Is your branding inclusive? If not, you\’re missing out on sales (AKA why hunting and gaming companies should market to women)

By Wayne C. Hahne, Writing Intern

Businesses of all sizes look for every opportunity available to attract more consumers and sell the most products possible. With sales essentially being the life-blood of any business, attracting each and every possible customer is important.

Let’s look at recent examples of several missed opportunities to capture an audience

Over the Black Friday weekend, I had noticed a significant number of the descriptions of multiple products tended to exclude women. Despite that, the evidence below shows that each of these markets should advertise more towards women or at least be mutually friendly towards both genders.

An example is in the video gaming market. Though largely marketed to a male audience, gaming companies have begun marketing e-sports and video games to women. This would make sense seeing as how women now make up at least 40% of gamers worldwide.

Markets that once had male-dominated audiences similar to the video gaming market are seeing growth. Take hunting as another example. The market has seen a 70% increase in the number of women that participate in hunting season.

One of the most prominent examples of gendered marketing would by far be centered around sports participation. Between 1972 when Title IX was signed and 2011, there had been a 600 percent increase in women playing at the college level. All in all, two out of every five females will be participating in sports between younger ages and well into 20’s and 30’s.

On top of those three markets mentioned, stores and brands should put a concentrated effort in marketing to the female audience. The method on doing so is simpler than many would believe.

Instead of using “he” or “his,” marketers should format descriptions around words such as “they” or “their” in order to remain attractive towards the base audience while not turning away any possible consumers when they read a description.

Further evidence indicates that 70-80% of consumers are women and generally serve as the primary caregivers of their families. By extension, businesses should take this information to heart when marketing their products and have a vested interest in doing so to help expand their base.

As shown above, women are the primary drivers of the market and should be a primary part of any companies marketing strategy. If your company needs help changing your language to be more inclusive of women or other groups you might not be reaching, Jamie’s Notebook can help you share your brand’s story

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