It’s a proven 21st century reality—there are verifiable and measurable differences in the way men and women process information and make decisions. And this should make every marketing professional sit up and take notice.
Why target women specifically in your marketing efforts
Virtually every type of business can benefit from marketing to women. Consider these facts:
• Women purchase or influence the purchase of 80% of all consumer goods.1
• By 2010, women are expected to control 60% of the nation’s wealth.2
• The number of women earning $100,000 or more has tripled in the past 10 years.3
• Of the 37-38 million women in the baby boom generation, nine million are business owners with a net worth of more than $1 million.4
• Women control about $5 trillion in U.S. business and consumer spending.5
• Single women buy one of every five homes that sell, and more than twice as many as single men buy.6
• Women make or influence 59% of all car purchases.7
Men and women ARE different and so are their consumer behaviors
Research tells us that men and women receive advertising messages differently and behave differently in the marketplace. For example:
• During decision-making, women tend to gather more information than men do and are less likely to be influenced by advertising.8
• Women are more interested in practical features and applications of products and services, while men want to know the ‘specs and techs.’9
• Men tend to go after self-focused goals that have greater personal consequences, while women are more guided by communal concerns and personal relationships.10
• Women have more sensitivity to the concerns of both self and others.11
• Women respond to advertisements that are verbally and visually rich and highly informative, whereas men respond better to non-verbal advertising.12
Strategies you can put to work right away
While certain basic marketing strategies—such as highlighting benefits rather than features—should always be incorporated in your marketing efforts, here are a few ways to effectively target women:
• Women gather more information before making a decision. Multiple marketing communications can pay off in attracting new women customers.
• Show how your product or service will benefit not only your potential woman customer, but make her home/neighborhood/workplace/planet a better place.
• Pictures of family or friends enjoying life IN a car will speak to a woman more directly that a photo of the car alone.
Find out if you could be doing more to attract and retain women as customers with a complimentary consultation from EdgeMark Partners. Call us at 804-967-2000 to schedule your consultation.
1,2Joanna L. Krotz, Microsoft Small Business Center, www.microsoft/com/smallbusiness/hub/mspx
3The Employment Policy Foundation
4Thomas Stanley, Ph.D., Millionaire Women Next Door
5Gallup Management Journal, March 10, 2005
6USA Today, December 14, 2006
7Edmunds.com
8BusinessWeek, February 14, 2005
9BNET Business Network, October 31, 2003
10Martha Barletta, The TrendSight Group
11,12Exploring the Origins and Information Processing Differences Between Men and Women: Implications for Advertisers, Sanjay Putrevu, Brock University
