The number of women business owners has increased 114% over the last 20 years*. More and more women reclaim their space in the business world and invest in themselves as business owners. Starting a business can be scary, but many women have already turned their ideas into successful small businesses. Courageous, intelligent, and determined enough to succeed in a male-dominated business world, all women can be great business owners as long as they keep learning, adapt to trends quickly, and rise to challenges.
Do you want to make it to the top as a woman in business? Then we must champion one another and grow together. From women to women, we want to share effective marketing strategies as you navigate your way to business success.
Here are 4 effective marketing strategies for women in business:
Let's cover these 4 marketing strategies to take your women-led business to the next level:
1. Be Up to Date
1.1 Stay Alert for New Trends
If you want to stay one step ahead, you must be up to date. Following the current and emerging trends is the key to understanding your customers' needs. By identifying market trends and opportunities, you can build your marketing game plan or fine-tune your current marketing strategy. Let's say you have a women's clothing shop. You must keep up with fashion trends and viral products targeting your customers. By selling what customers look for in the market and adapting to rapid change, you show your customers that your brand is paying attention to their needs and wants.
1.2 Keep an Eye on the Competition
The rule is simple and applies to any business: be aware of your competitors. Who are your competitors? What do they market and sell? What is their strategy to reach their audience? What does your successful competition do differently than you? Do your homework: monitor them, learn from them, and improve your own marketing strategy. If you don't know where to start, here are some ideas for you:
Take a look at their digital presence: website, social media, etc.
Read their reviews to see what they do well and what they struggle with
Keep doing competitor research because the business world evolves rapidly
2. Go Digital
Do you have a brick-and-mortar store? Great! But it is also time to go online! If you want to grow as a woman business owner in this digital age, you must digitize your small business. It is not enough to delight your customers in physical stores; you need a solid online presence to generate engagement and stay relevant. Did you know that most shoppers do their product search online first? Not only do they start their product search online, but also customers, including older shoppers, lean towards online shopping due to its ease and comfort. Time and effort-saving for customers, online stores are the future of businesses.
If you're asking yourself, "how do I digitize my small business?" and you are not familiar with the digital world yet, learning digital skills is easier now than ever. You can simply start with social media to present your brand and products to your target audience. To build your social media presence, you need to:
Create an account (Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
Organize your online profile for business
Share photos or videos of your products and services
Answer questions about your products and services via DM or comments
Remind people of where your store is
Social media is paving the way for businesswomen to expand their business locally or reach a global audience. It is one of the fastest strategies to gain more business exposure and boost sales.
You should also consider creating a website and starting e-commerce. It may sound daunting initially, but it is less challenging than you might think. Many people begin with Shopify to build their businesses and start selling their products immediately because it is easy to set up and doesn't require technical skills. You can make your own website from scratch if you want a more hands-on approach. This will take more time, effort, and budget for sure. However, you will get to incorporate what you precisely envision and how you want your customers to see your business.
Okay, you created your digital presence; what now? It is time to promote your women-led business and beautiful website on social media to reach more and more customers! You can also use Google Ads for your website and Facebook Ads for your social media channels if you want to use paid advertising.
3. Aim to Highlight your Difference
In this new world, one-size-fits-all messages don't work anymore. Sweeping generalizations have fallen out of fashion, and customers want to be recognized for their individuality.
Embracing customers' individuality and diversity has to be an integral part of all businesses.
As women business owners, we also need to embrace the unique aspects of our businesses and market them to our customers. Think about promoting yourself as a woman in business and sharing your own story as a part of your marketing strategy. What made you go into the business you do? What obstacles did you overcome? What vision and mission do you have for your business? Your audience needs to know what sets you apart from the pack to connect with your brand, business, and you in particular.
For your business to stand out in the right ways, you should avoid falling into the stereotype trap and make it personal for your customers. Creating compelling content and offering personalized experiences should be part of your marketing strategy.
With your unique content, personalized approach, and offers, you have the opportunity to make your woman-led business a success story.
4. Leverage the Power of SMS Marketing
Do you know what else can help with your marketing strategy? SMS Marketing! Many women in business know about digitizing, websites, social media, ads, etc. Yet, very few of them are familiar with this hidden gem. And the real power of SMS marketing comes from small but magical steps you can take to personalize your relationship with your customers:
Target various needs and wants of your audience via text keywords
Celebrate your customers' special days with ready-to-use text message templates
Build a more direct two-way communication to let them know about your business and learn more about them
If you want to give SMS marketing a try before making it part of your marketing strategy, you can sign up for free to Pony Express HQ and get 100 free text credits to help you get started right away. The most affordable business texting platform is here to help you!
In this article, we shared 4 effective marketing strategies for women in business. To wrap up, women in business should always follow the current and emerging trends, digitize their business, aim to set themselves apart, and leverage SMS marketing to complete their marketing strategy. We strongly believe that applying these marketing strategies to your small business will help you get where you want to be in your business journey.
Remember, we want to grow as businesswomen alongside our customers.
Cheers to all businesswomen!
To learn more about SMS marketing: What is SMS Marketing? Types, Users, and Benefits of SMS Marketing
The Pony Express HQ Team
*Source: https://legaljobs.io/blog/women-entrepreneurs-statistics