Direct Mail Perspectives | Direct Mail for Women

How to Tailor Your Message to a Female Audience

Gender-specific marketing can be a touchy subject. You want your message to resonate with the right people, but there are better ways to approach it than with just gender specific imagery and language.

A few years ago we did a direct mail campaign targeting seniors in a particular income bracket for a retirement community. The client made a specific point of targeting the female of the household. According to a 2009 Harvard Business Review article, women control more than 80% of the discretionary income in the U.S. Since we know that women have such significant influence in the marketplace, how do we tailor a campaign to target women in a conscious and respectful manner?

Here are a few key points to keep in mind if you are targeting a primarily female audience:

• Authentic Empathy and Emotion - Men are more likely to respond to a message that is direct and to the point, while women develop stronger emotional connections. We respond to good storytelling, but they also want authentic interaction and trustworthiness.
• Benefits and Experiences - Particularly in service or retail industries, women want to know what you can do to help them in their daily lives, how you can help their productivity or quality of life and want those claims to be backed up by testimonials and user responses, not just charts and figures.
• Value - It's no secret that women love deals, but when it comes to products and services that benefit their household or business, they are more likely to be flexible with prices and promotions in favor of trusted and quality service.

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It's important to keep in mind when you are targeting a specific audience that you keep their perspective in mind when designing your campaign. It can make a huge difference to your return and response if it's done right.