According to The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer, part of the company’s problem is that it is still playing catch-up on the Internet. According to Avon sales reps, “The company isn’t doing enough to help them win customers through social media.”

That may well change. In her first few weeks in the CEO hot seat, McCoy is likely getting a firsthand look at challenges faced in all corners of the company. It is reasonable to assume that the subject of social media has come up more than once.

Avon, of course, is the quintessential example of a brand built  “at the front line” through its iconic door-to-door reps. Avon’s 6.5 million-member global sales force is positioned to propel the company into a very profitable future if McCoy can answer a key question: How can Avon unleash the power of its sales force through social media?

Admittedly, some industries are better suited than others to social media marketing. The business of wealth management, for example, is not as naturally “social” as women’s beauty. As the Facebook boom continues and women throng newer social sites like Pinterest (62.8% of members are female according to Modea Corp.), which is more oriented to recipes, home décor and beauty, Avon needs to empower its sales reps to fully leverage these resources. Accomplishing that will require investments in three key areas: education, technology and content.

Education—The WSJ article references James Gilbert, a Michigan Avon rep, who says a quarter of his sales come from social media. Surely there are others like him who are leveraging social media with comparable results. Avon could identify the most effective techniques and use them as the foundation of a training curriculum for its entire sales force.

Technology—Avon should be thinking about investments in centralized content distribution and tracking platforms. Given the size and scope of its sales force, the company should be using closed-loop systems to ensure that each rep’s success can be seen and adapted by others. Imagine, for example, that a rep in Little Rock observes a spike in sales after posting an article on anti-aging techniques—or a free shipping promotion—on Facebook. Think how beneficial it would be to make her experience available to Avon reps everywhere—and instantly replicable.

Content—Topical content is essential for reps in cultivating their social networks. Avon is well-equipped to provide reps with a rich pipeline of Facebook- Twitter- and Pinterest-ready content—cause-related, educational and/or product-based. By eliciting feedback and honing its strategy accordingly, Avon can make sure to deliver content that reps and customers value most highly.

But is it too late? Has Avon missed the social media moment? Not from where I sit. Avon is synonymous with a door-to-door selling model that has stood it in good stead for more than a century. All the company has to do is reinvigorate that model through the power of the Internet.

Time-tested model, cutting-edge technology—it’s a proven formula. That’s the beauty of it.

Yes, there has been a steady increase in the number of us in finance. But in all candor, the stereotype of the “tough” female executive has often led me to avoid all-women networking events in the past.

Since joining HNW last fall, I’ve become aware of a number of such events. Recently, I decided to look beyond the stereotypes and see for myself what these gatherings are actually like. When I received an invite to NYU Stern’s Women in Business Conference, I signed up.

Some very impressive senior women executives were listed as speakers. On the morning of the conference, I walked into the ballroom and was surprised to find that I was at ease, eager to chitchat in the breakfast line about the noticeably healthy menu options and joke about how a woman had definitely planned the event.

Over the course of the day-long program, I learned from the speakers about their experiences working—and networking—with highly accomplished women. I left with some helpful tips and an increased interest in connecting with women professionally.

A week later, I received an invitation to a Financial Women’s Association “Cocktails & Conversation” event. This time I was the one who encouraged my female colleagues to sign up. Two of us attended and we had a great time hearing about our fellow attendees’ jobs, the dynamics of business in India, and, of course, what’s hot on Pinterest!

I’m now in the process of joining FWA and plan to continue supporting women-focused activities. There is something special about being part of a group of female leaders sharing a common goal of gaining greater recognition for women’s achievements in our industry.

My takeaway: Next time you find yourself hesitant to step outside your comfort zone, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” For me, networking in a room full of women turned out to be dramatically different from what I’d expected, and much more satisfying.

I learned a lot—most importantly about the willingness of women to share what they’ve learned and help each other grow professionally. Plus, the breakfast choices couldn’t have been better!

I’ve held this role for the better part of a year, and I pride myself on paying attention to the details. I order mini-cupcakes, beer and soft drinks. But does everyone like cupcakes? Would some prefer fruit? Is everyone ok with beer? What about soda—Diet Pepsi or Coke Zero—or both? Do the refreshments have to be kosher? These are the questions that run through my mind as I figure out how to get the biggest turnouts possible. And then I look forward to toasting the honorees and catching up with colleagues. You know—face to face.

But more and more, getting people to come is like herding cats. So how come attendance has fallen off dramatically in recent months? I mean, we’re talking about free cupcakes and beer—and a half-hour out of people’s lives.

Keeping up with relevant developments is tough in any business. The fast-growing integrated digital trend called “social media” was supposed to bring us all together by providing us with information in real time, enabling us to keep up with friends, family and associates all over the world and expand our knowledge about what goes on outside our own personal “fishbowls.”

In short, social media was supposed to make us more social. But has it?

Social media has many legs—Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Linkedin, Google+, and the list goes on and on. We text, we IM, we post updates on Facebook. Keeping up with it all becomes a full-time job. There are now business models whose sole purpose is to be on the cutting edge of the social media movement. With the recently announced Facebook IPO, it is clear that this is a trend we can’t ignore,

Yet we’ve somehow become less social in many ways. We can’t seem to get together face-to-face.

