How to Create Fabulous Direct Mail for Women

Does your direct mail resonate with women? Women are powerful in the marketplace. Targeting your direct mail for women correctly is the best way to increase your response rates.

Women control more than 80% of all the discretionary income in the U.S. Are you successfully reaching them? The way men and women react to messaging is very different, so the same mail piece will not work well for both.

Luckily with variable data printing, you can target images and copy to each differently — within the same mailing — to better target the right message to the right person. So, how should you target women to generate the best response?

Top 13 things to consider when sending direct mail to women:

1. Emotion — Women process all incoming information with emotion. If your mail piece has no emotional component, it will be ignored. Facts and statistics are not remembered, emotion is. Take full advantage of this and make your messaging tap into emotion.
2. Multi-tasking — Women are multi-taskers; so while looking at your mail piece, they are also doing other things. Make sure that the images and messages you use celebrate her multi-tasking ability and how you can make her life easier.
3. Big Picture — Target your direct mail marketing to the big picture. Women focus on the big picture more so than men. So provide the reasons why your product or service will make her life better and Earth or a charity. Something more to enhance the big picture.
4. Whole Life — Reach out to women in every aspect of life with your messaging. Approach how your product or service helps improve her whole life by giving her more time, better abilities or something along those lines.
5. Planning — Women love to plan. How does your product or service fit in her plan or make it easier? Perhaps provide a plan she can follow that helps her and includes your product or service.
6. Deals — Women really love deals. Make a quick decision easy by providing a really good deal. This does not require you to lower your cost, you can create a special package with a free gift or a "buy two, get one free" on things that are used frequently. The word "free" is a powerful driver of response.
7. Price — Women do not always purchase on price. If you can help her meet her requirements for either her or her family’s well-being, she is willing to pay more. You can do this by showing her how indispensable your product or service is to her or her family.
8. Social — Women are extremely social. Look for ways you can tap into that with social media groups and communities. Move them from the mail piece to online. This can help them become brand ambassadors for you.
9. Negative experience — Make sure you deliver on what you promise. Women have a large network of people who they discuss things with. So a negative experience can resonate and be passed along to her network. Don’t let this happen to you.
10. Sex — While sexual images and innuendo work well for men, women tend to ignore it. Instead, tap into the other options discussed here to create a message that resonates with her.
11. Authenticity — Women require authenticity. You must be honest and straightforward in all your marketing. She can detect an imposter right away. She will avoid your product or service and tell others to. Since direct mail is considered the most trustworthy form of marketing, you start off with good credit; however, you must craft your images and messaging to capitalize on it.
12. Empathy — Women have a large capacity for empathy. You can tap into that with well-told stories, images and authentic characters. Nonprofits do this really well. How can you craft a compelling story about your product or service that evokes empathy?
13. Story — Women appreciate stories. She wants to know how characters interact and are benefited by your product or service. When you are able to tell a good story with both your images and copy, you drive response.

There really is a big difference in the way mail pieces are perceived between men and women. Women prefer a more nuanced and storied approach, where men prefer direct-and-to-the-point messages. Keep in mind that women buy the majority of all products and services, so how are your direct mail messages currently reaching them? Harness the power of better targeting to women now to increase your response rates.

Are you using any of the 13 tips above? They can really help you to engage with women and persuade them to buy. Increase the power of your direct mail marketing by doing a better job at targeting women. Are you ready to get started?