Marketing Effectively to Women: Purpose, Resonance and Relationship

Women ARE Your Market

Not being a woman, I can’t claim to have an insider’s perspective on a woman’s mind or heart. Still, I’ve been fortunate enough to have women friends, colleagues and mentors all of my life, and I am grateful for how openly women are willing to share their insights and their wisdom with me.

It’s said that women are “in charge of” approximately 85 percent of all purchasing decisions. Independently, women do more shopping and buying than men, and devote more time to it. And in cases where a male/female couple are involved in a buying decision, it’s often the woman who gets “the final word” if they don’t agree.

One could put forth many explanations for why all of this may be true – including “traditional roles” and sexism – but it’s far less important to understand the “why” than to know that if you want to be successful at business (which means being successful at selling) you must master the art of marketing to women – even if your products, services or events are designed for a primarily male or all-male audience.

Here are just three things that I’ve observed and that women have validated to me as being important to them. These three critical concepts are not meant to be the only ones that are important, and this list is certainly not exhaustive. I’ve just chosen to focus on the ones I’ve included here, simply because they are “top of mind” for me as I write this.

I’ll write more about marketing effectively to women in future articles.

1. Be Clear at the Core Level

Being clear at the “core level” means being clear about your BUSINESS PURPOSE; the PURPOSE of your product, service or event; and your PERSONAL PURPOSE for doing what you do.

By now, surely you know that even men don’t buy features; they buy BENEFITS. People make purchase decisions based on how something will make them feel, or how it will make their life easier, or how it will make them appear to be a certain way to others, or how much perceived value they think or feel that they’re getting for their hard-earned dollars and/or precious time. The list of benefits goes on, of course, but in order to be successful at selling to anyone, you MUST focus on the benefits – either exclusively, or in addition to the features of what you’re selling.

But women go even “deeper” than “benefits.”

They want to know WHO YOU ARE – meaning who your business is (what it stands for) and who you are, personally (what YOU stand for).

Imagine three stores that sell exactly the same item. One sells the item at the lowest price. Another sells at a slightly higher price, but with no apparent reason beyond the obvious, such as basic operating costs for the business. The third sells the item at the same price as the higher-priced store, but donates 10% of their profits back into the community school’s parent/teacher organization.

On average, women will choose to buy from the store that gives back to the community – even though they could get the same goods at a lower price.

What’s not to understand about this? Virtually no buying decisions are made on price alone. So you’ve got to be aware of the other criteria that come into play, including simple things like “convenience.” And for women, one of the major factors in who they buy from is your “who we are / who I am,” “what we/I stand for.”

2. Resonance: The “Sixth Sense”

To take this even a little deeper…

Women buy not only on features, benefits and purpose, but also on other perceptions – perceptions that we might even go so far as to label their “sixth sense.”

Given two stores that offer the same goods at the same price, a woman’s “sixth sense” will kick in in both locations. She’s going to be influenced by thoughts, emotions and even beliefs that arise from deep inside her – often without  her conscious awareness.

And one of the qualities she’ll be responding to is a sense of “resonance” with the store environment and the people in it. And this sense of “resonance” will even extend to the intangible elements that make up a store’s culture, that comes from it’s core purpose.

Notice what women in your market “resonate” with, and give it to them. Besides making your prospects and customers feel good about you and about themselves, it’s just plain smart marketing.

3. Know That All Marketing is “Relationship Marketing”

All sales to anyone are grounded in “relationship.” People buy from companies and individuals that they know, like and trust.

But for women, “relationship” is EXCEPTIONALLY important. How a woman perceives your business, you as the owner, and even right down to her experience with the sales person will make or break a sale – often as a more important criteria than features, benefit or price.

Relationships are built on first impressions, and developed over time.

Focus on making your first impression one that your audience of women will resonate with and respond to – either by making an immediate purchase, or by being willing to enter into a longer-term relationship with you in which they honor your desire to serve them through ongoing communication.

Then maintain and deepen that relationship, remembering that…

A. Most sales take between five and nine marketing contacts before the purchase occurs.

Each contact is an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise, the quality and value of your products, and – most importantly – breed a sense of “familiarity” between your prospect and you. Remember: “Know, like and trust.” For someone who begins as unfamiliar with you, it takes time for these to develop.

B. Your most valuable marketing “tool” are your satisfied clients, who provide you with case studies, testimonials and – most importantly – referrals.

If there’s only one thing you want in your business, it’s satisfied women telling their family, friends and colleagues to buy from you.

What’s Your Opinion or Experience?

Are you a woman who has insights about what works when marketing to you and other women?

Are you a man who has failed and/or succeeded at marketing to women?

Are the three principles presented in this article (”purpose,” “resonance” and “relationship”) important factors to consider?

I strongly encourage you to leave your comments and questions here for me and others to learn from and respond to.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter:  http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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