As with anything, the longer you work in marketing the more often ideas you’ve learned along the way seem commonplace. You expect everyone knows about them. But some ideas are still new and fresh to other people.

ACTON Marketing began researching Marketing to Women strategies in 2002. We first incorporated the techniques into our clients’ marketing materials in 2003. We prepared magalogs for our sales staff so they could explain this new marketing movement. The ideas were not only relatively new to marketing, they were unheard of in the financial industry.

Now in 2010, it was again time to review some of our sales materials and see what needs to be updated and refreshed. Marketing to Women seems so “old” to us, we thought we might discontinue the sales magalog.

Then a couple of our sales staff met with another organization. They took along samples of the Marketing to Women magalog as an afterthought. In the meeting, they were ready to dismiss the materials with an “oh, yeah, we also do this.”

So it was a surprise when the people in the meeting grabbed the magalogs and enthusiastically thumbed through them. “This is what we need to do,” they agreed.

So even though ACTON Marketing introduced the financial services industry to Marketing to Women strategies years ago, it’s still a revelation to many people.

Of course, we can’t take credit for the actual idea. We learned much about Marketing to Women from one of the leading researchers in that area, Marti Barletta. She even critiqued our early copy and designs and gave us helpful tips and guidance.

Why is the idea so important? Independent research shows 89% of all financial accounts are opened by or through the direct influence of women. Women control the checkbook and pay bills in a majority of households.

Women are actually the main purchasers in “manly” categories like new cars (68%) and computers (66%).

As a financial services marketer, you need to concentrate your message on this 89% segment. But as Marti Barletta warns, “Don’t paint it pink.” In other words, don’t make a special message for women alone. You’re not staging ladies night at the local saloon.

Women gather and analyze information in certain forms and in certain ways. Your marketing message must conform to those parameters to be effective. And guess what? Men don’t care if your message is couched to appeal to women because men take the information they want and process it their own way without a second look.

If Marketing to Women is new to you, now is the time to research the topic and learn more about it. You don’t want to overlook or alienate that 89% segment of your market.

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The best book I can recommend on the topic is Marti Barletta’s Marketing to Women: How to Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market. It’s published in multiple languages and the second edition was printed in 2006.

Barletta’s TrendSight™ Group website offers more valuable information.

What’s a magalog? Find out.

Here are a few more statistics that show why you should market to women.