Take a look at your marketing copy. Read over your web site, your social media posts, your case studies, and your customer newsletter. Better yet, have someone else read them out loud to you—preferably a woman.
Do those words sound weird coming out of her mouth? Hmm.
Some things die hard, and one of last great hangers-on of the Old-Boy Network years seems to be marketing copy that’s clearly written for those who pee standing up. With the number of women in the C-suite growing every day, maybe it’s time to think about how to talk to the female BDM.
Marketing to women isn’t new; for generations, legions of (largely male) marketers have targeted women with specific types of campaigns. Prior to the women’s movement of the 1970s, major corporations worked to persuade housewives to buy certain brands of floor wax, detergent, and breakfast cereal. When women began emerging in the workforce, cigarettes, panty hose, and designer clothing began popping up.
Today, we have women at the helm of organizations like Yahoo, PepsiCo, and Xerox, with more just like them on their way up. Take a look in your customer database; how many women are you (or SHOULD you be) marketing to?
Need to get started marketing to the women in your (work) life? Here are some tips:
- Forget about marketing to women. Instead market to your woman. That’s right: incorporate a targeted female decision maker into your audience mix. She’s not just any woman; she’s the specific type of woman you want to reach.
- Don’t just water down your message and call it good. Your target women do not just want the “lite” version of the messaging you serve up to their male counterparts. If you don’t “get” them, they will know it—and they’ll move on.
- Quality and value make an impression. When women become engaged with a quality brand, they are willing to pay for it, and they remain loyal.
- Pastels are passé. Women don’t respond to campaigns splashed with colors and images suitable for a 1974 feminine hygiene ad. Give them a look and feel of strength, confidence, and capability that they can relate to.
Women are a market force today, and if you’re smart, you’ll make sure you’re marketing to all of your customers, not just the boys’ club.
