target woman blog

Women still like social networking sites better

clo willaerts — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:17:46 GMT

Internet marketing research company comScore released Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet. The report elaborates on many different factors related to women in general. Key findings:

Social networking sites reach a higher percentage of women than men globally: 75.8 percent of all women online visiting a social networking site in May 2010 versus 69.7 percent of men
women spend 30 percent more time on social networking sites than men
women spend 8 percent more time online
women spend 20 percent more time on Retail sites overall than men

Virtual goods: women are biggest spenders

clo willaerts — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:37:14 GMT

Although males are playing significantly more games and are the primary drivers of total digital goods sales, North American women 25 and older are spending disproportionately large sums of money on digital goods.

This is, at least, one of the conclusions of the 2010 Digital Goods Report recently published by market research firm VGMarket and global leader in monetization solutions for online games PlaySpan.

Highlights from the report include:

median spent on first-party purchases within Social Network games: the average female spent $55 dollars (compared to only $30 for males).
purchases of in-game currency: females spent twice as much ($50 compared to $25)
median overall expenditure was higher for females ($80) than males ($60)

Sanoma Magazines iPhone survey: Women and their iPhone

clo willaerts — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:44:21 GMT

Sanoma Magazines Belgium recently conducted a national study to better understand the attitudes of the iPhone usage by women.

During the investigation Sanoma Magazines Belgium analysed who among them owned the popular Apple smart phone, where and how they have purchased it, how women are using the applications and how popular social networks such as Facebook are.

Key highlights from the report:

2.9% of the Belgian population 15+ owns an iPhone. This equals 257.000 users.
1.7% of women owns an iPhone, which equals 78.000 women in the North and 55.000 in the South.
The prototype iPhone owner is male, between 15 and 44 years and is part of the higher social classes.
Women get an iPhone relatively more often as a gift. They are relatively recent onwers.
6 on 10 female iPhone owners accesses at least once a week the internet thru the iPhone. 4 on 10 almost never does this.
The most popular sites that are visited on the iPhone are Facebook, Google and newspaper sites.
77% of the female iPhone owners has a Facebook account.
36% of women have ever installed an app on their iPhone. Only 19% of them has actually paid for it (= 7% of the female iPhone users) Women prefer free apps with ads above paying apps.

Blogging mothers wooed by big brands

clo willaerts — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:25:22 GMT

Women with children have long been an attractive target group. The main reasons:
the enormous influence members of this demographic have over household purchase decisions
the wide variety of goods they generally require

Here are three cases of brand owners who try to stimulate positive word of mouth on the web by engaging with female bloggers with children.

UK: P&G Fairy Liquid bottle relaunch
P&G partnered with "mummy bloggers" to spread the news that its traditional white Fairy Liquid bottle was being reintroduced to celebrate the brand's 50th birthday. The thinking behind this was that good feedback from these bloggers can make a real impact, because they carry significant weight among their peer group.

US: Specialist ad networks for female bloggers
In the US, female bloggers are already being actively courted by specialist ad networks such as Glam Media.

South Korea: "Coke Friends" to create word of mouth for Coca-Cola
In Seoul, bloggers are introduced to Coca-Cola and probed about ways Coke can better communicate with local bloggers, especially young mothers, as a way to get Korean families talking about more Coke.

Further reading:
Marketers woo "mummy bloggers" in UK @ warc.com
Coke Taps Mommy Bloggers in Korea @ adage.com

Mothers on Twitter are looking for information, deals

clo willaerts — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:09:12 GMT
According to the study by Lucid and Lisa Finn the top two reasons why women with children use Twitter are:
networking/meeting new people (77%)
keeping up with news (60%)

If they follow a business on Twitter, their expectations are:
that the business provides useful information in its Twitter feed (68%)
a desire to find out about the company's products or services (67%)
to get good deals (60%).
because they're already customers. (67%)
to follow up on a retweet (41%)

Further reading:
Moms Is A Subset of Women @ mediapost.com
2010 Marketing to Moms on Twitter Survey Results & Report $149 @ momreports.com

Study: More Than One-Third Of Women 'Addicted' To Facebook

clo willaerts — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:47:31 GMT
According to a new study released earlier today by Oxygen Media and Lightspeed Research, young women are becoming more and more dependent on social media and checking on their social networks.

