Marketing aimed at women when they want to buy

The first step in marketing to women it is there when you want to buy. Before a consumer begins to pay attention to any marketing communication, it must be considered in the market, whether it is for a new car, a new smartphone, plus life insurance, or any other product or service.

In my model of consumer behavior, I identify a woman’s first awareness that there is a need to be met as the Activation stage.

Influencing women during the activation phase is key to the success of your product. Women absolutely drive this at this stage of the buying process, and you need to get their attention. Even when the final decision will be made by a couple together, women are the first to recognize a need and begin to investigate that need.

How women start the buying decision process When women start searching for a product or service, instead of arming themselves as men do with a lot of impersonal knowledge, they ask a lot of people for their opinion. Women seek opinions and knowledge from both salespeople and the people they know.

But don’t think that women don’t want information. Women want more information and more options. The search for the Perfect Answer is the main reason why a woman’s shopping path is shown as a spiral: she seeks and uses new information to go back and reevaluate. It may take a little more effort to research, but the Perfect Answer is worth it.

Marketing to women in the right place at the right time Knowing what is important to women during the Activation stage, there are three ways to ensure that you are marketing to women in the right place at the right time:

1. Hook her up with news.

2. Turn on the power of suggestion.

3. Intercept her on her way.

HITCH WITH NEWS

One way to get her into the activation phase is to offer her something additional or new: a new use that no one has thought too much about before, or a new product never seen before in the category.

An example from the past, many women who had managed well without a cell phone in the mid-1990s suddenly hit the market when Sprint suggested new uses for them. Sprint noted that cell phones were more than just business: Soccer moms could use them to manage their families’ activities on the weekends, or single women could feel safer if they carried one for emergencies.

With technology, women often find their own way into the category a few years after it has established itself with the first users. But smart companies will find a way to suggest need and opportunity to women sooner.

ACTIVATE THE POWER OF SUGGESTION

A more sophisticated version of “Would you like fries with that?” In this approach, this principle takes note of the fact that many of us don’t even know we need or want something until someone asks us to consider it.

Consumer education marketing tactics tap into women’s increased thirst for information. Women expect and value lessons and advice. Often, it is simply a matter of providing information that the consumer may not have had before or raising awareness of a real need that they had never thought about.

For example, many women assume that if a woman’s income is lower than her husband’s, she doesn’t need as much life insurance. When someone points out to her that if she died, not only would he and the children lose their income, but they would also have to hire someone to do the cooking, cleaning, and babysitting, she realizes that you may not have thought it through.

INTERCEPT HER WAY

Another way to harness the power of suggestion is to put the product your way and let nature take its course. Sometimes “what you see is what you want.” You weren’t really planning on updating your laptop until next year, but then you saw the new MacBook Air and … well, you really needed a new laptop, and why wait until next year?

For this strategy to work, you have to go where women are, whether they are “away from home,” such as at the mall, at events attended by women, or creating your own event focused on women’s interests. , with your product tantalizingly close. by. Just make sure your product, display or demo is worth a second look and pique their curiosity.

Act on activation Once you have activated the consumer purchase process, be sure to provide a way for them to act on their impulse. The goal of targeting the activation phase is to be the only brand present when you experience your first inclination to buy. You have to be prepared to take advantage of your advantage. Remember our consumer wanting a bit of a new MacBook Air? Soon a friendly Apple associate will show up, answer all of your questions, and mark your purchase right where it is, without even having to walk you to a cash register.