Social Media Battle of the Sexes: Part 1

Social media has become a major influence to the lives of many people across the globe. The demographics that construct the overall social population are endless… men, women, teens, seniors, different ethnic groups, people with diverse income levels, etc. I’ve even been friended by someone’s dog on Facebook. With the vast amount of users, it’s important to understand how different groups use social media. Today we will take a further look into what women are searching for on the Internet in part one of Battle of the Sexes.

To give you a general idea of just how prevalent women are in social media, Pamorama’s graph shows the gender differences in monthly visitors. As you can see, women and men are equal when it comes to LinkedIn and YouTube, but females take over when it comes to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr (just to name a few.) The only social network we have been overthrown in is Digg, but we’ll let Logan tell you why on Wednesday. More importantly, women spend 30% more time on these social sites than men do, according to Jennifer Van Grove in a Mashable report.

Forty-two million women in the US are engaging in social media each week. But what is this 53% of the American population using social sites for? A large percentage is using social media as a way to stay connected with friends and family. But statistics also reveal that 32% are sharing opinions, 34% are getting information, and 20% are seeking recommendations, while 19% are giving them.

What information are they looking for and sharing with their lady friends you ask? Entertainment, food, cooking, health, fashion and dating of course. Now if you are reading this from a business standpoint and worried because you aren’t selling a cookbook or a perfect husband, don’t worry. There are many ways to engage your female consumer enough to buy any kind of product.

I assume that most businesses know women make most of the purchasing decisions in their households. When they use social media sites for shopping purposes, they are looking for deals and approach products in a thoughtful manner. But just posting a giveaway isn’t going to get them to buy from you. Women like to feel connected. In order to achieve this, marketing tactics should incorporate their lifestyle when trying to sell a product or service. The more capable she is in relating to your social media posts, the more likely she’ll be to purchase something from you. Brette Barrow’s article on Mashable gives great advice on connecting with women through Facebook.

Once you get creative and show that you care, you will have the ladies falling at your heels. Overlooking this powerful demographic’s consumer behavior would be a big mistake when targeting them via social networks.