Key highlights from the report:
21% of women age 18-34 check Facebook in the middle of the night
63% use Facebook as a networking tool
42% think it’s okay to post photos of themselves intoxicated
79% are fine with kissing in photos
58% use Facebook to keep tabs on “frenemies”
50% are fine with being Facebook friends with complete strangers

Further reading:
The First Thing Young Women Do in the Morning: Check Facebook [STUDY] @ mashable.com
Study: More Than One-Third Of Women 'Addicted' To Facebook @ mediapost.com

Field Experts, Lifecasters and other Social Media Moms

clo willaerts — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:05:21 GMT
BabyCenter's 2010 Mom Social Influencer segmentation study recognises 5 unique segments of social moms, broken down in 2 categories: Influencers, and the Influenced.

The Influencers are:
Field Experts: stay-at-home moms with a topical focus on parenting.
Lifecasters: Millennial moms who live their life in public.
Pros: mom bloggers who have turned their passion for social into a profession.

The Influenced are:
Butterflies: young professionals who put the social in social networking.
The Audience: the largest group of social moms who listen and take it all in.

Also interesting:
Pregnancy and birth triggered 94% of moms to seek out information and share opinions with others online.
18% of social moms wield 78% of the overall influence.
Field Experts and Lifecasters make up 16% of audience and wield 67% of the influence.
91% of social moms use Facebook for socializing.

Further reading:
Social Media Moms Diced and Sliced @ mediapost.com

Facebook and Twitter are chick magnets

clo willaerts — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:38:13 GMT
Or at least, according to this YouTube video made by Porter Novelli Atlanta:
Found at I heart social media.

What women plan to do online this summer

clo willaerts — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:11:53 GMT
For its"What Women Want From the Web Report" (pdf) Summer 2010 report, Unicast polled 516 adult U.S. female residents.

Highlights from this report:
95% of women plan to go online this summer
62% notice and/or interact with online advertising.
53% (vs 67% overall) of the women aged 18-24 use the web more than other age groups for all activities except keeping up with news

The ads that resonate with women:
46% include sales, discount codes
31% feature creating/submitting an entry to win a prize
24% provide customized local information
22% offer interactive surveys/quizzes

Further reading:
What Women Want From the Web Report (pdf) @ unicast.com
Study: What Women Want Online @ adrants.com
Study: What Women Want (In Online Ads) @ mediapost.com

Moms actively supervise their children's use of social networking and gaming sites

clo willaerts — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:34:32 GMT
From Parenting And The Internet at mediapost.com:
Most children who spend time on social networking or gaming sites do not play unsupervised. Nearly 70% of Moms retain control of where and when their 8-13-year-old children play.
The majority of Moms know their children's passwords and nearly all have established appropriate and clear online rules and guidelines for them.
The majority of Moms indicate their children may not join a social networking site unless a parent joins as well

Marketing to mothers: 8 things that changed in the last 5 years

clo willaerts — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 13:02:14 GMT
Maria Bailey, author of "Marketing to Moms," "Trillion Dollar Moms" and "Mom 3.0: Marketing With Today's Mothers" wrote down eight changes she's seen in the past five years that have impacted marketing. In short:
Marketing "with" Moms rather than "to" moms
Motherhood as a brand
Customization: yoday's new mothers expect to customize products, media and even the lifestyle of motherhood
Frugalista Mom: moms have discovered that saving money is empowering, fun and a badge of honor among her peers
Emergence of the virtual playground
Sphere of influence on steroids: word of mouth marketing has been the most powerful form of marketing in the world of mothers
It's a small world after all: moms have gone global
Boomers are becoming grandparents

Further reading:
Top 8 Changes In The Mom Market Over 5 Years @ mediapost.com

Half of the bloggers is female

clo willaerts — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:52:20 GMT
Toronto-based social media analytics company Sysomos analyzed more than 100 million blog posts that provided information about their age, gender and location information. One of the key findings is the almost perfect gender balance in blogging demographics:

The split between women and men is nearly even with women accounting for 50.9% and men 49.1%.

Further reading:
Inside Blog Demographics @ sysomos.com
The Who and Where of the Blogosphere @ blog.sysomos.com

Father’s Day gifts less cliche, more often bought online

clo willaerts — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:18:34 GMT
Blog author Debra Miller has analysed data from Compete.com's latest Online Shopper Intelligence.
Key takeaways:
Consumers buy more Mother’s Day gifts.
Consumers buy Mother’s Day gifts for a wider audience, including grandmothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts.
Online plays a larger role in gifts for dad than for mom.

Further reading:
Parent Appreciation Day @ blog.compete.com

Women get talked to more on Facebook

clo willaerts — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:57:51 GMT
HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog just published an infographic on the differences between male and female user behaviour on Facebook.

