Women are utilizing social networking sites more often these days for various purposes, including those related to interacting with brands online.
SheSpeaks, a company that aims to “give voice to the female consumer,” according to its Web site, recently released its second annual “Social Media Study” and found that 86 percent of women used popular social networks in 2009, a large increase from the 58 percent who were doing so in 2008.
Ninety-five percent of women who were 30 years old and younger were part of a social networking site in 2009, up from 86 percent in 2008, while 70 percent of women 50+ years of age were part of a social networking site, up from 31 percent in 2008.
Of the women who said they were part of a social networking site, 95 percent were a member of Facebook, up from 65 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, 42 percent said they were a member of MySpace, down from 63 percent in the previous year. In addition, 38 percent said they had a Twitter profile, though this social network wasn’t involved in the 2008 survey.
Twenty-seven percent said they had a profile on Classmates, while 22 percent said they were a member of LinkedIn.
The vast majority, or 87 percent of women, said they most frequently visit Facebook, followed by 6 percent who cited MySpace as their most popular social networking destination.
Respondents also seemed to indicate that the growing popularity of Twitter wasn’t affecting their Facebook usage much at all, with just 7 percent saying they use Facebook less since using Twitter.
Facebook is also preferred to Twitter by 80 percent of women, 25 percent of whom have left their Twitter accounts dormant after creating a profile. SheSpeaks notes that Facebook and Twitter are used for different purposes, with Facebook acting as more of a conduit between friends and Twitter acting as a more anonymous arena for information sharing.
The survey also showed a bond between brand- and product-related activities and social networks.
“Last year our members were going online primarily to research purchases, but now they are looking to social media to help them research, guide and facilitate every kind of transaction, from social exchanges to purchases,” said Aliza Freud, founder and CEO of SheSpeaks. “Women have become more comfortable using social media, and for marketers, the overall growth and habitual use of social media represents opportunities to reach and engage women of all ages, and influence their purchase decisions.”
According to the SheSpeaks survey, 80 percent of social network users became a fan of a product or a brand in 2009. Meanwhile, 50 percent of social network users actually made a purchase because of something they saw on these sites, while 30 percent of Twitter users did the same.
It’s interesting to note that Twitter lagged behind the overarching umbrella of social networks in terms of the level of interaction between users and brands by users.
Still, the majority of social network users are staying away from ads on these sites, with 21 percent saying they actively ignore ads on their pages, down from 26 percent in 2008. An encouraging sign is that 30 percent said they sometimes look at these ads and even click on them if they’re interesting enough, up from 13 percent in 2008.
Sources:
http://shespeaks.com/pressdetails/0/858109/81565/15
http://shespeaks.com/pages/img/insightreports/SheSpeaks%202009%20Social%20Media%20Survey_12102009100855.pdf
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007448
http://www.blogher.com/blogher-finds-women-online-twice-likely-use-blogs-over-social-networking-sites-trusted-source-inform
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