Segmenting Influential Women
March 13th, 2009 | Published in Consumer Electronics, Effects of Recession | 1 Comment

Flickr: GustavoG
There are many facts supporting female’s power over purchases made in every B2C sector. Although, most of these studies don’t further segment women into those who drive the female consumer to make these choices. Just as in any other demographic segmentation there are those who influence and those who are influenced.
The strategic challenge becomes highly-complex when searching, enticing trial and securing loyalty from a female influencer, but it is well worth the efforts. The New York Times completed a study highlighting the strength of those women, who they define as “Marketing Multipliers.” Marketing Multipliers are a subsegment of affluent women who spend more, know more and talk more about the products they like. They become word-of-mouth zealots which is a primary source of information for the general female market. The study also cites that this segment has almost five times as many conversations about CE products than other affluent women, they “spend more than twice as much; and more than half (52%) say they accompany family members on shopping trips to advise them on consumer electronics and other tech items.”
In times where marketing budgets are being cut, segmenting the female market and only reaching out to these WOM drivers makes financial sense - barring the product is insightful enough to promote positive discussion. Nielsen released a study yesterday highlighting how strategic decisions can offset reduced marketing budgets due to recessionary times. Through their analysis, they found that a media plan with less dollars and accurate strategic focus can be as metrically effective as a broader-reaching, fully-financed media plan.
Reach “marketing multipliers”, secure their loyalty and you exponentially grow your marketing impact.
March 31st, 2009 at 5:34 pm (#)
[...] your zealots Establish your product/brand within a culture of consumers and let them be the marketers. As choices are made more cautiously, positive reviews and WOM are [...]