Full infograph:
Men vs Women on Facebook @ Hubspot.com

Location services for moms on the go

clo willaerts — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:50:00 GMT
With a significant percentage of moms using smartphones, location services offer a rare opportunity to interact with moms while they’re on the go.
Internet news blog Mashable published some innovative ways that companies are applying location-based technologies to target moms.

One example: the babymate iPhone app that's been designed to help parents keep track of the main aspects of their babies’ growth and development. One of the new features involves geo-awareness:
Geo-tag and share your babies' events, milestones or measures. Find out on a map what other parents are doing around you. Check out other people's comments on similar baby development aspects. Integrate with Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Further reading:
3 Key Location Trends for Moms @ Mashable.com
babymate iPhone app from Double Wedge
Just for fun: The Durex baby case @ AdHunt

Where shoppers look for coupons: newspapers, magazines and online

clo willaerts — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:33:26 GMT
According to research by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research, women are primarily responsible for clipping coupons. Newspapers and circulars are still the most popular media for coupon clippers, but 31% searches for coupons on Coupon websites (like coupons.com), and 18% do the same on brand websites.

While these digital capabilities are not yet mainstream, trends show consumers are increasingly making more big-ticket purchases online. For product categories like computers, electronics, and DVDs, the ability to use coupons online might have a stronger influence on shoppers, according to The Integer Group analysis.

Further reading:
Women Clip Most Coupons @ marketingcharts.com
The checkout issue 3.10: Coupons (.pdf) @ digital.integer.com
Wealthier Consumers Use More Coupons @ marketingcharts.com

Social Media vs Sales: from Conversations to Conversions

clo willaerts — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Social Media vs Sales: from Conversations to Conversions
View more presentations from Clo Willaerts.

Women are using the Internet to make shopping decisions

clo willaerts — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:56:55 GMT
Media company iVillage and branded communities service center SheSpeaks today released a new research on digital shopper marketing.

The big conclusion? Brand marketers should be building direct relationships through search, online and mobile Web sites with women who show interest. According to the report, interaction between women through online community Web sites, forums and message boards have a "dramatic" influence on driving product preference, loyalty, and purchase.
Other forms of marketing that prove influential include:
online coupons at 68%
online product reviews by consumers, 61%
emails from companies or brands, 45%
articles read online, 41%.
While social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are valuable communications channels, with 51% of women actively following brands and retailers online, these channels are relatively less (19%) influential in prompting purchases.

More highlights from the report:

Peer recommendations about products on message boards makes women more likely to look for a product in the store (77%), more favorable about the product while shopping (74%), more likely to choose the brand/product over others (70%) and more likely to purchase the product in the store (67%).
The influence of digital channels varies greatly. Although 51% of women are fans or followers of grocery, health/beauty or household products brands and the stores that carry them, consumer reviews on shopping sites are a top influence for 61% of respondents. Online articles, by comparison, are a top influence with 35% of respondents saying that reading online content (articles) is more influential now than one year ago. Blogs were also identified as an influence by 33% of respondents. Facebook and Twitter fall to the bottom of the list with only 19% saying that posts from friends and 11% saying that posts from brands, are top influencers.
Women are using the Internet to make shopping decisions. 81% of women have visited a superstore website in the past month, 70% visited a food/beverage brand website and 69% visited a health/beauty brand website. They also actively read email newsletters they receive from companies (61% read emails from food/beverage brands, 55% from health and beauty brands and 53% from superstores).
Women spend between 6 and 60 minutes preparing for a shopping trip.This preparation includes doing product research online and offline, looking for coupons in multiple channels, reading email newsletters, etc. Although research channels used most vary by product category (ex: food/beverage vs. health/beauty), it is clear that brand marketers need to understand which are the most influential digital channels for their specific product.

Further reading:
SheSpeaks iVillage Shopper Study Report (executive summary)
New Study From iVillage And SheSpeaks Reveals Digital Is Changing The Way Women Shop Offline @ Forbes.com
Women Seek Online Communities To Validate Purchases @ mediapost.com

Women use their smartphones to "tweet" and "friend"

clo willaerts — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:40:40 GMT
Nielsen recently released data that shows that in mobile, women dominate social networking just like they do on the regular web.

At 55% women to 45% men, mobile social networking fortifies what we’re learning in social media in general.
In a demographic view of social networking activity on mobile devices, women were found do use their phones to “tweet” and “friend” 10% more than men. And while social networking is commonly thought of as something for “the kids,” the 35-54 age group had more active mobile social networkers than any other group.

