The powerofsocialnetworkingandwomen

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The Power of Social Networking
For Women Research Study
Copyright © 2009 ShesConnected Multimedia Corp.

July 2009

Not long ago social networking was still in the early stages of the innovation
adoption curve, primarily used by teenagers and young adults. Now Social
Networking has been woven into the fabric of everyday life and beyond the
purview of of young. It has gained enough momentum to 2009
The Powerthe Social Networking For Women Study - Julymove further along
the curve into new segments of users. We would like to share with you our
exploration into how pervasive Social Networking has become for women. Connecting women to your brand through social media
Connecting women to your brand through social media

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The Power of Social Networking for
Contents Women: A compilation of primary and
secondary research
3 About ShesConnected
3 Purpose of study
3 Methodology used Social Marketing to Women
4 Executive summary Volume 1
5 Overview of Social Networks July 2009
7 Women and Social Media
7 Results of primary research
8 Demographic profile of respondents Research Topics
• Age • Overview of Social Networking
• Ethnicity • Importance of women in Social Networks
• Relationship status • Implications for advertisers and agencies
• Number of children • Evaluating social marketing research
• Work status
• Education
12 Attitudes and behaviors of women on Who the report is written for:
Social Networks • Online Advertisers
• Hours spent online
• Brand Managers
• Number of Social Networks you belong to
• Agencies
• Features used online
• Frequency of using features
• Importance of online activities Benefits of this report:
• Social Networks they have joined
• Frequency of using Social Networks
• Provides an overview of the social media landscape
• How they found about the Social Network they joined
• Provides insights and recommendations to
• Why they joined
advertisers and agencies that market or are
• Number of groups they have joined or started
considering marketing on Social Networks
• Types of groups they have joined or started
• Provide a perspective on market research used for
• Number of friends or connections
social media decisions
• Concerns about Social Networks
• Most important tools or features on a Social Network
• How long they have been using Social Networks
• How proficient they are on Social Networks
• Comfort with various means of Social Network revenue
32 Key findings
33 Footnotes
34 Harvesting insights from social media
35 Brief market research tutorial
36 Authors

The Power of Social Networking For Women Study - July 2009


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Who we are
ShesConnected Multimedia Corp. - connecting women to our client’s brands

ShesConnected Multimedia is a unique social media agency designed to leverage the power of Social Networking
and social media to engage women in meaningful and relevant ways. ShesConnected combines agency expertise
with an online community of women to deliver gender-smart marketing. ShesConnected is made up of the following
capabilities:

• Social Media Agency (www.shesconnectedmultimedia.com)
• Social Network for Women (www.shesconnected.com)
• Women Bloggers and Twitter Network (www.shesconnectednetwork.com)

We use market research, analytics, and modeling to craft highly viral social media strategies and programs targeted
to women.

This unique approach is the reason why leading organizations turn to ShesConnected for their social media
solutions. Our team of strategists, account directors, community managers, analyst, designers, writers, and
developers are highly trained and experienced in social media as well as marketing to women. Whether you are
looking for a social media strategy, or how to integrate social media into your marketing mix; ShesConnected has the
expertise you need for creating vibrant online communities.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide key insights that
will allow advertisers and agencies to develop more
effective social media marketing strategies, campaigns
and programs. Marketers often ﬁnd conﬂicting
information in published research when evaluating
opportunities in social media. This paper is a compilation
of primary research, published secondary data, and
insights from our experienced staff and advisors who
specialize in marketing to women through Social
Networks.

Social media includes social media sites, blogs, and
social media applications/widgets.

Methodology
We conducted an online research study among women and tapped into the knowledge of the ShesConnected
Multimedia Corporate staff. We have also drawn from numerous secondary research resources such as the US
Census Bureau data, Forrester, and other published third-party research to explore what types of women are using
Social Networks, how and why they use them, and which features are important to them. We used a viral
approach to recruitment and, where possible, have compared the results against published research data that
utilized traditional sampling techniques intended to yield results projectable to the total female population.



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ShesConnected Multimedia designed and fielded this research study in April/May 2009. The research consisted of
an online survey completed by 711 women, recruited through a combination of e-mail invitations to ShesConnected
registered members, links posted on Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups (related to marketing and/or women), and
Twitter.

