest fashions, the best new movies, and the most delicious recipes. We even influence each other’s choices of where to volunteer and donate our money. We share these things to help one another out and—let’s just admit it—to compete with each other. What does this mean for brands, and the agencies who represent them?

We must identify the Megan Fox’s of our world. And we must put them to use.

Ask yourself: who is your brand champion? Who are the women talking loudly with large networks? One brand who is doing a great job engaging customers is Red Robin, who uses their receipts to ask patrons to fill out an online survey. Those people are invited to tell recommend the chain to their friends using Facebook. About 20 percent of those asked will make the recommendation to friends. (Read more about their tactics here.)

Red Robin does two things that more brands need to follow. They remind people to tell their friends about the restaurant, and they give them easy tools to make that recommendation happen.  The great thing is you don’t have to be a huge corporation to follow Red Robin’s lead. Nonprofits can offer free raffle tickets during events for patrons who have tweeted about the event. Small businesses can email online surveys to people who drop their business card at the counter. Other companies may choose to include a reminder tag on eblasts. So, get busy. Put your brand advocates to use! If you’re not sure how- we’re here. Give us a call.