Marketing to Women

What works and why? What falls flat and why?

1. Ignoring the pure size of the market.
   • Seventy-five percent of household finances are being handled by women.
   
   
   • More than 53 percent of investment decisions are made by women.
   
   
   • Women hold more than 47 percent of stocks; 35 percent of the first-time buyers of financial products are women.
   
   
   • Women earn at least 50 percent of the income in the U.S. today.
   
   
   • Women are projected to acquire over 85 percent of the $12 trillion growth of U.S. private wealth between 1995 and 2010.
2. Ignoring Women's concerns.
   • Twenty-six percent of women are faced most directly by economic concerns today — living costs, meeting financial needs, high taxes.
   
   
   • Twenty-two percent of women's most pressing concern is their family.
3. Thinking that all women wear a "size 7."
   • Stay-at-Home Mothers
   
   
   • Single Mothers Who Are Heads of Households
   
   
   • Women Who Never Married
   
   
   • Young Working Women
   
   
   • Widows; Separated, or Divorced Women
   
   
   • Women Entrepreneurs
   
   
   • Urban Women
   
   
   • Rural Women
   
   
   • Caregivers (for spouses, children, grandchildren, parents)
   
   
   • Women in Blended Families
   
   
   • Women in Non-Traditional Relationships
   
   
   • Older Women
   
   
   • Ethnic Women
   
   
   • Women in Transition
4. Thinking that women don't want to be treated "differently".

   "We discovered an overwhelming demand by women for financial services tailored to them."

   — Citigroup's Women & Co.    

5. Not recognizing women lead multiple, overlapping lives.
   • Connect women to one another online, using message boards, and off-line, using "expert-advice" workshops.
6. Ignoring the relationship aspect that women want.

   "Men and women don't think the same way, don't communicate the same way, don't buy for the same reasons."

   — Faith Popcorn, Evolution    

7. Lack of Authenticity
   • Marketing Messages — Focus on "life events" rather than products.
   
   
   • Fulfillment — Ask your female clients about their expectations and if you've been meeting them.
   
   
   • Ongoing Service — Pay attention to it; your female clients do!