Further reading:
For Social Networking, Women use Mobile More Than Men @ blog.nielsen.com
In Mobile, Women Rule Social Networking @ socialmediatoday

Online female shoppers like to take their time to browse

clo willaerts — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:18:47 GMT
Mintel's recent Beauty Innovation report looked at the way women shop for cosmetics and skincare by looking at the types of services and provisions that attract the most trial or loyalty.

Their conclusion? The economic climate continues to have a negative impact in many beauty and personal care markets, yet color cosmetics and skincare continue to thrive.

Even more interesting: the female baby boomer population is becoming increasingly web-savvy and more could be spending their digital dollars at online beauty sites.

One reason many women go online to shop may be down to many (47%) citing their preference to shop for cosmetics on their own to give themselves plenty of time to browse.

Further reading:
Beauty Retailing - US - March 2010 @ mintel.com
Female baby boomers look to web for cosmetics @ bizreport.com

Women love social games

clo willaerts — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:12:52 GMT
Lightspeed Research and Trendstream’s Global Web Index provides marketing professionals with the data, insight and vision to deliver exceptional web strategy, worldwide. According to recent data, nearly one-half of US social network users now play social games.

Tom Smith, managing director of Trendstream, put it this way: "Women are particularly attracted to short, casual games involving an active community like FarmVille, Cafe Wars or Pet Society. Women also spend more time on social networks in general.”

Further reading:
Women Flock to Social Games @ eMarketer.com

Facebook still dominated by women

clo willaerts — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:52:32 GMT
According Google Ad Planner, Facebook is 57% female and attracts 46 million more female visitors than male visitors per month. Plus, women are more active on Facebook. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says women on Facebook have 8% more friends and participate in 62% of the sharing. "The world's gone social. And women are more social than men," she concludes. And they're leading that charge online.

Experts believe the difference between how men and women operate online mirror their motivations offline.

women often use online social networking tools to
make connections:
stay up to date with friends and family
to connect with those she regards as her peers
share items from their personal lives in order to solve real-life issues

men use use online social networking tools
as means to gather information (researchers)
increase their status (social climbers)

Further reading:
What Men And Women Are Doing On Facebook @ Forbes.com
Where Do Women Social Network? Top 10 Sites @ Forbes.com

The Connected Mom - and how to make her buy your products

clo willaerts — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:18:40 GMT
The purchasing control of women with children and her advanced connectivity is having a powerful effect on the way brands must communicate to successfully capture her attention and build a meaningful relationship.
To engage with The Connected Mom, you must bridge a true understanding that begins with facts and trends developing into a strategy for reaching Mom as a real person.

Momentum by Big Fuel
View more presentations from Big Fuel Communications.

Gaming grannies

clo willaerts — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:47:07 GMT
Young men appear to dominate the smartphone market, but a Lady Geek survey points out that many users are women aged over 55, and that they are an "under-exploited audience".

Highlights from the report:

Of all survey participants, 39% of female smart-phone owners aged 55+ have downloaded one or more app to their smart-phone.
Gaming was the second most popular category for over-55-year-old women in the survey, with nearly 1 in 5 female smart-phone owners stating gaming is their favourite app compared to only 1 in 15 of men in a similar age band
The number 1 app for female smart-phone owners over 55 is Facebook, with 18% of survey participants in this group saying that a social networking app is their favourite app.
22.5% of female smart-phone owners over 55 found out about their favourite app from a recommendation from a friend, compared to only 12.9% of male smart phone within the same age band.

For this report, Lady Geek in conjunction with YouGov SixthSense, ran an online survey a sample of 16,810 smart-phone owners. The number of men and women over-55 was 1,639.

Further reading:
The Geek is not just your son, but also your gaming grandma

MySpace, Ning, Facebook and Twitter still predominantly female, says @flowtown

clo willaerts — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:33:12 GMT
Flowtown's Social Media Demographics: Who's Using Which Sites is treating the terms social media and social networks as synonyms, and it's not clear whether the data are based on U.S. demographics or global ones.
The infographic also focuses solely on web use and excluded e.g. popular applications to access Twitter.
Nevertheless, an interesting overview:

Most popular with women, in order of importance:
social networking website MySpace
online platform for people to create their own social networks Ning
social networking website Facebook
social networking and microblogging service Twitter

Further reading:
Social Media Demographics: Who's Using Which Sites @ Flowtown.com

3 good examples of social media marketing to mothers

clo willaerts — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:44:36 GMT
Female surfers, including the ones with children, are driving social media and helping it to evolve.

