Dont think pink
Unlocking female consumer power: strategies to capture a vital market segment
Description
To effectively market to women, companies must go beyond stereotypes and superficial tactics. The real keys are to understand how women think, see the world from their perspective, and engage with them directly. Companies must examine their brands and products through a "women's lens", reconnect with current female customers to understand their needs and wants, and create offerings that genuinely resonate with women.
By embracing dialogue with influential female consumers, companies can build trust and expand their share of this trillion dollar market. Marketing to women is not a trend but the future, and it requires moving beyond tweaked male-oriented products and stereotypical "pink" thinking. Companies that authentically target women will reap great rewards.
Table of contents
01The goal journey to transformation
Today's largest consumer market segment is women buyers. This market represents $2 trillion in annual spending in the United States alone. In the past, some companies tried targeting female consumers with overly feminine products and campaigns obviously designed "for women." A more subtle and effective approach resonates with women without singling them out. Such transparent marketing acknowledges differences without stereotyping. The most successful future marketing campaigns will take a hybrid approach - creating special women's initiatives within existing brands.
Consider the scale of women's buying power today:
Women now earn about $1 trillion annually, a 63 percent increase over the past decade, fueled by a shrinking gender pay gap, more women earning advanced degrees and out-earning husbands, and more women starting businesses, having higher net worth, and living longer. Studies suggest women direct about 80 percent of total consumer spending, writing 80 percent of checks representing over $2 trillion in purchases annually. Around 51 percent of corporate purchasing agents today are women, giving them substantial influence on business spending preferences too.
The women's market is now far too large to be considered a niche. It requires intelligent segmentation, not lumping all women together. Many companies assumed male customers by default, failing to notice women's steady share growth over time. Correspondingly, marketing to women has evolved:
Early "pink thinking" efforts sincerely tried targeting women but relied heavily on stereotypes and treated women as one generic segment. Marketers developed feminine product variants using flowery designs and colors, sentimental storylines unrelated to the products. "Gender-neutral" marketing assumes no differences between men and women, using identical materials that alienate both genders. "Visible" women's marketing directly targets female customers, as with Venus razors explicitly designed for women. "Transparent" women's marketing acknowledges gender differences without declaring them, like Home Depot widening aisles to facilitate browsing based on women's preferences.
02Key 1: understanding the female buyer
There are clear differences in how men and women think. These stem from biological, neurological, and behavioral factors. Marketers must grasp these differences and craft purchasing experiences catering to women's preferences. The more intuitive the shopping process is for female consumers, the more they will buy. Women think differently than men when shopping because their brains have more connections between neurons. This means women tend to factor emotions into purchase decisions rather than just examining facts like men. Women also have superior observational skills, so they notice inconsistencies men would miss. Additionally, women enjoy discovering new things when shopping, whereas men want to enter, buy, and exit stores rapidly without asking for advice.
Furthermore, women think inclusively and make choices aligning with their values, not just needs. Men rarely ponder profound issues while shopping. Women also have better language abilities and appreciate communicating to build relationships around shared interests. Another difference is that women develop and utilize shrewd shopping skills. They avoid grabbing the first item they see and instead ask friends for suggestions, compare options, check recommendations, and seek expert input before deciding.
Moreover, women make "constituent-driven" decisions, prioritizing loved ones over personal preferences. They also seek ongoing relationships and insider information, consulting existing owners about products. Women naturally leverage personal networks for advice. Additionally, they willingly spend ample time comparison shopping, thoroughly researching goods and services plus competitors' offerings prior to selecting. Most historical marketing targeted men rather than women due to various insignificant reasons. However, 21st century marketing must integrate more female-friendly concepts and approaches. Unless marketers do so, they surrender significant competitive advantage to others and overlook female purchasers' money. To effectively market to women: Never forget everything matters to them like employee treatment, environmental practices, investments, and causes. Be consistent across all business facets since women dislike companies saying one thing but doing another.
03Key 2: insightful market segmentation
The traditional approach of viewing women as one homogeneous group to be targeted with a "feminized" version of a product is both short-sighted and ineffective. Instead, the women's market should be segmented into highly lucrative, well-defined growth niches based on emerging majorities, generational cohorts, and life stages. Segmenting the over 136 million women in the U.S. marketplace in this way enables more tailored marketing approaches. For example, marketers are starting to develop ethnic-specific campaigns, like appealing to Hispanic women's cultural preference for staying home or Black women's consciousness of styles and fashions. With the rise of Hispanic, Black and Asian consumers, marketers should make these groups respond favorably instead of defaulting to Anglo women's preferences.
04Key 3: women as marketing partners
Women have an innate ability to envision how a product or service could be improved to better suit their needs. Getting women involved in product development allows companies to create offerings that are more relevant and compelling to female consumers. The biggest advances in marketing will come as firms actively engage women as marketing partners, fostering an ongoing dialogue to shape offerings. When companies collaborate with women in this way to better tailor products, impressive financial results will follow. This concept represents a paradigm shift - rather than marketing "to" women using outdated stereotypes, companies should market "with" them, incorporating women's insights and preferences into products from the start. The difference in results between these approaches is significant. Implementing this is not difficult; it simply requires intense listening to determine what women want and viewing your brand through their eyes. Ways to achieve this include:
Informal Focus Groups: Bring groups of women together in relaxed venues like spas and bookstores where conversation flows freely to gather uncensored opinions. Formal Gatherings: A popular approach is discussion panels and audiences in a talk show format where everyone shares ideas that get recorded for later analysis. Networking: Tap into existing women’s groups like book clubs, walking groups, dinner parties and investment clubs which already foster open discussion of various topics.
Virtual Listening: Solicit women’s opinions and ideas online to aid product development. Industry Insiders: Phone key female players across your industry to tap the wealth of suggestions they likely have never formally shared. Internal Audit: Consult customer service staff for frontline insights into complaints and compliments pointing to potential improvements. Feedback Review: Mine existing feedback for patterns that challenge current assumptions. Market Research: Ensure you have current and factual target market data rather than outdated stereotypes. Cross-Industry Research: Examine successful approaches in other industries that could potentially be adapted to yours, analyzing what women actively purchase and why.
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