Is marketing to female consumers a struggle for your brand? If so, you’re not alone. Our research shows marketers are often failing to connect with female consumers, with only nine percent of women believing they Group of diverse women standing together to demonstrate the different types of women consumers.are marketed to effectively. Considering women control more than 85 percent of purchases across a range of categories, many brands are missing a valuable opportunity.

How to Market Effectively to Women

While many companies are losing a huge piece of the market, this doesn’t have to be the case for your brand. To better connect and market effectively to women, here are four essential tips to follow.

1. Understand the 5 Five Psychological Profiles of Women

Women really aren’t that complicated. After systematically reviewing 60 years of psychological and industry research, we found women – regardless of their demographics, purchase behavior or attitudes – can be categorized into a relatively small set of profiles. Here is a summary of these profiles:

  • Profile 1: Driven, Active, Optimist: She values achievement and making a good impression on others. This type of woman leads a busy life and carefully manages her to-do lists.
  • Profile 2: Nurturing, Conservative: She is very focused on her family and inner circle. This woman is a careful spender and is attracted to products that are good for her family or home.
  • Profile 3: Planner, Satisfied, Resolute: This type of woman ispredictable. She may seem rigid or inflexible, but routines help her clear the clutter of unnecessary decisions and minimize stress.
  • Profile 4: Loner, Stressed, Uncertain: She is dealing with the stress of trying to keep up with the momentum of life and needs affirmation from others. She will splurge, but not wastefully.
  • Profile 5: Open, Social, Outgoing: This woman is an experience junkie. She is a high-energy enjoyment seeker. She is open to trying and buying, but you will need to vie for her attention.

2. Know What Motivates Her Behavior

What really motivates women? When it really comes down to it, women are driven by their values, habits and personality. Tapping into what’s important to her, what she does day in and day out, and what makes her unique gives businesses the opportunity to drive value to women and influence purchase behavior. How does your brand or product fit with her values? What does using your product say about her? How well does your image reflect her personality? Being able to answer these questions are key to your strategy.

3. Think Outside of Traditional Market Research

Traditional marketing research relies on recall and language, both of which are centered in the conscious brain. While we need to understand the subconscious to improve marketing to women, it is literally impossible for us to do so using traditional marketing research techniques alone. To uncover deeper insights into what makes women tick, it’s essential to blend traditional marketing research with other approaches to better capture respondents’ subconscious. We explain how we did just that in our Getting Women to Buy eBook.

4. Understand the Nuances That Lead You Astray

It’s clear few companies are finding success marketing to women. Some companies are afraid to try while others are simply doing a poor job. To avoid disaster, make sure you don’t fall into these marketing pitfalls.

  • Marketing Pitfall #1: Relying Too Heavily on Demographics. Demographics are great for describing and finding target audiences, but they don’t define. Without a strong, deep definition of women’s motivations, you can’t optimize your marketing effectively.
  • Marketing Pitfall #2: Stereotyping All Women. Marketers often make the mistake of grouping all women together as one, giant target audience. Marketing to women as if they are all the same is a sure road to failure as you risk insulting your target audience rather than gaining their trust.

Time to Transform Your Marketing

Now that you have a high-level understanding of what motivates women, it’s time to apply what you’ve learned to your own marketing efforts. Don’t worry, though. We still have plenty of resources and expertise to help you. Just take a look at more of our research materials for even further insights.

For help understanding your specific target audience, contact our team of researchers. We’ll ensure your decisions are inspired by your consumer’s true voice.