Are you missing one of the largest markets out there? I'm consistently amazed how in marketing and advertising we have mistakenly overlooked the single adult women's market. At first I thought that I only noticed it because I am single, so I tend to tune into the marketing messages to see who they are geared for. However, after spending time researching I realized it wasn't only me they were missing. Just take a look at some of the statistics below. I'm sure by the time you've finished reading this article you'll wonder why you are not marketing to the single women market.
Over three years ago in 2001 the Census bureau alone reported that there were over 17million U.S. women living alone. This doubled from the year 1981. These women were never-married and childless and between the ages of 25 to 44, but let's not stop there. Consider the report done in 2000 that showed the percentage of single women in each of the following categories:
1. Women Never Married (25.1 Percent)
2. Separated (2.4 percent)
3. Divorced (10.2 percent)
4. Widowed (10 percent)
In a report by the Census Bureau release in July of 2004 it showed that there were over 95.7 million unmarried and single Americans. Over 53% of them were women. This nearly tripled the number reported in 2001. It's been reported that nearly half of women 45 or older are unmarried.
This market is continually growing at a rapid pace, yet how many commercials have you seen speak to these women? Perhaps this would change if more marketing companies realized that over 57% of single women currently own their own homes and live fully independent lives. Single women now equal one-fifth of the nation's population and 42 percent of all registered women voters.
Do you know that when it comes to politics our politicians are also missing the boat? Without a clear message to this market it is no wonder that statistics show that very few single women exercise their right to vote. In the 2000 presidential election 68 percent of married women voted, but only 52 percent of single women voted.
However don't think that just because you aren't running a political campaign that these numbers don't matter to you. If you are running a company, perhaps it's time to ask yourself how you are reaching this market.
If I were in charge of a political campaign my first order of business would be to spend time discovering what keeps these women from voting. If I were running a company and I knew I had been missing this demographic I'd be calling a meeting to make sure I don't continue to make such a costly mistake. How can you market to them? It can be done in three steps:
1. Learn what their concerns are?
2. Find out what is keeping them up at night?
3. Use the above answers to outline how to be more inclusive and explain policies
and goals that would improve the lives of these single women, not just "working
families."
This is not rocket science - this is Marketing 101 to an untapped market. Single women have the ability to alter the outcome of an election. They have the ability to grow your businesses and increase your sales. Perhaps it's time we all began to speak clearly to this market.
-Laura Lake-
Signing Off -dinotino®©-
posted by dinotino ®© D` Life Line @ 15:30
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