The survey invitation encouraged the recipient to recruit female friends, colleagues, and/or significant others to
complete the survey. No incentive was offered.

Executive Summary
Time spent on Social Networks is increasing as consumers spend less time on leisure activities that cost money1.
Three-quarters of US online adults use social technologies and adoption is expected to further increase during the
recession2. Women are engaging with Social Media and Social Networks faster than any other demographic. They
have discovered the power of Social Media and Social Network as:

• a way of promoting their businesses
• a way of connecting with other women with similar interests and passions
• the new way to organize their activities, manages groups, and stay in touch with friends

As the classic slogan for Oldsmobile goes, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile”, the juxtaposition for today is, “This
is not your teenager’s Social Network”. 53% of online women use Social Networks at least weekly and the rate of
Social Network adoption in the past year has been especially strong among older women.

So what are the implications for advertisers, marketers, and social networks? In a word; OPPORTUNITY! Women
are one of the most important demographics to advertisers. Advertisers know that in order to be successful, you have
to follow the money. And the money is in the purses of the women who are spending their time on Social Networks.
Women control up to 85% of all household expenditures. They outnumber men online, and are spending a significant
amount of time on Social Networks.

Is this opportunity being taken advantage of? In our opinion it isn’t. According to IAB’s 2008 Internet Advertising
Report, U.S advertisers spend $23.4 billion in online advertising in 2008. Their report did not break out advertising
spend on Social Networks. However, eMarketer estimates that $1.56 billion was spent on Social Networks in 2008.
That represents 6.7% of online advertising spent. While the amount of advertising spend on Social Networks grew
an estimated 70% from 2007, it still disproportionately small when you look at the reach and engagement levels that
Social Networks enjoy.

We believe the primary reason that Advertisers are under-spending on Social Networks can best be explained by
looking at the context of what has happened with Social Networks over the last few years. MySpace launched as an
online data storage and sharing site in August 2003, morphing into a true Social Networking site in 2004. Facebook
launched in February 2004 at Harvard University. Both sites focused exclusively on the youth market for the first few
years building up critical mass before moving to an older demographic.



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In the early years Advertisers had several problems with Social Networks;

• it was unproven marketing medium
• given the nature of user-generated content and a focus on a younger demographic, many advertisers were leery
of advertising on the sites
• there were concerns from both the Social Networks and the Advertisers on the use and receptivity of advertising
on these sites
• there was little in the way of true infrastructure to support targeted or behavioral based advertising
• there were concerns about the effectiveness of traditional display advertising on Social Networks, and
• traditional performance metrics such as monthly uniques, page views, and click-through rates are not
comprehensive enough to measure the true effectiveness of social media

Many of these problems have been or are being resolved. We believe that Advertisers, Marketers, and Social
Networks are working aggressively to ﬁnd the right formula for engaging consumers through social media. The result
will be increased spending and new innovative approaches to marketing on Social Networks.

Overview of Social Networks
News about the explosive growth of social media is everywhere. Marketers are struggling to understand how best
to leverage social media tools in achieving their marketing objectives. They question how they will measure ROI in
order to justify expenditures, how to evaluate and/or conduct market research on Social Networks, and what the
potential impact would be of directly engaging with consumers in dialogue.

A longitudinal study of the use of social media in corporations indicates its usage with the Inc. 500 nearly doubled
over a 12-month period3.

An estimated 53% of marketers expect to increase spending on social media, with expenditures on Social
Networking components slated as the area most likely to be increased4. Undoubtedly we will see further increase in
usage by consumers in 2009.

Since social media provides an opportunity to engage in Social Network communities, it also allows the marketer to
build relationships by adding value to those communities. For this to be accomplished, marketers need to identify and
evaluate the unique characteristics of each Social Network community in order to gauge ﬁt.



