The multifaceted buyer: Why brands must invest in

Published on: September 5, 2022

First things first, I can’t tell you who to target; that depends on your product and marketing goals. What I am going to tell you is how to best segment your target audience. 

Life-stage based approach

Women across the world go through similar life stages, however not at the same age. Look around you – Anjali is joyfully single at 34, Rita is 32 and expecting her second baby and Ishita just got married at 40!

The difference between marketing to men and women is like the difference between the Rolling Stones and an actual rolling stone. Two key segmentation variables which play decisive roles when marketing to women are marriage and kids. When was the last time (or even the first) when someone segmented the men’s market by single/married or kids/no kids? In all likelihood, never. However, for women, these variables make a huge difference. Life-stage oriented marketing gives an insight into how every time a new person enters a woman’s life, her ‘clan’ expands – it adds to her mental checklist, her day-to-day workload increases and so does the responsibility she assumes for others. And all these factors have a sizable impression on her buying decisions.

All women are ‘working’ women

Another variable frequently employed to segment women (however ineffectively) is whether she is working/non-working. My argument is all women are working – some within and some outside the house. It’s bizarre to come across so many articles pitting the ladies in the clichéd “mommy-wars”; I have never come across any signs of combat between the two ‘segments’ and nor would you. It’s because both sets of women realize how hard the other one is working, contributing in her own way, dealing with pressures from different sources but still coping – these things bring women together rather than drifting them apart.

Why targeting right matters

Differentiating the needs of the various segments within your target group can help connect effectively and convert better with your women customers. “Milestone Marketing”, as we call it, is all about identifying the milestones women are going through when they are going through it, and to give you an analogy – married women have a chronic condition, women getting married have an acute condition, they want help now! Brands that align with women’s immediate concerns and extend a helping hand in a relevant way will earn women’s eternal gratitude and loyalty. 

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