Facts & Tips for Marketing to Women

By Lynn Steffes, PT, DPT

Why have a specific marketing strategy geared toward women, you may ask? Here are a few facts:

According to Mark Miller in Demographics: “Fifty-plus American women are the healthiest, wealthiest, and most active generation of women in history.”

• Women account for 85 percent of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care.
• Over 90 percent of health care purchasing decisions are made by women.
• Over 80 percent of women research health care purchasing decisions online.

What is meaningful to women in your marketing strategy?

• Think about a woman’s lifecycle (not necessarily occurring in this order or encompassing every stage): single, married, career minded, pregnant, mother, and grandmother.
• Tell the story, sell the lifestyle, and then deliver the product/service ; for example:
• Active young professional
• Fun-loving mother of a toddler
• Involved parent of a grade-schooler
• Family-oriented grandmother
• Communicate the benefits, not the features

How is this going to make my life more meaningful?

• You can run your next 10K.
• You can spend a day on the sales floor without the pain.
• You won’t be missing piggyback rides in the backyard.
• You can cheer on your favorite soccer star.
• You can host the holidays at your home for your family.

How is this going to save me time?

• With busy schedules nowadays, women struggle to invest time in taking care of themselves. It is important to describe how that investment also impacts their ability to care for others and fulfill the many roles they find themselves in.
• Women need to see that time and money spent today will save them time and money tomorrow.
• Women need convenience in location, flexibility, and availability to make room in their tight schedules for self-care.
• Women value technology in its ability to expedite scheduling, schedule reminders, communications, payment options, and follow-up—do you apply and promote technology to increase their efficiency?
• What influences women’s purchasing decisions?
• Images from real women influences decision making: pictures/videos of other women like them. Represent women of the same ages/stages in life doing what those women would like to be doing.

Look at feedback from other women who have used the same products/brands.

• Apply Yelp, Google ratings, and HealthGrades to “social proof” your brand.
• Post specific stories about your product/brand and generously share testimonials on your collaterals, community events, website, Facebook, blogs, and newsletters to engage women in the story behind your brand.

Why should you apply social media channels to your marketing strategies?

• According to Pew Reports on social media usage:
• Today, 68 percent of all women use social media, compared with 62 percent of all men.
• Today, 78 percent of those living in the highest-income households use social media, compared with 56 percent of those in the lowest-income households.
• Women research health care information online more than 80 percent of the time.