Marketing to Women

YOU'RE MISSING 94% OF YOUR TARGET MARKET

Are your bank's product ads and direct mail speaking to women?

If you're a financial services marketer, chances are you are failing to communicate with most women.

At least that's the major finding in a recent study which was the subject of Holly Buchanan's article, "Financial Ads Don’t Speak To Women," appearing August 3, 2007, on her blog, Marketing to Women Online.

The subhead of Buchanan's blog reads "How to Shatter Stereotypes and Understand what She Really Wants."

Buchanan writes, "94% of women feel financial ads aren’t targeted toward them.

"94%.

"Read 'em and weep financial services companies.

"A recent study by Oxygen (as reported by Advertising Age) found 94% of women felt financial ads weren't targeted toward them. 83% said they couldn't relate to the scenarios depicted in the ads.

"You think? Really? That ad with the older gentleman with the salt and pepper hair sitting in his living room with a bull [obviously a Merrill Lynch ad] next to him wasn't a scenario you could relate to? You didn't think that ad was speaking to you?

"That ad with the guy standing by his grill bitching about his broker didn't speak to you?

"Emotional footage of male golfers celebrating competitive victories? Not working for you?

"Using a stern-faced Law and Order actor as spokesman didn't scream to you that this was the right company for you? Really? [She's writing about Sam Waterson in the TD Waterhouse ads.]

"The study, 'Girls Just Wanna Have Funds,' was headed by the network's VP-research, Karen Ramspacher.

"Here's what she found:

"'There weren't any ads they could remember. We had to spark their memories and show them different ads,' she said. 'But when we talked about advertising in general, really what we found was there's no home runs in the financial-services category.'

"I'll tell you from my own research I looked at many financial services ads and found one (count 'em, one) ad that did a tremendous job of speaking to women about what they actually care about. (Sorry, you're going to have to wait for my upcoming book with Michele Miller to find out what it is.) [Editor's note: The Soccer Mom Myth was published in March, 2008, and is available new in hardcover for $15.96 at amazon.com.]   

"Something else the study found was that women want to be spoken to in plain English, but they do not want you to speak down to them.

"But women don't like to be belittled, either. 'There's this whole theory about whether you need to speak to women in pink – you don't need to,' Ms. Ramspacher said. 'You need to talk to them as equals but you also need to reduce the jargon. Financial categories are known for keeping their own money-speak. [Women] would prefer you lay out the deal in fine English. It's a little bit like you have something to hide if you're speaking in the category language.'

"Bottom line – there is a HUGE opportunity here for someone to get it right. If you are a financial services company, create ads with scenarios she can relate to. Ditch the techno-jargon. Talk about what she cares about in her language. Be the first to actually speak to and connect with 94% of women consumers."

MORE FROM ADVERTISING AGE

The August 2, 2007 issue of Advertising Age included an article by Andrew Hampp on the same study.  

Hampp writes, "The study, 'Girls Just Wanna Have Funds,' was the fourth of Oxygen's 'Women's Watch' series to be headed by the network's VP-research, Karen Ramspacher. It was during the focus groups with women from various demographics that Ms. Ramspacher first began to realize financial-services messaging's lack of effectiveness on female audiences.

"Reaching women is of particular importance since the study found that 62% of women consider themselves to be the financial head of their household. Additionally, nine of 10 women who are married or living with a significant other said they were decision makers when it comes to finances."

Advertising Age subscribers can access the entire article online.

WHO OR WHAT IS OXYGEN?

Founded in 1998, Oxygen Media is a 24-hour cable TV network that provides innovative entertainment for women. It's the only cable network owned and operated by women.  For more information visit the company’s website.

ABOUT HOLLY BUCHANAN

A veteran copywriter, Holly Buchanan is currently the S.V.P. of Client Services at Future Now Inc., a leader in website construction and persuasion architecture. Persuasion architecture consists of a proprietary model that maps a client customer's buying process to the client’s selling process...or in laymen's terms, a model that is used to enhance the likelihood that customers will buy what the client is selling.

You can access Buchanan's marketing to women blog here.

As a marketer, you'll find many informative articles about marketing to women on Buchanan's blog.

A MARKETING TO WOMEN STRATEGY JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY

ACTON Marketing employees have spent the past six years developing and fine-tuning their marketing to women skills.

Members of the creative team have worked directly with marketing to women expert Marti Barletta to learn what works and what doesn't work with copy and design.

Today, most of the marketing pieces prepared for clients reflect the marketing to women strategy and tactics championed by Barletta.   

If you attended the ACTON Marketing symposiums in Las Vegas on August 6-8, 2003, Savannah on April 6-8, 2005, Santa Fe on October 3-5, 2006, and Charleston on April 8-10, 2008, you not only heard Barletta speak about marketing to women, you were able to participate in the marketing to women creative review.

To take advantage of the marketing to women skills at ACTON Marketing, simply give us a call. We'll arrange for a meeting to discuss how the experts at ACTON Marketing can help you increase your new account openings by employing a marketing to women strategy.

You can unlock the secrets of great direct mail marketing and learn how to apply them to your marketing efforts by calling George Monnier at 402-470-2909.

LEARN THE MARKETING TO WOMEN SECRETS

If you're still not comfortable with developing a marketing to women strategy for your company, everything you need to know can be found in three, easy-to-read books.

Marti Barletta's third book, PrimeTime Women: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders, was published on January 2, 2007, and is currently available in hardcover for $16.50 at amazon.com.

By reading both the first and second editions of Barletta's book, Marketing to Women - How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment, you will be equipped to develop a marketing strategy that will resonate with women – including PrimeTime Women.