Marketing to Women During the Holidays in 2020
Let’s face it. We are dealing with a whole new world this year with Covid-19 changing everything, aren’t we? Christmas and the holidays will be entirely different for many across the globe. Many marketers, especially those who focus on marketing to women, realize quickly that what may have worked for holidays before simply will not cut it this year.
So how do you change things up from what used to work to what works now? The simple answer is, you just do. I’ll give you a helping hand here.
There is so much noise out there right now, isn’t there? As more and more people lose their jobs or have to pivot their businesses, it’s just going to get louder. Especially at this time of year. So how do you stand out and make yourself heard above the chatter? You change your marketing tactic.
Especially when marketing to women. Women now have a whole new set of problems that may not have come into play in previous holiday seasons. So you want to be first identifying and then solving these problems for them.
Women are feeling the stress of COVID, homeschooling, working from home, and now will add the stress of holiday planning and shopping, so how can you relieve her stress a bit?
This is an area I work in with many clients all year round —even some massive brand names. While many bigger brands have this down pat, it often surprises me how many do not.
With different times ahead of them, even the big brands have to go back to the drawing board and find a new way forward. A new normal. So, let’s do that. Let’s go back to the basics of where I start with my clients.
Knowing Who Your Customer Is
These days, to be seen and heard, you’ve got to know your customer intimately. Knowing their every whim, want, and desire means you can hit them where it will impact the most. That’s why I always make sure my client has an in-depth knowledge of who they want to target.
When marketing to women, it’s essential to know as much detail about them as possible. Recent research found 91 percent of women say advertisers don’t get them, 84% feel misunderstood by investment marketers, and 74% feel misunderstood by automotive marketers (Yankelovich Monitor and Greenfield Online), which brings me to my next point.
Know What It Is Your Customer Truly Wants
This is absolutely vital when marketing to women, especially in this challenging time. When marketing to women, not only do you need to know them intimately, you also need to know what their problems and challenges are.
With all that women are doing inside and outside the home, is there a way your brand can show appreciation for her during a season of gratitude in communications?
Doing this and addressing the problems is a sure-fire way to get their attention. So, you have to be completely clear on what it is they want. For example, right now many women are carrying the weight of homeschooling, meal planning, and careers.
Your product also has to be the solution to these new problems. It doesn’t mean they will stop what they are doing, though, and suddenly rush to buy from you. Unless you excite them.
Make Your Marketing SIZZLE!
Knowing your client inside and out and knowing what they genuinely desire are just the first two things you need to do. As Bridget Brennan’s book “Why She Buys” sets out, you have to shift your mindset from one of selling to one of helping. When marketing to women, if you can help them solve a problem and provide a winning solution, you are much more likely to win their favor.
You can do many other things to be successful in marketing to women during the holidays in 2020. This article has very briefly touched on some points I teach my clients before anything else. Nailing this part will start you in the right direction to being more successful in marketing to women, whether it’s the holidays or not.