But how do advertisers connect with online mothers? Three interesting cases:

Fisher-Price launched a Facebook app to help moms share their memories online via photos and videos
MomsRising created a campaign that allowed users to create customized videos celebrating their moms and their achievements
Estee Lauder reaches moms by providing free makeovers tied with new profile pictures, as well as online makeover tools

Further reading:
Social media campaigns that moms love @ imediaconnection.com

3 good examples of social media marketing to mothers

clo willaerts — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:35:50 GMT
Female surfers, including the ones with children, are driving social media and helping it to evolve.But how do advertisers connect with online mothers? Three interesting cases:Fisher-Price launched a Facebook app to help moms share their memories online via photos and videosMomsRising created a campaign that allowed users to create customized videos celebrating their moms and their achievementsEstee ...

Women clients are more loyal

clo willaerts — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:54:15 GMT
In her recent blog post Are Women Indecisive?, author and marketing to women online specialist Holly Buchanan sums up two big reasons why advertisers should focus on female target groups:

If you care about client retention, you want women clients. Women are more loyal to individual service providers (aka financial service providers) than men

If you care about referrals, you want women clients.

One technique to leverage the power of referrals, is to use testimonials. But social media, where traditionally women are most active, also play a major role in the buying decision cycle of women.
Holly Buchanan: "Women refer more often than men do. Ask any woman how she found her financial adviser, pediatrician, hair stylist, and she'll tell you, "a friend recommended him/her.""

Further reading:
Are Women Indecisive? @ marketingtowomenonline.typepad.com
Men Vs. Women @ scienceblogs.com
Re-render the Gender: Why the vast majority of advertising is not connecting with womenand what we can do about it. @ Amazon.com
Making conversations: there's method in this madness @ bnox.be

"Advertisers have no idea how to talk to single women"

clo willaerts — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:55:30 GMT
More women are single now than ever. If they get married, it's later in life, and then they're often single again sometime even later.

According to Melanie Notkin, CEO of SavvyAuntie.com, a Web site for women who don't have children, advertisers have no idea how to talk to single women.

Notcin: "America seems to talk to all grown-ups as we're part of an intimate family of a mom, a dad and kids. Single people tend not to be spoken to or tend not to be part of the conversation."

Stephanie Holland, executive creative director at Holland and Holland Advertising, says that most advertising aimed at the consumers who control 80% of household spending in the U.S. takes a misguided "one size fits all" approach. That's because most of the decision makers are men who "have a difficult time distinguishing even among moms, much less coming in and understanding the single female."

Further reading:
No advertising love for single women @ publicradio.org

Teen girls spread word on sales offline, not online

clo willaerts — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:00:32 GMT
Everything you've been hearing about teen girls living on Facebook, friending their favorite brands and influencing hundreds of future purchases with the single click of the "like" button? A new report from Euro RSCG suggests it's all wrong, and that teen girls share shopping secrets the way they always have -- with only their closest friends, and even then, not online.

Continue reading at MediaPost Publications

Marketing to women from anthropologic point of view

clo willaerts — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:51:16 GMT
Marketing to women is not as easy as "pretty in pink" or "basic black." Dr. Bob Deutsch, cognitive anthropologist and founder and president of strategic branding and communications consultancy firm Brain Sells, sums up seven principle for marketing to women. A few highlights, particularly with marketing to women online in mind:

Authenticity, not just immediate appearance. Recognize that persona, biography (or history), and current contingency must all be factored in, and that universal principles underlie particularities.
Connectedness, not just individuals. Recognize that communality can reign over dominance. We are all bound together.
Society, not just markets. Recognize that markets are numbers, and that markets can be counted and the goodies duly noted. But numbers are not people. Women are people and people have personal feelings and social intentions.

Further reading:
Seven principles for marketing to women @ retailcustomerexperience.com

8 facts about female gamers

clo willaerts — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:45:48 GMT
A&E-owned cable network Lifetime, in their pursuit to learn about all things women-related, conducted a year-long, in-depth study to go inside the minds of women gamers: She's Got Game: Women & Gaming Study.

76% of women play electronic games
It depends on the platform - women play online more than men (55% vs 45%)
Women play differently than men
A majority of women gamers like to play on their own (83%)
Many women say they play to compete against other people (47%)
Women play games more frequently than men (2.0 times/day vs 1.7 times/day)
Most are the primary decision maker when it comes to games/related purchases (76%)
Women made an average of 7 gaming related buys in the past year

Further reading:
Inside The Minds Of Girl Gamers
@ businessinsider.com
Read the complete report

Women use social media, then talk about products

clo willaerts — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:42:41 GMT
The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association has just published the conclusions of new research of the habits of social media users. A few highlights:Some 71.8% of social media users say that after an online search, they communicate with others about a product or service with face-to-face communication. Men prefer to communicate by cell phone to talk about what they have learned about a product ...

