Top Tips for Marketing to Women

When it comes to the biggest purchases in life, such as cars, homes, financial packages, and technology, the marketing focus has traditionally been on men. This is absurd when we all know that women are just as likely to purchase these things as well. Sure, in the past, these purchases would have been made almost exclusively by men, but times have definitely changed.  Targeting marketing to women is essential for business success.

Part of the issue seems to be that many businesses simply don’t know what to do when it comes to marketing to women. Businesses, both big and small, are waking up to the need to develop specific strategies for reaching a wider female audience, but many of them are still struggling to do it effectively.

The following tips will help you to develop an effective strategy for targeting women with your marketing.

You Don’t Need to Rebrand

One of the most common mistakes businesses make when they are developing a marketing strategy for women is that they feel the need to spin off their offerings to their female customers into an entirely different brand. You don’t need to do anything nearly so dramatic in order to effectively reach women with your products. Instead, you should focus on marketing your existing brands properly.

One of the biggest issues with rebranding for women, is that these brands tend to be more ‘accessible’, a term which often means an inferior, but simpler, product. Part of their worry is often that they will alienate their core male audience if they ‘feminise’ their main brands. But these worries are largely unfounded. For one thing, there is no need to alter the product in any way, you only need to adjust the way that you market it.

Instead of spending time and effort spinning off a new brand, focus instead on formulating a marketing strategy that sells your product to women without the need to dumb it, or your message, down. One of the companies that is most consistently highly rated amongst women is Apple. Apple’s products emphasise style, design, and ease-of-use, all of which are regularly cited by women as being important in consumer surveys.

Emphasise the Product’s Value

In order to illustrate this point, we look to Volvo. The company has made a point of doing something that many other businesses overlook entirely, they ask their female customers for input. Just by asking women what they think, and more importantly, what they want, Volvo has put female input at the heart of its development process.

There have been numerous positive results from this approach. A whole host of features, including colour coded fluid lids, rear seats that are easier to fold, and boots that are designed to be easier to load with heavy items have been implemented as a consequence. However, the company never made their marketing a simple list of features. Instead, they have focused on marketing messages which appeal to women. The slogan ‘Volvo for Life’, for example, emphasises two things, security and dependability, both of which are important for women.

Be Consistent

Women tend to be more discerning than men when it comes to marketing. For one thing, women are much better at spotting inconsistencies, such as those that might exist when a business’s product and message do not line up. If they think that you aren’t being consistent in your message, you will lose their trust.

In addition, you should make an effort to ensure that you aren’t overloading your customers with communications they don’t want. Consumers today care a great deal about their privacy.  So if they feel that you aren’t taking theirs seriously, then you could lose their business. The more personal the communication method, the more careful you need to be in ensuring you have the customer’s permission. For example, SMS marketing is more personal than email marketing and it has been found that more women than men prefer texting as a means of communication.

Be Respectful

Around the year 2002, McDonalds was experiencing an unprecedented sales slump with no immediately obvious cause. The company quickly realised what the problem was. Their marketing was still viewing women as a conduit to their kids. This marketing ignored the women as customers themselves. As a result, they were abandoning McDonalds in favour of rival businesses.

Ultimately, McDonalds refocused their efforts and introduced more healthy options to their menu. They also undertook revamps of many stores, supplementing play areas with more comfortable seating and Wi-Fi access. The company also began to ensure that it made an effort to solicit the opinions of women, and to take their views into consideration.

Marketing to women is essential for any modern business. After all, turning your back on women means turning your back on half of the market! Many businesses still get it wrong when it comes to marketing to women and taking their views into consideration.  But this is a situation that any business can fix with ease.