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Usage By Type of Social Media 2007 2008 “We have invested
Message/Bulletin Boards 33% 35% heavily in social media at
our company. We believe
Social Networking 27% 49% in the power of online
Online Video 24% 45%
communities to help
uncover insights;
Blogging 19% 39% generate and validate
new product, service,
Wikis 17% 27%
and business-model
Don’t Use Any 43% 23% concepts; and most
important, create the
Podcasting 11% 21% necessar conversations
that spark a new idea we
can develop and
As for any other element in the marketing mix, marketers want to introduce across the
have the ability to track and measure the effectiveness of social
media. As recent as May 2009, the IAB released a white paper with
globe.” 5
Social Media in the Inc. 500: The First
recommendations on social media ad metrics, but up to now there
has been no standardization of metrics to track effectiveness of Longitudinal Study.

social media or across social media. Currently there is no
standardization of user IDs. This hampers the ability to track and
measure social media as well as frustrates consumers who must log
into each individual site. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! are
working together on a shared identity system called OpenID6.
Concerns about data privacy and security are also significant factors in the evolution of OpenID. The ability to
measure ROI will continue to evolve as technology evolves.

Social media is also evolving from just being a place to socialize with friends and family. It’s becoming a hub for
sharing information and providing personal opinions and perspectives. Netpop Research reported that 76% of US
broadband users (105 million) are active contributors to social media7. The typical Social Networker in the U.S. can
be identified as a single employed woman between the age 18-39 who:

• Connects weekly with an average of 18 people one-on-one and 110 people one-to many
• Spends a significant amount of time on Social Networking sites (U.S. Social Networking sites minutes per session
has almost doubled over the past year (83% in April 2009 versus April 2008)8
• Uses multiple modes to communicate and stay in touch (IMs, texts, blogs and micro blogs)
• Is more likely to shop and spend more online than their non-contributing peers ($101/mo vs. $80/mo)
• Chooses to shop with retailers that allow for customer care experiences to be shared online at nearly 75%9



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Women and Social Media Results of Primary Research
Women outnumber men on most Social Networks.10 The following are the results of the primary research
There is a disparity between the genders in terms of conducted by ShesConnected. In addition to
their attitudes, behaviors, and needs. Published gathering information on women involved in social
research from Rapleaf, a company that collects and media, the research also gave us the opportunity to
analyzes publicly available data from the Internet, explore the implications of recruiting respondents for a
reports that although men spend as much or more time market research survey using viral techniques as
online overall, women far outpace the men on usage of compared to standard recruiting using a nationally
social media (The Social Media Gender Gap representative online panel (when possible).
BusinessWeek May 19, 2008).
Using the viral recruitment technique (versus a random
Studies have also found significant differences in the sample of online users) resulted in older, more highly
online activity patterns between men and women11. educated respondents versus female Social Network
Men have a greater tendency to use the internet for network users in general. The survey results for the
functional tasks (get information or download) whereas ShesConnected research more closely resemble those
women use the internet in a ‘richer and more engaging of heavy or core Social Network users.
way’ (employ Social Networks for information, maintain/
strengthen family connections, sharing news)12.

According to a recent university study, the success of
a Facebook application depends upon whether the
social network member is male or female. Applications
are passed to friends only if there is a perceived value.
Although both genders want novelty and rarity, women
seek applications to faciliate self-expression whereas
men seek those that facilitate competition.13

In addition to Social Network sites, blogs are a
powerful source of purchase influence for women.
Women who read and/or post to blogs are far more
motivated by the desire to get information and seek
advice/recommendations than are female social
networkers in general. They are also significantly more
likely to make a purchase decision based on customer
experiences reported on blogs. 14

In a blog written by Liana Evans (http://www.semclub-
house.com), she observes that “there is a definite
difference in how men and women utilize, share,
communicate and move around in social media.
Women converse and share more. They want to talk
about their experiences or express their feelings –
whether they are raving about a product or pissed off
about the service they receive. Men are less
expressive. It’s rare you see a man gushing about the
brand new suit he picked up.”



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DEMOGRAPHIC
PROFILE OF
RESPONDENTS



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advertising on the sites, 3) there were concerns from
Age of the core female both the Social Networks and the advertisers on the
use receptivity of advertising on these sites, and finally
Social Networker 4) there was little in the way of true infrastructure to
support targeted or behavioral based advertising.

Very few would debate the viability of Social Networks
today. Through critical mass, Social Networks have
gone mainstream and have resonated with an
important demographic -- those who control the
household purse strings. Women control over 85% of
household spending. Advertisers know they must
engage this powerful target demographic in a way that
is relevant, meaningful, insightful – served up to her
Age: Please tell us your age… when and where she wants it.

