On a recent Saturday visit to my local bookstore, I noticed that almost every aisle, with the exception of the sports section, was filled with women. In that moment it dawned on me that as a writer I seem to always have women in mind when I think of my audience. I suppose that’s because I’m working on a romance novel, but still, it would appear that women are who’s shopping for books–and everything else–for themselves and their families.

A couple of years ago I started a magazine in Virginia called AVA–which was an acronym for Advertise Virginia. The magazine was all about small business marketing. In our debut issue, we ran an article all about the female customer. I thought I’d share some of that with you here. The article was actually written by my tremendously talented editor, Andrea DiSalvo, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind my sharing it with you here. I think this info is as important to writers as it is to businesses.

Win With Your Most Powerful Customer – Women
By Andrea Di Salvo

When you think of the most powerful group of consumers in the marketplace today, who do you think of? If you read the headline of this article, you already have the answer – women. If you realize that, you’re one step closer to cashing in on the biggest market share in America today, and probably miles ahead of your nearest competitor. On the other hand, you may be wondering what makes women so special as consumers.

Why women?

When many people think of economic movers and shakers, they think of males. However, while it’s true that men once controlled both income and spending, that’s no longer the case. Women have moved from a neglected niche market to the target market for business throughout the U.S. Myron Glassman, Ph.D., professor of marketing at Old Dominion University, says the last several decades have revealed a major difference in the marketplace.

“Back in the 50s, men were considered the decision makers for most major purchases and women were relegated to choosing the color. Since then, yes, there has been a change,” says Glassman. “[Now] women are a force in the marketplace.”

To begin with, though women form 51% of the population, they make or influence 80% of purchases in the U.S., including traditionally “male” products like stocks and bonds, computers and automobiles. That means that, though women earn around $1 trillion a year collectively, they spend over $2 trillion consumer dollars a year. But how can 51% of the population influence so much of the marketplace?

One part of the answer is obvious. People are waiting longer to get married and divorce rates are higher, which means there are more single women – and unmarried women are responsible for all of their household’s purchases. Fifty-seven percent of single women even own their own home.

However, what’s not as obvious is the fact that most married women control not only their own paychecks, but much of their husbands’ as well (yes, men, just admit it and hand over your checkbooks). In fact, businesswomen are the primary decision makers in their households, making 95% of the purchasing decisions.

Women also have more personal income in the 21st century. About 80% of households are now dual-income. Female Baby Boomers have more discretionary income than ever before, spending $14.7 billion on apparel alone in 1999.

Finally, don’t forget the business community. The wage gap is narrowing, and the number of working women has doubled to a total of 60 million over the last 30 years. One in every 11 adult women now owns her own business, and 51% of purchasing managers and agents are women. What does that mean? It means women influence those business-to-business dollars, too.

The real point is, no matter what you sell, women probably sign your paychecks. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to make women a priority in every aspect of your company, from marketing to customer service. Unfortunately, that’s the hardest part for most businesses. If that’s the case for you, we may have a few answers to the female marketing riddle.

To be continued… In the meantime, happy writing!

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