Women use their phones to "get social"

clo willaerts — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:03:00 GMT
Nielsen has just released a demographic view of social networking activity on mobile devices. Women clearly use their phones to “tweet” and “friend” a lot more often than men. And while social networking is commonly thought of as something for “the kids,” the 35-54 age group had more active mobile social networkers than any other group.Further reading:For Social Networking, Women use Mobile More Than ...

Tampax Storytelling: Mother Nature's Monthly Gift

clo willaerts — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:16:54 GMT
I never thought I would blog about a Tampax TV Advertising series, but have a look at Mother Nature's YouTube Channel.

Mother Nature, who looks like something in between a mother in law and a school teacher, always delivers your Monthly Gift, a.k.a. your period, at the worst time. The first time you watch one of the episodes you might cringe but after a while you'll learn to appreciate the ironic twists in the storylines.

I especially liked the cheeky bio info at the left hand side. Character building up to the last detail!
Films:
Crimson Tide, The Big Red One, Hunt For Red October, Splash
Music:
Here Comes the Flood - Peter Gabriel; Eruption - Van Halen; Volcano Girls - Veruca Salt; You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin; anything by the Cramps

More Mother Nature YouTube movies:
Serena Williams vs. Mother Nature
Rapids
Dreamtree

Women use their phones to "get social"

clo willaerts — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:03:39 GMT
Nielsen has just released a demographic view of social networking activity on mobile devices.

Women clearly use their phones to “tweet” and “friend” a lot more often than men. And while social networking is commonly thought of as something for “the kids,” the 35-54 age group had more active mobile social networkers than any other group.

Further reading:
For Social Networking, Women use Mobile More Than Men @ Nielsen
Women More Likely to Get Social on Mobile @ Search Engine Watch

43% of iPhone buyers are female, Android users mostly male

clo willaerts — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:07:28 GMT
Mobile advertising network AdMob recently ran an opt-in survey of consumers on iPhone, iPod touch, Android and webOS devices to learn more about how they are engaging and interacting with applications. The behavioral and demographic insights taken from the self reported survey provide additional context to the monthly Admobile Mobile Metrics report. The survey included 963 respondents across all of the platforms and revealed some interesting points on app purchasing habits.
Here's the breakdown for smartphone gender preferences.

Further reading:
Survey says: Android users mostly male, webOS not just for women, iPod touch for kids @ Engadget.com
January 2010 Mobile Metrics Report @ Admob.com
Download report (.pdf)

The average social media gamer is a 43 yr old woman

clo willaerts — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:40:42 GMT
It’s no wonder that casual games have become so popular – they’re easy to play, provide a quick hit of fun, and are highly social and viral in nature. Everybody loves social gaming, but especially women are a big force.
The 2010 Social Gaming Research (.pdf) by Information Solutions Group has more details on the demographics and motivations of heavy players of social media games like Farmville, Zoo World, and Mafia Wars on Facebook and other platforms.

Key takeaways from the report:
Among the nearly 5,000 consumers who responded to the survey, more than 1,200 indicated they played games on social networking sites and platforms at least once a week
Social game players average 43 years in age, with those in the US being significantly older (48) than those in the UK (38). Females are slightly more likely to play social games than males (55% vs. 45%).
More than half (56%) have been playing social games for at least one year, with fun and excitement (53%), stress relief (45%) and competitive spirit (43%) being the primary reasons cited for playing social games.
The majority (95%) play social games multiple times a week and log into Facebook or another site specifically to play social games about half of the time.
62% play social games with personal (real world) friends, while 43% play with a relative. The majority (76%) play with people their own age (+/-10 years).
Beyond the social interaction of social game playing people, like the competitive nature the most (59%), followed by the interactive game play (49%) and the opportunity to win prizes (35%).
Social gamers have played an average of 6.1 different social games.
The majority of social game players have reconnected with old friends, classmates and relatives as a result of playing games on social networking sites, while others have met new people who they continue to play games with in addition to corresponding and in rare cases meet in person.

The 2010 Social Gaming Research by Information Solutions Group was commissioned by by PopCap, creator of popular social games such as puzzle game Bejeweled and Insaniquarium. The study looked at over 5,000 game-players in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Picture credit: iStockphoto on Thinkstock.com

Dodge Super Bowl ad gets the middle finger from women

clo willaerts — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:59:55 GMT
For many U.S. based advertisers, the Super Bowl is the moment supreme. This is what American automaker Chrysler had made for their Dodge Charger.