Key findings/insights Marketers continue to struggle with a media vehicle
As the classic slogan for Oldsmobile goes, “This is not that lacks conventional media metrics, a well-defined
your father’s Oldsmobile”, the juxtaposition for today is, ROI, and reduced “control” over how and where their
“This is not your teenager’s Social Network”. The rate brand is portrayed. That said, they know it is an
of Social Network adoption in the past year has been increasingly important part of the internet and will
especially strong among older women. We found that increase their marketing expenditures on these sites.
women over 40 years of age accounted for 53% of
female core users. In a recent study, Facebook found
one of their fastest growing segments are women over
Ethnicity
55, up 175% in the last 120 days. Women comprise
56% of Facebook’s audience, up from 54% late last
year.15

Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and
Social Networks
Advertisers have struggled with how to effectively
advertise on Social Networks. Looking at the
evolution of Social Networks, this makes sense.
MySpace launched as an online data storage and
sharing site in August 2003, morphing into a true Social
Networking site in 2004. Facebook launched in
February 2004. Both sites focused exclusively on the Ethnicity: Please tell us which best describes you…
youth market for the first few years building up critical
mass before moving to an older demographic. Key insights/finding
There was an over-representation of white/caucasians
In the early years advertisers had several problems among the core Social Network users as compared to
with Social Networks, 1) it was unproven, 2) given the the general online population (85% vs. 72%)16 and
nature of user-generated content and a focus on a the US population at large (66%)17 .
younger demographic, many advertisers were leery of
Black/African American respondents represented 4% of



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our core user respondents, well below incidence
among online users (11%)18 and the US population Number of children
(13%)19 .

Asian women represented 5% of our core user
respondents, similar to incidence among online users
overall (6%)20 and in the total U.S. population (4%)7.

Self-identified Hispanics were the most
under-represented among core Social Network users.
Only 2% reported using Social Networking sites,
significantly below incidence among online users
overall (11%)21 and the U.S. population (15%)22 .
Children: Do you have children?
Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and
Social Networks Key insights/findings
Caucasion women were over-represented among Over half (55%) of core Social Network users have
core social media users. We would expect ethnicity to children. The average core user has two children in the
realign to more closely reflect the online population at household, comparable to the U.S. population.
large as adoption of Social Networking continues to
grow. Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and
Social Networks
A benefit of social media is the ability to target specific Marital status and presence of children in the
social communities based on their member profiles household will impact the interests and needs of the
and interests. As Social Networks expand and become target core user. While these are strong influencers,
more diverse, niche targeting will become more marketers should consider other profile characteristics
prevalent and effective. that attracted members to join a Social Network and
determine whether the network provides the optimal
Relationship Status environment for the brand.

Relationship Status: Please tell us your
relationship status…

Key insights/findings
The majority of core Social Network users are married
(59%). Single women represented 29% of core users
and 12% are divorced. Single core users skewed
heavily toward those aged 21-25 (81% vs. 29% for all
age groups).



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Work Status Education

Work Status: Please tell us your work status... Education Status: Please tell us your level of
education level achieved.
Almost half (47%) of core users reported working full Key insights/findings
time for someone else, and over a third (36%) Core Social Network users tend to be highly educated,
reported being self employed. Self employed core with 23% having earned a Masters, PhD, or other
users skewed heavily towards those aged 41-45. advanced degree (vs. 8%24 nationally). Also
over-represented versus the U.S. population are those
Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and with a Bachelor’s degree (41% vs.15% U.S. pop)25.
Social Networks
According to the Small Business Administration study Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and
on Women’s Business Ownership, “Women Social Networks
entrepreneurs are among the fastest growing groups of Highly educated women will likely have low tolerance
business owners”. These women tend to be older and for poorly designed or executed marketing campaigns.
better educated than wage and salary-earning working It is vital that marketers communicate and interact with
women23. these core user/influencers in an intelligent,
respectful manner. The use of social applications
Through qualitative research we conducted on Social designed specifically for this target audience should
Networks, women use Social Networks to increase engagement.
promote their businesses, to build business
relationships through networking, and to promote their
personal brand. Women are using Blogs, micro-blogs
(such as Twitter), and Social Networking sites to build
PR for their businesses and themselves.

For example, Visa launched The Visa Business
Network on Facebook to connect small business users
and to help them promote their businesses to a larger
community. (http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corpo-
rate-social-media/)



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ATTITUDES AND
BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN
ON SOCIAL NETWORKS



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Numbers of hours spent on the Internet per day

Question: On average, how many hours per day do you spend on the internet for personal use and for work or
business?

