Marketing to Women, The World’s Largest Market, Means New Rules.

A recent Euromonitor survey highlighted that women account for 40% of the economically active population. the figure takes into account approximately 1.25 billion women worldwide are in the labour market. The survey also showed that Single households have been increasing in the last 12 years fuelled by 30-something females and additionally, women are having children later, or not at all, and are focusing on their personal growth – both career wise and individually.

Despite this growth, women are still not catered to as consumers. Boston Consulting Group’s Women Want More research indicated that the majority of the female market feel that they are ignored as consumers. Aquitude’s PowerMinds Dinners – women-centric focus groups – have resulted in similar findings in relation to marketing to women.

Their biggest issue? Engagement.

The rules of engagement for marketers have changed. It is no longer about just marketing a product with a fluffy name, or even coloured pink, as Dell experienced to its detriment. Savvy female consumers are demanding that companies and brands engage with them in a deep and meaningful way.

What does deep and meaningful mean though, in a market that is chasing its tail in the midst of a recession? Brands looking to win female consumers need to Listen, Understand and Act.

Listen - Female Consumers like to talk.

Listen and hear – take the time and speak to your female consumers and their inner circle; then act on exactly what she needs to have happen. A women customer needs testament of your promise to her by showing you will act on what SHE has told you. In our PowerMinds process, we invite women to join us with their friends to discuss their views on a product or service. Conversation that is open, honest and flows with personal insight will improve your brand and get female consumers to engage with your brand.

Understand – Marketing to Women requires Comprehension.

Next in your female marketing process, break down what she has told you into concrete actions. Confirm your assumptions about female consumers with her, follow up with what she told you and consciously involve her in the design process. Don’t think that this will annoy her – on the contrary, she will appreciate you care enough to count on her input.

Beware of using the “replication” formula. Women respond better to intimate, engaging communication and language and not a mass market approach – make her feel special, involve her in the process; act like you mean it and be authentic. Speak to her directly – call her and speak to her; chose email as a quick, secondary strategy to provide additional information if required. Find ways to involve her in the dissemination of your product – get her to be your brand ambassador.

Act – Show You have listened and understood.

Engage with women directly and, as a time-conscious beings that women are, ensure you adopt technology to do so. Women aged 35-49 years old are the fastest growing demographic in social networking and blogging. Women also spend more time than men researching products before a given purchase. Their first port of call? The internet. And when on the web, she is a rampant review reader and she cherishes information from other female bloggers/users.

So when you are putting your proposition to her, make sure she can read in-depth information and have wide-ranging reviews from other women. Ensure you have an information line as well, where she can turn to to have her questions answered in a friendly, un-patronising way.

Make sure she can reach your site though. 91% of women use Google as their search engine. Consequently, you need your site to be optimized to appear in organic searches on that search engine. 52% of women will change their search terms and try again if they don’t find the results they want on the first results page. So knowing what she is looking for, the search terms she will use and making sure your page is at the top of that search is key. This is where the science of search engine optimization comes to the fore.

And finally, engage her senses – provide visual stimuli, such as video (which, will also enhance Google rankings) to get her involved with your brand. The more you draw her eyes in, the more she will spend time on your site, and the higher the likelihood of her connecting with your brand (and buying…)…

Be creative on how she can use your brand in way that makes her life easier (and sometimes more fun) by also including her inner circle of friends. Women are 21 times more likely to share a positive experience with others, unlike men who are only 2.6 times more like to resort to word of mouth.

The rules of engagement in today’s crowded marketplace are simple: engage her directly to your brand and branded experiences – but first Listen, Understand and then Act. Make sure it is done in that order though – breaking the chain and acting without listening is likely to lead you to repeat marketing faux pas of the past.