Marketing to women: Decoding the myths – II

Published on: August 30, 2022

Reminiscing about my recent road trip ended up in me debunking some common myths that cloud marketers’ minds when it comes to marketing to women. In the second chapter of our two-part series, we continue to decode some more marketing myths.

Myth #4: Marketing to women means keeping up relationships.

Decoded: Give her some credit; the sisterhood runs on more than just plain ol’ goss!

We do agree that women value their personal and professional relationships, more than men. But when it comes to responding to marketing communications and managing the purse strings, it takes more than keeping up relations to float her boat. From word perceptions to Internet usage, and psychological motivators to driving referral sales, women are marketing lightyears away from men. And if you don’t acknowledge these intricacies, you would seriously undermine your company’s revenue goals.

Myth #5: The most effective way to marketing to women is to club them with small-niche groups.

Decoded: Women are not a minority in need of a shoulder to lean on.

There has been a 21% rise over the past decade in the number of women who are buying their own diamond jewellery1. Women are certainly NOT a niche segment – that would be the first thought that flashes across your mind after reading this trend. Female buyers are exercising their financial freedom and making first-hand as well as influencing consumer spending decisions when it comes to traditionally male-dominated industries. At Maruti Suzuki, the number of female buyers has jumped to 12% in a span of five years. Hyundai Motors has seen a jump of 4x since 2014. The share of women in the luxury car market is growing at a rate of 20% in an otherwise declining market. Further, a Deloitte study stated that around 200 million households now have one or more women using the internet and that this number is up from barely 40 million households a decade ago.

These numbers offer a glimpse into why women’s preferences and priorities must be amalgamated into all marketing plans of your brand. At the crucial stage of planning, researchers, sales managers, and marketing executives should ensure that their assumptions and strategies do not overlook the consumers who offer to shoot up their sales by leaps and bound – women.

Myth #6: Let’s opt for gender-neutral marketing, surely women would like that.

Decoded: Playing it safe never took a brand into a sales overdrive!

Marketers believe that treating women differently might offend them – and it will, if not followed through properly. But what will surely alienate them is pretending that you don’t need to cater to their needs and choices; that men and women essentially prefer the same products and have similar tastes. Studies over the decades have established the dramatic gender-based difference when it comes to preferences, motives, attitudes, and communication styles.

The advances made in Customer Relationship Management are driven by the very thought that treating all customers the same is not the best way to gain the maximum return on your marketing bucks. You won’t market to a millennial mama the way you would sell to her baby boomer mom; Geet would respond to a very different pitch than Anarkali. Ignoring the preferences and needs of your female consumers won’t take away their differences, but surely their sales – to your competition, who probably read this blog before you!

Myth #7: Marketing to women is a textbook concept, so many brands have tried launching women-specific products that fell flat on their faces.

Decoded: Bad gender-based marketing will not make the cut.

Some of the worst brand nightmares have been painted and tainted in pink. And yet, every so often marketers can’t resist dabbling in some shades of pink or purple. Dell’s aww-dorable laptop “Della” was a marketing debacle, drawing serious flak from women for taking the bait and falling for stereotypes. Similarly for Bic’s pink and purple pens “for her”, there was a major uproar against its mantra - Look like a girl. Act like a lady. Think like a man. Work like a boss. These trite and unsuccessful marketing gimmicks empower no one and end up offending everyone.

The lesson learned: If you want it to wow women, you’ve got to get it right.

These are the common myths that haunt marketing to women, and the underlying truths that are staring us in the face. The influence is real, the numbers are driving trends and the market is growing as you read. For brands that want to thrive, catering to women offers the inevitable edge in today’s market, and even tomorrow’s.

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