Half (49%) of core Social Network users average 1-2 hours per day on the internet for personal reasons; a third
(33%) report spending more than 3 hours per day.

Almost half (48%) report being online for 5 or more hours per day for business. When looking at internet use for work
or business, 20% are online 3-4 hours per day.

Almost half of female core users who use the Internet for business are considered heavy users, online for 5 or more
hours a day.

Implications for Advertisers/Marketers and Social Networks
Women are spending a signiﬁcant amount of time online each day. A deeper look at their activities reveals that the
line between “work” and “personal use” is blurring. When spending time on Social Networking sites, women easily
co-mingle work and personal activities. “Self employed” women tend to spend more time online than other women for
both “work” and “personal use”. This may be in part due to the lack of constraints to access Social Networks during
working hours.



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Number of Social Networks you belong to?

Question: How many Social Networks have you joined/belong to?

Over two-thirds (67%) of core Social Network users belong to 3 networks; half belong to 4 or more. Based on
previous focus groups conducted by ShesConnected, the predominant reason given for joining multiple sites was “no
one site meets all of my needs or interests”.

Women perceive the broad categories of Social Networks to be:

• Business or professionally-oriented sites
• Sites for reconnecting with old friends and staying in touch with current friends
• Sites that cater to special interests or hobbies
• Sites that keep me updated (there is a distinction made between sites having professional editorial versus
consumer-generated content, with a preference for the latter)

As the number of Social Network sites proliferate and people become overwhelmed with the number of choices and
time required for upkeep, Social Networks with the greatest number of members will thrive. This consolidation will
mean smaller networks will be unable to remain viable unless they offer a unique value proposition.

Marketers should maintain a presence in the largest networks, but should consider leveraging the power of niche
Social Network sites. Smaller niche sites provide an opportunity to have a greater presence and to tailor
communications to the speciﬁc needs of the member base. Any marketing tactics customized to the site should
support the overall brand position.

One example of how an advertiser utilized social media is Fujiﬁlm. They launched a Social Network to build a
community of photo enthusiasts around its newest camera. (http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-me-
dia/)



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Features Used Online

Question: Which of the following activities have you done online?

Core Social Network users are engaged in a greater variety of Social Network activities than other network users.
The incidence of starting a blog was exceedingly high, likely a reflection of the education level and social media
involvement of these core users. Although incidence was lower for RSS feed subscriptions and downloading
podcasts, these may be excellent vehicles to reach early adopters or influencers.

Women seem to be very proficient at using most of the features of a Social Network. Advertisers and marketers have
an opportunity to integrate marketing tactics into the fabric of the features giving them many more opportunities to
engage women than they have through traditional display advertising. We believe that many of these activities will
lend themselves to promotional-based tactics for the advertiser. Advertisers would be well served to not make such
tactics intrusive and should closely monitor engagement levels and continually gauge consumer receptivity.



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Frequency of Using Features

Question: How frequently do you do the following activities?

Frequent and deep engagement is the core theme here. The top four activities on a daily/weekly basis are:

Viewing profiles – 81%
Reading blogs – 71%
Watching video – 65%
Leaving comments – 51%

By having a presence in the most popular activities on Social Networks, marketers have an opportunity to increase
both the number and quality of consumer touch points. It is important that marketing tactics and communications fit
contextually with what the viewer is doing.

There are many potential approaches to leveraging the popularity of certain features. Some examples of
marketing tactics:

1. Viewing profiles: sponsor voting widget to highlight the best profiles
2. Reading blogs: nurture relationships with influential bloggers to promote your products or services
3. Watching video: sponsor contest for best video produced that features product
4. Leaving comments: opportunity to become part of the conversation – not to overtly promote your product, but to
provide value to the Social Network community.



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For example, Starbucks started MyStarbucksIdea so that customers can submit ideas for the company which are
then voted on by other users, the best of which will be implemented by the company.
(http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/)

“It’s funny I didn’t even know what
social networks were two years ago.
Now I can’t imagine not using my
networks. I use them for everything”



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Importance of Various Online Activities

Question: How important are the following activities to you?

