If you prefer to listen to this article please click the link Change Your Marketing To Be More Receptive To Women
I know there are still some skeptics out there who may not understand why you should change your marketing to be more receptive to women. Do men even matter?
Let me start by saying, OF COURSE, THEY DO. What I’m going to share with you about marketing to women will only ENHANCE your relationship to your male customers. It will make your marketing much stronger without having to invest more money in what you already have.
Let’s jump right in. I’m just going to throw some numbers out at you.
- American women spend about $5 trillion annually . . .
- Women head 40% of all households . . .
- Women represent 50% of Internet users and buy more online than men . . .
- Even though many households are a dual paycheck, women still spend 80% of both combined incomes . . .
- 70% of all new businesses are opened by women . . .
Nearly 3/4 of all mothers are in the labor force. Even among mothers with young children, 70% work outside the home
Women hold 49.5% of all managerial positions at Fortune 500 companies
Women hold 12.5% of corporate officer positions
54 of the Fortune 500 companies report a woman as their top earner
89% of women are someone involved or completely in control of their car’s maintenance and service
90% of American women have veto power over all vehicle and consumer purchasers of their own households and buy 65% of all cars
Fun stuff, huh? But it wasn’t always this way, and it’s important for YOU as a marketer to understand what’s changed so dramatically over the last century so you can get into the psyche of the new market.
So sit back and indulge me while I give you a brief, but an important history lesson. Ready?
Okay, adult women living in 1925-1942 were called the “silent generation.” If they went to college it was to meet a man. They were expected to stay home and take care of the household while the men worked. THIS IS IMPORTANT: This is also about the same time many of the advertising methods still used today were born . . . obviously targeting the market with the paycheck – MEN.
Then during World War II, women were encouraged to join the workforce as a support for America. For the first time, many women were making money. When the men came back, things were never quite the same. Of course, that’s what literally gave birth to the Boomer generation (1945-1964) who are a huge market by themselves today.
By the 1980s, it was commonplace for women to work – even a little odd if they didn’t. Married households got hooked on two incomes. Today women have choices they didn’t have then:
- More education – women take home 57% of college degrees, giving them more earning power;
- Ability to choose whether or not to have a family and WHEN – access to birth control. No more keeping them barefoot and pregnant;
- Divorce is more socially acceptable – women no longer can rely on men as the sole providers. A man is not a plan.
- Access to credit – believe it or not, in 1973 a woman couldn’t get a bank loan without her husband’s or her father’s signature;
The right to own property – as late as 1981 many states wouldn’t allow a female jointly own property. Only the male would be listed on the
So that’s WHY the face of marketing as changed so drastically today, and why women have so much more buying power.
Fivenson Studios is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, our graphic design team specializes in logo and web page design, as well as marketing campaigns for social and print media. From flyers and brochures to targeted landing pages, we aim to bring your company into the spotlight and reach a greater range of potential customers.
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