The challenge now is to rebalance our on- and offline social habits. Let’s hope that we haven’t worked so hard at learning how to be social online, that we’ve lost our taste for socializing in person—and the pleasures of free cupcakes and beer.

When asked to write marketing copy for a client, I’ll focus first on covering the points the client wishes to convey. But that’s the easy part. The real challenge lies in formulating content in the company’s individual style.

By “style,” I mean the distinct tone of language that reflects a company’s voice and character. It’s through style that a company differentiates itself, communicates its value proposition and sets the tenor of its relationship with clients.

While a company’s communication style can often be described in general terms, the ability to capture that style in written communications—to strike that characteristic tone that the company claims as its own—can be elusive. Why? Because in many respects, style is nebulous. You may recognize the difference between styles when you see it. But the nuances may be difficult to navigate and can make for a bumpy ride.

Many companies have formal style guides that provide writers like me with helpful pointers regarding tone and language: Be straightforward. Avoid jargon. Write conversationally. Strike a balance between conciseness and detail.

But no style manual, however comprehensive, can cover all the possibilities in terms of word choice, sentence structure or overall flow. For all these, judgment calls are required.

How does a writer make them? Experience and intuition can help. Over time, a writer can become sufficiently familiar with a company to divine what sounds, looks and feels suitable—and what doesn’t. Do the words reflect the company’s vocabulary, culture and tradition? Do they match what the company’s clients have come to expect?

It often helps to think of a company in human terms: How would you describe the company’s personality? How would the company speak to its audience?

Consider two hypothetical financial institutions: One is professorial in character; the other is savvy and advisor-like. The professorial company’s white papers reflect a more formal, expositional style—the kind you’d associate with academic journals. That style is fitting, because the company has sizable research divisions, employs legions of economists and seeks to promote these resources to sophisticated investors.

The savvy-advisor company wants to be perceived as a partner you can call up anytime—perhaps to request a clear explanation of a complex topic. In its written communications, the savvy-advisor company favors a telegraphic style typified by bulleted lists and sidebars to articulate key messages and basic concepts. Its style is more advisory than expositional.

Both companies provide similar services. But imagine how they might convey the same message in writing:

Professor: For the investor population, exchange-traded funds have democratized access to an array of asset classes historically available only to institutional clients. Further, they introduce an economical alternative to mutual funds, providing comparable diversification as cost-advantaged vehicles.

Savvy advisor:  Exchange-traded funds can:
• Provide exposure to many different types of assets, including some that were once out of reach for certain investors
• Offer a low-cost alternative to mutual funds for diversifying your portfolio

Consider another example:

Professor: Investors are more defensive this year than last, and we’re observing a flight to quality, as our research indicates in Exhibit 1 below.”

Savvy advisor: Investors are being more cautious this year than 12 months ago, and we’re seeing a shift toward lower-risk assets, which you may wish to consider.

I’m not suggesting that one style is better. Both can be effective, depending on the kind of company, the type of client and the nature of the agency-client relationship. But the differences between them illustrate the sort of careful stylistic calls that marketing writers need to make every day.

It’s not that I’m a slave to style. I just have tremendous respect for it.

I’m not sure if our expectations just get higher over time, but this year, per my opinion and the water-cooler conversation I’ve heard, the commercials seemed to fall short. As I sit here, it’s hard for me to recall more than four or five of them, and given how much advertisers spent, I’m confident that wasn’t what they were hoping for. Even friends of mine in media, marketing and advertising agreed with me that it was hard to recall more than a couple of commercials and that they and didn’t really love any of them.

But they did hate one. Several people (note: women) I’ve talked to were “offended” by model Adriana Lima’s provocative ad for Teleflora.

“It’s not fit for family entertainment,” they said. “It was inappropriate and out of place.”

My response? The Teleflora spot was pure genius. Teleflora knows its target audience. A week before Valentine’s Day, most men are thinking only about the Super Bowl. Sunday night, 60 million of them are staring at the television screen. Enter Lima. For the first 90% of the commercial, no one knows what it’s selling—but no one can turn away. Men drool, women are curious. The commercial ends with a sexified Lima saying, “Give, and you shall receive,” with a vase of Teleflora flowers. “Sold. Whatever you say, Adriana” (note: men).

As I noted, many women, mothers in particular, have complained about the commercial. But Teleflora doesn’t care. Women weren’t the target demographic. They weren’t going to be buying flowers this week anyway.

Men, on the other hand, had no idea Valentine’s Day was even coming up. It’s football season. The TV had their attention in the first place, and Lima definitely didn’t make them turn away. The mental Post-it note that Valentine’s Day is next week now has “Give, and you shall receive” from Adriana Lima written on it…and that Post-it note glue just turned into Post-it note cement.

Marketing is about psychology. Know your target audience. Teleflora managed to tap into everyone’s (not just men’s) primal instinct, and whether or not women were offended, they too couldn’t look away. Two days later, people are still talking.

OK—rationally, we know that “Give, and you shall receive” doesn’t mean you’ll receive from Adriana Lima, but it’s a message that taps into the unconscious. Sixty million men’s ids just screamed, “Dude, buy some flowers from Teleflora next week.”