Social media marketing to women
Women have enthusiastically embraced social media—it is “social,” after all—and marketers were quick to take advantage of this new channel for engaging with female audiences. But women’s behavior is evolving, and marketers must evolve with it. Here are some new developments of interest to marketers who seek to influence female consumers through social media.
Women are doing their social media interactions entirely through their mobile devices
As smartphone and tablet usage increases (estimated to be 116 million smartphones and 55 million tablets in the U.S. by yearend 2012), the two genders are showing differences in usage patterns on these platforms. Women are tending to conduct all of their their social networking and email activity on their mobile devices, versus their PCs or laptops. (For men, on the other hand, exclusively mobile activities were IM and online banking.)
When it comes to responding to ad messages on mobile devices, however, women and men show similar behavior patterns, according to a June 2012 study from Prosper Mobile Insights. U.S. advertisers are expected to spend $2.3 billion in the mobile channel this year.
Women are 12% more likely than men to click on Facebook ads
A study about 4th quarter 2011 from AdParlor, a Facebook ad management company, showed that American women were more responsive to Facebook ads than men.
Chart: Facebook ad statistics based on gender
| 4Q2012 Facebook | U.S. males | U.S. females |
| Cost per click | $.56 | $.51 |
| Cost per thousand | $.37 | $.38 |
| Click through rate | .067% | .075% |
Source: AdParlor, April 10, 2012
In this study, the gender gap was quite different by country. In the same period in Brazil, men out-clicked women, and in Canada, both genders responded at about the same rate.
The research firm eMarketer expects that U.S. marketers will spend $2.58 billion on Facebook ads in 2012. Interestingly, despite the differences in response rate by gender, most U.S. advertisers are not using gender-based targeting in their Facebook ad buys. An April 2012 study from Social Fresh showed that only 34% of Facebook ads are targeting by a gender selection. The most popular segmentation criteria were age (55%), country (54%) and interest (50%). About 57% of the marketers said they are targeting with 2 to 5 variables, so it’s surprising that gender is so rarely used.
Blogs are highly influential in women’s buying behavior
More than 61% of women say they have made a purchase based on a recommendation they saw on a blog, according to a March 2012 study from BlogHer of 1,060 U.S. active blog users. This compares to only one third of respondents who have purchased based on a recommendation on Facebook, 31% on Twitter and 47% on Pinterest.
Chart: Female blog users consider blogs a more trustworthy source of information and advice
| Most trustworthy online influence | |
| Blogs | 23% |
| Social network status update | 18% |
| Celebrity endorser | 14% |
Source: BlogHer study, March 2012
Female bloggers themselves recognize how influential they are, and generally welcome a relationship with brands who are looking for endorsements. But, according to a study from BlogFrog, brands must treat female bloggers with care. Nearly 60% of female bloggers prefer to build a long-term relationship with a few favored brands over a long period. The most sought-after product categories of interest to female bloggers were technology, health and beauty, food and beverage, apparel and entertainment.
Less than half of the bloggers in the study reported receiving brand pitches, but the top 14% receive more than 100 pitches a year. Brands reach out to bloggers via word-of-mouth, social media, email and online communities. Marketers who want to partner with influential bloggers should follow these guidelines:
- Get familiar with the blogger’s personal interests, and pitch brands accordingly.
- Be respectful of their time and effort.
- Provide fair compensation.
- Allow them their editorial freedom.
Women are more likely to share in online communities, versus social networks
Women appear to be compartmentalizing their social media behavior, using social networks for keeping up with friends and family, and using online communities to share information about new products. According to a new study from iVillage and Burke Research, communities designed for women, like CafeMom, BabyCenter and iVillage, are more trusted, especially for information about brands and products.
Chart: U.S. female Internet users’ attitude toward types of websites
| Women’s communities | Portals | Social networks | |
| Is a place I trust for information on brands and products | 51% | 29% | 14% |
| Website I trust | 49% | 46% | 24% |
| Has the right people for me to seek advice on brands and products | 47% | 25% | 16% |
| Is a website that understands my life and my needs | 47% | 24% | 18% |
| Helps me feel I am spending my time wisely | 45% | 25% | 15% |
Source: iVillage and Burke, “The Influence of Women Like Me in Today’s Consumer Marketplace,” 2011.
Good product experiences stimulate female word-of-mouth
Marketers who want to take advantage of the sharing power of social media—or avoid its power to spread negative reviews—need to focus on providing a positive customer experience for female customers.
While 92% of online women look to friends and family to learn about products, 58% said they would be stimulated to share information based on having had a good experience with food and beverage products, according to a study from the women-oriented communications firm Harbinger. Conversely, 46% said a bad product experience would motivate them to share the negative story. Similar behavior was reported in other product categories, like appliances.