Global communications firm Weber Shandwick and KRC Research conducted an online survey on 2,000 North American women and the conclusions were rather surprising. The Digital Women Influencers aimed to identify segments of women who are influential in social media, and to provide useful insights on female market for marketers. The last release of this multi-part study, The Women of Social Media, focuses on women who spend time on social media, meaning approximately 82 million US women.
The report shows that 86% of North American women have a social media account, and 68% were considered Women of Social media – spending at least an hour per week on social media networks and rating their experience of social networking a 5 or higher on a 1-10 scale.
“No successful brand these days can be without a social media engagement plan. Nor can any marketer ignore the strength – in number and influence – of women who use social media,” says Marcy Massura , Director, Digital Engagement, Weber Shandwick. “Our research reveals how invested these women are in their social network communities and, based on the results, we offer food for thought to marketers who want to engage these women and tap into their marketplace connectivity.”
Other important findings of the study are that 62% of the respondents like how social media allows them to control who they talk to and when, and 24% of the North American women prefer to socialize online, rather than engage in a face-to-face interaction.
A Woman of Social Media has 1,600 connections on average, and 10.2 was the number of times during an average month that such a woman “likes” or recommends products online.
“Social media is where these women like to be and social platforms connect them with products and brands. Marketers need to recognize that social media is more than a channel for distributing coupons and promoting sales, but an opportunity for building relationships” added Massura.
However, 38% of the North American Women stopped using one or more social networks during the last six months because they were not interested or had lost interest (59%) or had no time or been too busy (35% of the mentions).
These figures are important for marketers as they can help them better understand women’s behavior on social media and thus enable them to identify the best way to communicate efficiently with them. You can find out more information on the study here, or from the infographic below:
