Did you know that because of our brain structure humans are story junkies?  Our brain reacts differently when presented with a story than when it’s offered facts.  Stories that we read, hear and watch affect us naturally.

Because of our brain’s neural coupling, stories activate parts of our brain that help us to integrate stories into our own experiences.  Since women’s brains have more interconnectivity than men’s brains, this process happens more frequently.  When a woman hears a story, she’ll search for relevance to her life experiences.  If she doesn’t find any, she’ll forget the story!

Our brain also releases dopamine when presented with an emotional story – this helps us to remember the story longer and with greater accuracy than when faced with a non-emotional story.  When women read or see an emotional story, we’re more likely to tell other women.  It’s because women have more emotional outposts in our brain than men – 36, compared to 4.  And, our emotional outposts are located closer to the area of the brain that is responsible for speech.

Because of genetic memory, sometimes referred to as hereditary influence, women evolved to be storytellers.  Our ancient female ancestors were responsible for raising children in the tribe until they were old enough to have kids of their own. To keep children safe, women shared warnings and instructions within a story – which resulted in children following the warning, remembering it and passing it along.

So, what do all these social science insights mean to your brand?  To engage women, you must be a creative storyteller and a skilled content marketer.

3 Behavioral Tips to Engage Women through Social Media Content

1.  Women are people-powered.  Women consider people to be the most important and interesting aspects of life.  This is because a woman’s highest personal value is establishing and nurturing relationships.  And, let’s face it, how can we accomplish this without people?

What to do?  When developing a content marketing program that will engage women, here’s a formula that works best:  for every 10 posts, 5 should be original stories that share tips and insights; 3 should be personal stories; and 2 should be curated content that will interest women.

Based upon extensive research conducted for various clients by my company, Brand Champs, women indicate they’re most interested in original articles, personal stories and curated content about:  (1) Family & Home; (2) Career & Business; and (3) Life Goals.

When posting content, include a visual of people.  You’ll get more engagement than if your visual doesn’t include people.

2.  Women are driven by empathy.  The operative emotion with women is empathy.  We want to belong and be understood.  We relate to stories with characters we recognize.   When we see idealized scenarios, we don’t identify with them.  We’re looking for the “that’s me!” moments.

What to do?  When developing your personal stories, don’t be afraid to share your experiences and thoughts.  The objective of sharing personal stories is for women to realize that you’ve experienced something they’ve experienced; want to contribute to the conversation; share it with others; and develop a relationship with you.

3.  Women need girlfriends.  Behaviorists refer to this as the “girlfriend factor.”  Having girlfriends keeps us healthy, happy and sane.  When faced with a stressful situation, we don’t exhibit the same “fight or flight” behavior as men.  We’ll huddle with girlfriends — which biologically decreases our stress level.

What to do?  Your content should make women feel like they belong to a group of other women.  Be sure to have offline events so women can meet the other women they’ve “met” through discussions about your shared content.  This doesn’t have to be a big, extravagant affair.  If you have the budget, go for it!  If your budget is limited, consider getting together at your office, (if you have the space), or check out http://www.davincimeetingrooms.com. They have over 900 locations where you can rent a conference room for as little as $20/hour.

Your Brand Needs Women

We control $7 trillion in U.S. spending.  But, we need your brand to respect us by sharing content that’s relevant.  Show us you respect us by embracing female-specific behavior and share content that we want to see!