I’m being pretty bullish on this topic and you know why? Because I’m a woman and we deserve our own marketing messages in financial services. I know – I know – some folks out there may be sick of the female ‘movement’, but guess what? Without us, mankind doesn’t exist, so let’s figure out a way to embrace both genders in our marketing messages because overall, we are doing a really poor job of this. Let’s take a quick look.
What? You don’t believe me?
I recently saw a report on MarketingCharts.com about gender, advertising, and inclusivity (or in this case, lack thereof). Now – a lot of people today think washing dishes and doing laundry are gender neutral activities. For that – I’m glad. Yeah!!!! But don’t get too excited just yet….
For as much as we neutralize the gender behind the activity, from a marketing and advertising perspective we still suck at showing this in our actual messaging. Too often, people are taking out-of-date material or more gender-specific material (geared toward men) and simply changing out pronouns, names, pictures and putting it back into circulation as “Women’s Marketing Materials”.
That’s not how any of this works!
Time constraints make people do crazy things. Switching out a piece with updated pictures doesn’t make your messaging work. Instead, it shows you really don’t care about the person you’re trying to serve when in fact, many of you reading this are wonderful people and do care. So instead, take the time and make the piece better by simply asking women you work with today, “What kinds of pieces would best serve you?”
You might even be surprised!
We don’t need messages written in pink card stock or purple gel pens to sign things with (although if that’s your brand – then keep going with that!) but instead…think about things like:
- An article on how to pay off medical debts (one of the biggest budget busters!)
- A retirement checklist of things to consider
- Medicare vs. Long-Term Care Insurance – a balance sheet showing how both work
- Ideas on how to maintain your standard of living
- Student Loan Debt: An interview with an educational consultant on costs
- Credit Cards: How to ask for a new APR or have a fee removed
These are real financial concerns of women today and if you tell the story or write the checklist from the female’s perspective, your marketing piece will be meaningful to the woman reading it.
Be a Person of Action: You built this business to serve others. Make sure “others” means both genders. Rework or even reconsider the pieces you have today in your marketing arsenal and if you need help, reach out to me!
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