Women in the U.S. are flocking to social networking sites, and they have become the break-through power consumer of our time. Women who are using on-line social networking sites are growing at an astronomical rate, so whether you are a large company with a product for women, or an on-line marketer hoping to attract women to your site, the following statistics should interest you!
In 2008, 58{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} percent of U.S women had a profile on at least one social media site. According to a study by SheSpeaks Second Annual Media, that figure is now 86{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f}. That is a dramatic increase of 48{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} in only two years.
RetailerDaily states that a staggering 73{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} of these women log on to their social media accounts at least once daily, up from 53{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} only two years ago.
There is a reason that all these statistics exist:
Women make 87{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} of purchases, both in the home and in business settings.
That’s a lot of consumer buying power and retailers know this. Approximately 50{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} of the women polled say they purchased a particular product because of information found on social media network sites like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Facebook is far surpassing MySpace as the premier social network site, with an impressive 95{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} of active female profiles. MySpace has fallen off significantly with only 42{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f}, which is down from 63{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f} in 2008. Twitter is quickly gaining shares, but is still only at 38{e31915232f627aba387f5fbf94f9a250ae116cee0c2da27b298f0b4ae14d446f}.
It is clear to retailers and marketing firms alike, that on-line social media advertising is where the money is. Large companies such as Estee Lauder, Proctor and Gamble, Leapfrog Interactive, Kimberly Clark,1-800-flowers-there are literally too many too list-are successfully targeting women on-line, and understand that this form of advertising is the new wave of the future. Over half of the women polled feel as though social networking sites will actually become a “serious threat” to the continued success of search engine companies like Yahoo and Google. While this may or may not be come to fruition, FaceBook, Twitter and MySpace have certainly become the dominating sites on-line in the past couple of years.
If you are an on-line marketer, it is imperative that you find a way to access this female consumer traffic. Your success lies into your ability to tap into this growing market. You must be able to make the transition from old-fashioned marketing to the new “updated version.” Are your current skills enough to make you a viable competitor?