According to top marketing schools, there are ways to market to women and ways that should be avoided. By marketing to women incorrectly, you run the risk of offending a large group of people and losing out on potential business. If you have a product designed specifically for women or want to expand your customer base to include women, here are five marketing mistakes to avoid:

Avoid Girly Campaigns

Women are well aware that they are female; there’s no need to smear your campaigns with splashes of pink, too-cute graphics and curly fonts. If you want to market to women, don’t unintentionally market to pre-teen girls. Keep your marketing campaign modern and simple. Women are savvy shoppers and they want to know about your product; make sure that you present it in the correct way.

Don’t Target Women

When you market your product, aim to reach people with your campaign, not women. The BIC company has recently realized the error of their ways by marketing pens “for her.” Pens can be used by anyone and there’s a huge market among both genders for colorful, attractive pens. By marketing directly towards women, BIC not only offended the female gender but turned men off of the product at the same time.

Don’t Turn Women into Sex Objects

While there isn’t anything overtly wrong with using sex to sell a product, don’t use sex for the sake of sex. For instance, you may have seen the recent Burger King commercials promoting the SpongeBob Squarepants kids’ meal. In the commercial, set to the song “Baby Got Back,” women are depicted with having square bottoms being measured by the Burger King. A child’s fast-food meal has nothing to do with adult women, nor does it have anything to do with square behinds. Burger King offended women and moms in one fowl swoop with this marketing campaign.

Don’t Assume That Women are a Niche Market

Never make the mistake in thinking that women are a niche market. Women make up the majority of the population in the United States, spend over $8 trillion dollars per year and control more than 60 percent of the country’s wealth. Additionally, women are the purchasers of over 50 percent of the products typically marketed towards males. Even if your product is geared towards, or designed for, men, you can rest assured that women will be the majority of your consumer base.

Not Advertising Across the Right Media

You need to know the general age of the women that you want to market your product to. Not all women behave in the same manner; it’s important that you understand the activities and lifestyle of the age group that your product is designed for. For instance, women under 40 tend to turn to their smartphones before any other form of media. Women over 40 are more likely to turn on the television or check their computers before they do anything else. If you’re using social media, applications or other types of technology as part of your marketing campaign, neglecting to use them in a way that is the most beneficial will be a waste of time and money.

While it’s a smart move to market your product to women, you’ve got to make sure that you are marketing correctly. If your marketing campaign is either offensive or ineffective, you run the risk of losing more than half of your potential customer base. If you avoid the common marketing mistakes above, you’re sure to attract your intended audience.

Carrie Johnson is an avid marketing blogger. You can follow her on Twitter @johnson121_.

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