When it comes to health & wellness decisions, FemX marks the spot.
Say hello to the FemXers: women between 40 and 60, which is to say all of Gen X (hello? when has Gen X ever been the main focus of anything?), the tail end of Baby Boomers, and the very first Millennials. Apologies Gen Z.
Women are known to influence 80% of purchasing decisions in a household.
But what even we at Fancy didn’t know, was that a full 90% of these FemXers make the vast majority of health and wellness decisions for their families. Fancy just partnered with Health Mavens, a strategic consultancy in Chicago, to dive into the what and why of how these choices are made. We head-nodded to a lot of the findings in our latest survey and wondered why to others.
Nearly 50% of FemXers spend over 10% of their household budget on Health & Wellness products and services, and this is after medical and insurance expenses.
It’s no wonder this is a high consideration purchase for her. She researches, consults professionals, and of course, discusses with her friends. Covid’s actually helped with this. Working from home for the past couple of years, she’s been able to research subjects that she may have felt might have been a little off-limits for a public workspace. The privacy of her own home and laptop have made her a more educated consumer. And with the move to tele-everything, she’s brought health and wellness consultations into her home as well. Between URL and IRL, two-thirds of FemXers consult professionals when it comes to their purchases.
Virtual communities for women over 40 have exploded in the past couple of years.
This gives the FemXer the opportunity to expand her circle of friends and women who’ve been through what she has, whatever that is: health concerns, family drama, relationship issues, and just simply being over 40. Ask a question about vaginal dryness, or any other subject you might have avoided over dinner and you have thousands of women who’ve been there, tried that, and are happy to tell you what’s worth it and what’s not.
legacy brands have a leg up on start-ups.
While most of the data confirmed our hypotheses, learning that more women in this group preferred legacy brands over start-ups, was a surprise. There are so many fantastic brands that have popped up, often founded by women who were out to solve a personal problem that the mass market hadn’t, it made us wonder why they weren’t connecting with these women. We know legacy brands have ongoing equity, which seems to work in their favor. Startups have to prove their worth through innovation, experience, and being worth the risk of switching. Great packaging and a sneeze of a trendy ingredient won’t cut it with the FemXer. She wants facts. She wants a flawless first experience. She wants a truly new innovation. And she wants something else we learned in our first survey of women 40+.
She wants to be wanted.
If the new brands aren’t targeting her, she’s not going to know about them. If they don’t treat her as if they value her dollars, she’s not going to spend them. If they think the world is all Gen Z and Millennials, they’re leaving money on the table.
So what’s a brand to do to win the loyalty of the FemXer (because she is loyal, she wants relationships with brands)? Here are a few thoughts to get you going:
Make her feel served, not sold. The FemXer is busy. She’s likely still caring for kids—even if they’re older it seems they’re never “grown”—her aging parents, and more often than not, working at least part-time. Understand her life, and make sure she understands how your brand works to make it better, easier, more fulfilling.
Ensure every interaction with your brand delivers. From the way the product works to the methods you use to reach her, provide value at every turn. Don’t overstate the facts. Deliver on your promises. Make sure she’s getting the information she needs when she needs it and she will be both loyal and vocal.
Let her know what you stand for. How is your product made? How is it sourced? Is it clean-label and non-conflict? She knows her choices have power. So, when considering a new brand, she spends on the ones that deserve her dollars. The ones that do good while working well.
Understand it’s not all about her. It’s also about those around her. She sources her information from multiple places, both online and off. And these are not always owned or even driven by the brand. Information needs to be seeded across multiple channels, and given the heavy reliance she has on health & wellness professionals, reaching these key opinion leaders is paramount.
For brands that focus on health and wellness, especially as they align their strategies in an emerging post-COVID marketplace, understanding what motivates FemXers as they make buying and usage decisions can lead to more meaningful communication strategies that will engage and retain this powerful segment of women. FemX marks the spot!
