Better Serving Your Female Customers

Women are key in making buying decisions, especially within households. As you segment your target market, you may find more and more that your target market is made up of primarily women.

In fact, data shows that women make 85% of all consumer purchases, and the women, not the men, tend to spend 80% of the combined income in households.

As a result, you want to make sure you are doing your best to serve your female customer and to best market your product to women. This will allow you to grow sales, but it also sets you apart from the competition. Women also have strong proponents of customer loyalty and referrals.

Here are are top five tips for marketing to your female customers:

  1. Be honest and present all the option. Women are looking for quality products that are consistent. It needs to benefit them or those they care about. For that reason, they want to hear the truth and all of the option. High pressure sales environments are not likely to attract women. Instead, they want a hands on personal approach. They want someone to sit down with them and walk them through the process or explain the product in a truthful manner.
  2. Use, use, use technology. Website and social media are a direct link to your female customers. Most female shoppers do research and/or shopping online. With more testimonials and easier usability, the better your website and social media will become, and the better these become, the better you will be catering to your female customers.
  3. Leverage your existing female customers. Women respond best to referrals and recommendations from friends. Word of mouth is far more powerful than conventional advertising. By encouraging women to share their experiences with your product, you can better leverage your female customers to gain even more female customers.
  4. Remember who you are selling to … It is key to never forget to understand your target audience and what their demographics are. Once you understand that, this understanding should be reflected across the board in sales promotions, in social media, on your website, and in even your own sales force. Women respond extremely well to other women, as they understand how to better cater to the needs and desires of the female customer. It would not make sense to have men selling makeup products as they will not understand how these products will benefit women from personal experience. Plus, having women showcasing these products will make other women more comfortable.
  5. Be responsive. As with any customer, it is important to respond in a timely manner and provide the quickest and best service possible. However, it is especially important with women. Many women are running households and are going to not only go with the best quality, but also the fastest service. For example, women home with a baby can’t wait a week for the plumber to respond to her phone call, even if he does the best work.

These five simple tips are only the beginning of how you can better target your female customers. As you look at your industry and your female customers, there are sure to be additional ways you can further cater to their needs. This could be through technology or through simple improved communication methods.

Fact vs. Feeling

How many facts do you hear in a day? How many of them do you remember?

How many emotions do you feel in a day? How many of them do you remember?

Odds are that you remember what you felt more than what you heard or saw. Remember that saying, “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”? That quote is also true in marketing. Studies show that people rely more on emotion than reason when establishing brand loyalty. Emotions are the basis for reason – once someone is emotionally attached to a brand or product, they will come up with a logical reason to purchase it.

There are four basic emotions: happy, sad, afraid/surprised, and angry/disgusted. These basic emotions can combine to create the plethora of emotions that exist in human nature. However, we can use these four to evaluate emotional marketing strategies.

Of course everyone loves to be happy, and people love to make others happy. Messages that make our audience feel happy are more likely to be shared. Social media is a great way to utilize this finding because it is optimal for sharing

Sadness, although a stark contrast from happiness, can also be an effective emotional appeal. Sadness helps us connect and empathize – it draws us in emotionally. Sometimes everyone just needs a good cry.

Fear/surprise is also an effective strategy. Think about watching a scary movie – nothing is more comforting than sharing the experience of being scared with someone else. Fear/surprise make us desperate for something to cling to, and when no one is around, a brand will have to do. Fear also creates urgency and causes us to take action. Do note, however, that fear/surprise should be used conservatively as ads that are “too intense” will often scare customers away.

Anger/disgust can be used in a marketing campaign to make us more passionate. Think about when you read comments on an article. Have you ever read rude comments and felt more passionate about the topic at hand? This is how anger can be an effective strategy.

So what’s the takeaway? Emotional marketing works – but you must know how to use it. Certain emotions will work for certain ads, but not for others. Overall, emotions work by not being so “in-your-face”, but rather flying under the radar and grabbing the audience without notice. Feel free to contact us if you need assistance setting up your emotional marketing campaign.