"I will shave. I will clean the sink after I shave. I will be at work at 8 a.m. I will be quiet when you don't want to hear me say no. I will take your call. I will listen to your opinion of my friends. I will put the seat down. I will carry your lip balm."

In other words, it depicts men as emasculated and oppressed - with buying a Dodge Charger as their only way out of slavery.

Only days later, New York-based producer, actor, and writer MacKenzie Fegan uploaded this spoof on Youtube:

I will eat half a grapefruit for breakfast. I will get the kids ready for school ... I will assert myself and get called a bitch ... I will put my career on hold to raise your child. I will diet, botox and wax -- everything... I will watch Super Bowl commercials that depict men as emasculated and oppressed, and I will feel so fucking sorry for you.

Ouch.

Why do women blog?

clo willaerts — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:27:14 GMT

Why are so many women flocking to the Internet? Are they getting something in blogs they aren't getting elsewhere?

In today's society, where we move around, stay home with our kids, often don't have family nearby - are women feeling isolated?

Is there a void in our media? Is there a lack of women's stories being told unfiltered?

Do women have a unique sense of humor?

Marketing to women consultant Holly Buchanan asked several women bloggers the same question: "Why do you blog?" The answers to this question are just as diverse as the women bloggers themselves.

5 essential reports if you want to target women online

clo willaerts — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:10:03 GMT
Mothers today seek reliable information to make the best decisions and purchases they can for their families. Increasingly, they're seeking this information through digital channels. This behavior provides an opportunity for marketers to reach moms in contextually relevant environments.

Are you adapting your online strategies to target moms?

Here are some interesting market research reports to get you started:

21st century mom (Tina Sharkey @ babycenter, google docs, 70 pages, Dec 2009)
The Rise of the Real Mom (Marissa Miley & Ann Mack @ Ad Age, .pdf, 28 pages, Nov 2009)
Power Moms (Nielsen, Oct 2009)
Moms Online: More Influential Than Ever (eMarketer, June 2009)
The Four Truths About Moms and Search. (OTX Research, Sterling Brands and Google, 35 slides, ongoing study)

3/4 of Facebook moms are fans of at least one brand

clo willaerts — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:11:41 GMT
Data from "boutique agency" lucid marketing and freelance writer and analyst Lisa Finn show that most female Facebook users with children feel neutral about ads on the social network, compared with about 36% who actively disliked them. Only a tiny percentage of respondents reported liking ads on Facebook.

Most moms used Facebook primarily to keep in touch with friends and family, and only 10.4% said they focused on checking out companies or products. Three-quarters of them, however, are fans of at least one company or brand.

Further reading:
Facebook Moms Are Marketing-Savvy @ eMarketer
Moms Are Receptive to Marketing on Facebook — When It Follows Their Rules @ Lucid Marketing Blog
2010 Marketing to Moms on Facebook, Survey Results & Report @ Mom Reports

Mintel: "Shoes are a woman's best friend"

clo willaerts — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:27:39 GMT
According to a recent Mintel survey, 63 percent of career minded women pick shoes as the preferred accessory to complete an ensemble.
Top 3 of preferred womens accessories:
shoes: 63%
jewelry (necklaces, earrings, bracelets): 52%
purses, belts and scarves (less than 1/3)

Two more interesting facts from the report:
About 44 percent of women surveyed aged between 35 and 44 said they change into more stylish footwear on arrival at work while only less than a third of women 35 and up said they do that.
82 percent of the surveyed women dress for themselves; and only 34 percent said they dress to be fashionable

The survey was conducted online in August 2009 among a sample of 503 women parents aged 18 and older who had access to the internet and who worked outside the home. Mintel is an international supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence.

Source:
Mintel Press Release: It’s all about the shoes - Women choose shoes over other accessories to complete their looks

Five reasons why the iPad could become a popular women's gadget

clo willaerts — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:49:02 GMT
When earlier this the Apple Tablet's name was introduced as "iPad", almost immediate references to tampons (iTampon) sprouted up all over Twitter and the internet. Apple's marketing team seemed to have overlooked the possibility that the name "iPad" would remind people of feminine products.

But according to gadget blog ShinyShiny the recently launched iPad is bound to get lots of positive female attention.

Their 5 reasons:
This is a sexy gadget [...] a pleasure to hold and use.
Focus on Books not Gaming. [...] The iBook store is a big part of the iPad and magazines and newspapers are doing deals to have iPad-friendly editions loaded onto the device.
The iPad won't fit in your pocket - but it will fit in your handbag.
This has a lot of lifestyle gadgets on board: the calendar looks great.
Apps, this is going to be an app-centric device. [...]