The following activities are considered to be “somewhat” or “very” important:

The ability to create and edit a profile – 82%
Uploading pictures – 80%
Reading blogs – 76%
Viewing profiles – 74%

Frequency is closely related to the importance of the activity, with some notable (and understandable) exceptions:
the ability to create/edit a profile and writing blogs.

Advertisers and marketers have an opportunity to partner with Social Networks to develop campaigns that follow and
are integrated into the core users’ most prevalent/important activities. One should not underestimate the power of
brand presence. According to Bill Moran in the classic marketing article Brand Presence and the Perceptual Frame,26
presence is ‘the lubricator which simply facilitates sales by reducing the mental friction in the consumer’s
decision-making process.’

The most successful tactics will be promotional in nature as these can be far more effective than a banner ad in
creating brand presence. Although creating and editing a profile is not a frequent activity, its importance gives the
marketer an opportunity to add value in a memorable way.



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An example would be to sponsor tools, backgrounds, images, features, and widgets to enhance the profiler’s
creativity or status. This promotion could be further extended to include sponsored voting for favorite profiles and
publicity to highlight the winners.

For example, Dell leverages a variety of social media platforms for customer engagement, including an island in the
virtual world of Second Life. (http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/)

“Social Networks are the most
efficient way for me to stay in
touch with what is going on. I use
them to promote my business, stay
in touch with friends and keep up
to date with what is important”



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Membership in Specific Social Networks

Question: Which of the following Social Networks do you belong to?

Out of the top 20 sites listed in our survey, Facebook dominated with 83% core user members, followed closely by
LinkedIn with 73%. Incidence of Twitter membership was exceedingly high (55% vs. 5% as reported by Harris
Interactive). High incidence of membership across Social Networks is a reflection of the level of core user
involvement and the method of recruitment used.

Social media requires more thoughtfulness. Marketers cannot just push out their message. They need to think of the
context in which users experience marketing tactics. Once large Social Networking sites hit critical mass, the
members fragment into special interest groups. This provides the marketers with the opportunity to focus efforts on
the popular groups and tailor the messaging and tactics to match each group’s focus.

The most effective marketing campaigns for adaptation to social media are those broad enough to fit the particulars
of different sites. For example, the Dove campaign ‘The Many Faces of Beauty’ could have included a ‘Put your best
face forward’ profile contest on a business-focused network around the idea of the importance of first impressions.
Winner would get a make-over for themselves as well as for their website. On personal-focused networks, the
campaign would be adapted to a community cause such as helping under-privileged kids develop a positive self
image.



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Frequency of Visiting a Social Networks

Question: How frequently do you visit a Social Network site?

About 6 in 10 of these core users are visiting Social Network sites multiple times each day, with a total of 73%
visiting at least once daily. Not only have these sites captured a huge number of subscribers in a relatively short
period of times, they have also driven a level of unprecedented engagement. Email is the only other application that
drives more frequent usage.

The implications are profound; users of Social Networks are finding such high utility in these sites that they are
becoming a central component of their lives online. Marketers need to focus on how best to provide value to the
community. A deeper look into Social Network behaviors and attitudes will help guide decisions related to the
development and placement of specific marketing tactics.

Email offers the opportunity for ad placement but ads are difficult to contextualize. Social networks are increasingly
replacing or augmenting email communications and have the advantage of being able to customize ads that have
relevance to the general context of the group.

An example would be postings or inbox messages considered valuable enough to pass along to a friend.
Information sent by a friend is more likely to be opened and read.



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Source of Discovering Social Networking Sites

Question: How did you find out about the Social Network site(s) you visit or belong to?

At the risk of stating the obvious, Social Networks are by their very nature viral. Adoption is being accomplished
primarily by word of mouth. Whether it is a friend, co-worker, or family member, women are being driven to sites
predominately through people they know.

In addition, with the massive amount of media attention these sites have received it is hard to imagine someone not
being aware of Social Networking. Surfing the web was a leading source of discovering Social Networks (45%). We
believe that a large percentage of those discovering Social Networking sites by surfing the web were initially
prompted to look at the sites by something they read or heard about in the media.

