12 Need-to-Know Facts About Marketing to Women

In case you haven’t noticed, the women of the world are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Globally, women account for some $20 trillion in spending each year, and that number is projected to reach $30 trillion by 2020, according to statistics cited in MediaPost. In the U.S. alone, women control somewhere between $5 trillion and $15 trillion in spending, depending on which source you read. And if you think their purchases are traditionally “female” products or that the best way of marketing to women is to make products pink, think again.

MediaPost shared some stats every business owner need to know about why women consumers matter. Keep them in mind when marketing to women.

1. Some 1.3 million U.S. women have salaries over $100,000
2. Women hold 60 percent of all personal wealth in the U.S.
3. More than 70 percent of Boomer couples are dual-income households
4. Women make 85 percent of all consumer purchases
5. Women make 93 percent of all food purchases
6. Three-fourths of women say they are the primary shopper in their household
7. Women buy 50 percent of the product that are marketed to men
8. Women make 80 percent of healthcare purchasing decisions
9. Women make 68 percent of new car purchasing decisions
10. Women make 92 percent of travel/vacation decisions
11. Women make 66 percent of decisions about purchasing computers
12. Here’s one stat you really might not know: Women aged 50 to 70 account for the largest segment of women consumers and are the biggest spenders, due to their higher incomes and substantial net worth. The first generation of women to go to college in significant numbers, the Boomers transformed women’s earning power, and they continue to shape the face of America. And with women getting college degrees at higher rates than men, the number of high-earning women in the workforce is projected to grow.

Are you marketing to the Boomers and the women who are following in their footsteps? If you do, are you doing it right? Sadly, 91 percent of women in the study say marketers don’t understand them. That can be a costly mistake.