More here:
Why the iPad will be a good women's gadget: 5 reasons @ ShinyShiny.tv

Pew Research: Wives becoming richer, better educated than their husbands

clo willaerts — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:07:19 GMT
According to a recent Pew study, the proportion of American marriages in which the wife makes more money rose to 22 percent in 2007 from 4 percent in 1970.

Also, a larger share of women are married to men with less education.
The report examines how changes at the nexus of marriage, income and education have played out among U.S.-born men and women who are ages 30-44. This age group are the first such cohort in U.S. history to include more women than men with college degrees.

Further reading:
Women, Men and the New Economics of Marriage @ Pewsocialtrends.org
Complete Report (.pdf)
My So-Called Wife @ Nytimes.com

"Women typically share content and experiences with selected friends"

clo willaerts — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:07:52 GMT
eMarketer senior analyst Karin von Abrams just published “UK Women: Trends in Device Use and Online Behavior.” From this report:

Communication and utility are top priorities for women, who use digital devices to stay in touch with friends and family as well as save time and help get their families organized.
Women are less numerous than men online (source: Eurostat) but their daily usage is high, indicating that engagement is increasing (source: Nielsen)
Female internet users are adopting social media faster then men. Example: UK female Internet users were 8 percentage points more likely than males to have a social networking site profile, (source: UK Office of Communications)

Further reading:
UK Women Are Digital Communicators

Two out of five gamers are female

clo willaerts — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:33:22 GMT
Some surprising statistics from OnlineEducation about video games, and who exactly is playing them.

Diapers.com: “Word-of-mouth is our strongest marketing tool.”

clo willaerts — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:18:07 GMT
Diapers.com ("We deliver everything but the baby") is the largest online specialist offering baby care necessities in the United States. The site was founded by two fathers, Marc Lore and Vinit Bharara, when they got tired of the 'diaper runaround' - midnight store runs for diapers, frustrated searches for the right diaper size, wasted time waiting in store lines and traffic.

Josh Himwich, Diaper.com's director of e-commerce, spoke to eMarketer about the nuances of targeting moms and how Diapers.com is broadening its customer base.

Some highlights:

“Word-of-mouth is our strongest marketing tool.”
“Like many e-commerce companies, we’re developing our social media strategy. We have a significant presence on Twitter and Facebook.”
“The hardest thing online companies have to contend with is convincing shoppers that consumable merchandise can easily be replenished via overnight shipping.”

Further reading:
Meeting Busy Moms’ Needs @ eMarketer.com

Marketing to Women on Facebook

clo willaerts — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:06:10 GMT
Brette Borow (@brette on Twitter), founder of GirlsGuideTo.com, has written a great piece on Marketing to Women on Facebook.

In short:

Quality counts: women are bombarded by marketing messages all day, every day, so don't spam.
Create an Emotional Connection by providing content they can relate to
Provide utility: make your fans look forward to your updates.
Give Fans a Voice: your Facebook Page is also one of the best “focus groups” on the web.
Listen: if a fan posts a question on your page, answer it.
Complement Her Life, Don’t Complicate It: keep the process simple.
Don’t Be Redundant: don't post the same message multiple times in their feed.
Keep the Shopping Experience Seamless
Remember: She’s a Social Shopper. Keep your offers and processes clear and honest.
Keep Your Fans in the Loop: Be upfront and straightforward, even if things go wrong.

Further reading (and some interesting cases):
10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook

British women would rather lose their boyfriend than their mobile phone

clo willaerts — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:46:33 GMT
A new survey conducted by British pawnbroker Borro.com on 4,000 women has revealed that British women prefer their mobile phones over their boyfriends.

No less than 40% of the women interviewed said they would be "devastated" if they lost their mobile phones. At the same time, one third of the ladies admitted they could very well go through life without a man. Boyfriends actually came up at number five on the women’s list of objects they wouldn’t want to live without, followed immediately after diamond rings, pets, laptops and hair straighteners.

Top 5 of women's most treasured possessions:
Mother
Photographs
Mobile phone
Best friend
Boyfriend

Other items included in the list of prized possessions are mascara, a pair of favorite shoes, concealer and Vaseline. On average, women spend £624 (about 700 euros) yearly on treats that boost her mood – including here anything from a candy bar and ice cream to cosmetic products and jewelry.

Further reading:
How women love their mobile phones... more than their boyfriends @ Dailymail.co.uk
Women Love Their Phone More than Their Boyfriend @ Today's News - Softpedia