With the great success of Social Networking sites, marketers must figure out how to integrate themselves into the
social fabric of the web. This has challenged marketers on many levels but there are many potential approaches to
consider:

• Develop a fan page to drive engagement and collect data
• Create promotions with links into the fan page to increase traffic
• Integrate offline and online marketing with web addresses on packaging and advertising, contests that require
codes be entered in the website or fan page
• Sponsor groups or entire sections of a site
• Sponsor newsletters
• Create excitement and entertain with content, contests, special offers, and promotions
• Post links to popular websites on fan page and request they host links to your fan page

For example, Jeep connects with customers via a community page with links to photos on Flickr, the company’s
MySpace and Facebook pages and a list of enthusiast groups. (http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-
media/)



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Importance of visiting/belonging to a Social Networking site

Question: Why do you visit or belong to a Social Networking site, and how important are these?

Whether it be for business or personal use, interactions with others is the primary motivation for participating in
Social Networks. Business activities such as networking and promotions are the most highly valued beneﬁts of Social
Networks. On the personal side, keeping in touch with friends, family, and group members is an important beneﬁt.

Social networks are most valued for facilitating communications. Marketers can join in the conversation if they avoid
direct sales pitches and instead become a contributing member of the community. Through an understanding of
community needs, marketing efforts can focus on informing and facilitating activities of the highest perceived value,
such as:

• Helping professionals network by developing marketing tactics to help give exposure
• Facilitating reconnections with a widget “Whatever happened to….”
• Promoting businesses through sponsoring voting for best in category
• Facilitating communications of group activities through RSS feeds

For example, HSBC built the HSBC Business Network to connect entrepreneurs using blogs, videos and forums.
(http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/)



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Number of groups joined or started

Question: How many groups have you joined or started?

Even among this core Social Network user group, starting a network community group is reserved for influencers
(56% of core users). The average number of groups joined is 2-5, but there are a sizeable number of core users that
belong to more than 10 groups (29%).

Core users actively start and participate in groups. Social Network groups are a great venue to have meaningful
dialogue about brands, product or service experiences, and upcoming products. Marketers should find ways to help
people create and join groups by way of widgets or links.

Group creators are likely to be top influencers. Careful nurturing of a respectful, mutually beneficial relationship could
lead to brand advocacy and/or support of your marketing efforts.

For example, Yamaha (UK) empowered their community members by providing them tools to create Social Networks
within their branded environment. (http://mashable.com/2008/07/23/corporate-social-media/comments)



25

Types of groups joined or started

Question: What kind of groups did you join or start?

The types of groups core users join reﬂect the primary motivations for joining Social Networks. Core users tend to
value and join business-related and community groups. These users are less focused on children and family-related
discussions.

It is more important that the marketer choose a group best suited to the brand and product rather than to those with
the greatest number of members. Quality rather than quantity is the most effective means of sincerely connecting
with customers and prospects.

An example would be driving fundraising efforts for a cause close to the heart of your target audience. It is especially
important that fundraising activities be sincere and ongoing. People will be able to sense whether there is a true
commitment to the cause.



26

Total Number of “friends” or “connections”

Question: How many connections or friends do you have on the networks you belong to?

According to a study by Rapleaf, women have an average of 62 online friends with 70% having between 1 and 50
friends. Our research skewed towards a higher number of connections, which reflects the behaviors of a core user
group.

Those with friends and influence are attractive targets for advertisers.Their influence can best be leveraged by
providing something of value for viral distribution. Caution should be taken in not attempting to overuse their
influence as it could have a negative impact on both the brand and the influencer.

Some bloggers use their online real estate to drive revenue at the expense of the reader. Too many advertisers on
a page can lead to a loss in credibility and overpower the content. Google analytics can provide metrics on specific
sites, which can be a useful tool in selecting where to focus efforts. Examples of social media metrics are unique
visitors, cost per unique visitor, page views, visits, return visits, interaction rate, time spent, video install, and relevant
actions taken.



27

Concerns about using Social Networks

Question: What concerns do you have regarding Social Networks and how important are those concerns to you?

Consistent with other published research, privacy is one of the top concerns about using Social Networks. The next
most prevalent concern is the time one needs in order to keep up with network communications.

Aside from respecting the privacy and safeguarding the security of network members, marketers must be
respectful of their time. Keep communications brief and ensure any requirements placed on the network members
will be to their beneﬁt. While sophisticated network members do not shy away from innovative applications with
some complexity, they appreciate opportunities to save time and effort. Sponsored applications to streamline their
network activities such as the ability to get screen information would likely be well received. Marketers should stay
away from marketing tactics that require time-consuming involvement and focus instead on those with high value and
potential for viral distribution.



