Get to know your Woman
My experiences of a Woman marketing to Women
"A woman of style is a thinking woman"Claudia Karavan
The adage Men are from Mars and Women from Venus, should be a guiding principle for all marketers to Women.
Both women and men think differently. The way one does business with women should also be different. They behave differently when they are in the buying mode. Women build a relationship during a purchase, while Men focus on bare minimum involvement.
Faith Popcorn, one of America's consumer trend experts, says: “Companies think they're marketing to women - who buy 80% of the products and control 80% of the money - but they're not. They're not talking to women. They don't know how to talk to women.”
Creating demand tailor made for Women
During the start of my career in early 2000, about 65% of retailer’s sales contribution came from selling to men, and there were hardly any women centric brands around in the country. Today it’s the other way around, and most brands seems to be wooing women. Has the population mix changed too much? Have women started adopting habits like men? The real answer lies in the fact that brands created needs for women and connected at an emotional level which helped them adopt products and change their habits.
Industries are undergoing a major business structure change to cater to the female audience. Women are now the key decision-makers for most categories of purchase and there is a rise in female consumer power.
Stop Stereotyping Woman
As a marketer avoid the classic mistake of stereotyping a woman. Today’s women need to see products beyond frills, bows and pinks.
Having spent a few years now building the brand amanté, an international lingerie brand I have realised that women want to be spoken to from a woman’s point of view. It’s so important to understand the small nuances she values, or problems she wants to overcome, many of which are not voiced openly.
Most lingerie brands have been stereotyping their communication towards a tool for seduction, whereas this is only 10% of wallet share of lingerie spend. Women want to look and feel good everyday from within for their own confidence. Our success as a brand has been in decoding this, and positioning the brand on the pillar of confidence.
Talking to Women
After understanding needs of a woman, communication also needs to be delivered differently. Making a marketing proposition interactive and involving them in the communication process is very important. In today’s social media age, women want to be part of communities and form opinions on brands based on advocacy, traditional one way messaging won’t help.
For women, a purchase includes immense research. They want to know what’s in it for them. The way they think includes the utility and longevity of the product. Women are inclined towards emotional values attached to brands and marketers need to be sensitive towards these values while talking to them.
The communication should convey attributes of warmth, honesty, relevance, usage and common sense. Women juggle between a lot of things- career, family, hobby and many others. It’s important to break through this clutter and reach out to women to identify their needs.
According to the Ernst and Young Groundbreakers report, women reinvest 90 percent of their income into their families and communities, compared to men, who reinvest only 30 to 40 percent. This is strong and compelling evidence that women care about spending money with companies that share their values and/or give back in the same way that they do.
I would conclude by saying that Women of today are more aware, educated, discerning, multifaceted and love themselves. It’s no longer enough to just inform them about your brand, marketers must connect with them at an emotional level.
Start to Think like a Woman, and Talk like a Woman, to a Woman.
