FORECAST:
FACEBOOK MARKETING:
“Men Are Cheap”
Growth in Online
Holiday Sales
S
hop.org released its online holiday sales forecast with a
positive note. According to the community of online and
multi-channel retailers, sales this holiday season could
grow by as much as 12 percent compared to last year’s. In dollarspeak, a 12 percent growth could mean an estimated US$96
billion of projected sales. Shop.org defines the holiday season as
sales in the months of November and December.
In a recent press release, the National Retailers Federation’s
(NRF) holiday forecast is also higher than the 10-year average
holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent.
“Online retail has been a bright spot for years and we don’t
expect that trend to change anytime soon, especially with the
growth in mobile,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
“Aside from the convenience, shoppers look to the holiday season
to take advantage of retailers’ increased digital offerings. In addition to enhancing the site experience, retailers have spent the year
investing in optimizing their mobile and social platforms, just
what holiday shoppers are looking for.”
So how can spas take advantage of this positive forecast? Be
sure to accommodate online shoppers via your online shopping
cart, social media channels and website. Offer online-exclusive
promotions like free shipping or gift-wrapping as these conveniences highly matter to online shoppers.
C
o-authored by Resolution Media and
Kenshoo Social, the white paper titled
“Men Are Cheap—Efficient Gender
Targeting with Facebook Ads” suggests
that, despite a 58 percent female audience on Facebook,
more men than women are likely to click on ads seen
on Facebook.
Men, according to the study, have a 60 percent
click volume and 58 percent impression volume. In
comparison, Facebook’s female audience only generates
a 40 percent click response and 42 percent impression
volume.
A factor in this difference is attributed to men’s
shorter attention span when browsing online, which
makes them highly vulnerable to distractions, like
relevant advertising messages.
Spas and companies, especially those whose
products and services are geared towards men, could
take advantage of this information by targeting this
captive audience on Facebook. Businesses that aim to
expand their market share and attract Facebook’s male
audience should also pay close attention to their
marketing language, carefully crafting messages to not
only be gender-specific but also relevant to each
audience group.
November 2012
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PULSE 13