28

Most Important Tools or Features on a Social Network

Question: Which tools or features are most important on a Social Network?

Tools to provide the ability to set levels of privacy and security are the most important features to core users. These
features are even more important than the core functions of belonging to a Social Network, such as posting
comments/photos and inviting friends to join your network.

Given that privacy and security are at the top of the list of core user needs, marketers must carefully gauge and
monitor any communications they have with the target group. Social media efforts could potentially work against the
marketer if mishandled. Marketers should carefully research the practices of Social Networks they are considering
and avoid those that do not honor member conﬁdentiality.



29

Length of Time Have Used Social Networking Sites

Question: How long have you been using Social Networking Sites?

If 45% of core Social Network users have belonged to a Social Network for less than two years, there is still
signiﬁcant growth on the horizon.

Marketers may be entering into an environment where members are familiar and comfortable with the way things are
being done. On the other hand, members may be ready for novelty – an excellent opportunity for the marketer to be
noticed. New activities/approaches should be pre-tested so as not to have the effort backﬁre and cause more harm
than good.



30

Perceptions of Proficiency with Social Networking

Question: How proficient are you at using Social Networks?

Core Social Network users tend to be confident in their Social Networking abilities.

Marketers should find ways to help core users to stay ahead of the curve by introducing new applications and
providing updated, useful information. It is best not to shy away from widgets and applications with some complexity.
Users are increasingly more sophisticated and may become alienated if communications and functionality is
“dumbed down.”



31

Comfort with Various Means of Social Network Revenue

Question: Social Networks have several ways to make money. What is your comfort level for each of these
methods?

Core Social Network users understand the need for Social Networks to support themselves through advertising but
are not willing to have their data sold or be charged a subscription fee to access the site.

Social networks need to look to advertising revenue to be proﬁtable. Potential products or services for sale on the
site should be optional for members and not a requirement for site access. Advertisers should strive for engaging
and useful communications on the site so that it is viewed as an enhancement to the community rather than a painful
requirement.



32

Key Findings
• Women are one of the fastest growing segments on Social Networks with 53% of online women use
Social Networks at least weekly. We believe this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
• The adoption of Social Networks by older women is especially strong. The largest age group in our core
user survey was women over 50 years of age.
• They are highly educated, with 23% of respondents having a Masters, PHD, or other advanced degree
(vs. 8% Nationally).
• Over a third report they are in business for themselves. They spend a signiﬁcant amount of time online
each day with 49% reporting they spend 1 – 2 hours per day for personal use and 48% reporting they
spend 5 or more hours per day online for work.
• They belong to multiple Social Networks with 48% reporting they belong to four or more Social Networks.
• The top 5 reasons they belong to Social Networks are:
• Network professionally
• Stay up-to-date with friends
• Stay up-to-date with groups they belong to
• Promote their business
• Research products or services
• They visit Social Networks frequently with 59% visiting Social Networking sites multiple times per day,
14% reporting at least once per day, and 14% reporting several times per week.
• They are highly engaged and comfortable with the technology. The most popular activities are:
• Viewing video
• Reading blogs
• Posting photos
• Writing in blogs
• Posting comments
• The have a lot of connections/friends with 83% reporting they have 50 or more connections or friends.
• They join and/or start a large number of groups with 28% reporting they belong to more than 10 groups,
with business related groups being the most popular group they join or start.
• Safeguarding personal privacy is the number one concern for women using Social Networks.



33

Footnotes
1. The Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Mary-
land’s Robert H. Smith School of Business “Changing Consumer 13. Rebekah Russell-Bennett and Dr Larry Neale, “What value do
Priorities in Tough Times”. Consumer Technology Pulse: Research users derive from social networking applications?”, Queensland
Results (March 2009) University of Technology, June 17, 2009
http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/releases/2009/pdfs_docs/ http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=5725
WhitePaperTechPulse.pdf
14. Susan Wright and Elisa Camahort Page, “2009 Women and
2. Craig McLurg, “Inside WebTrends Engage 2009” Social Media Study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners”
WebTrends Announcments (April 8, 2009): May 29, 2009 p 18, and p 22
http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2009_04_01_archive.html
15. Justin Smith, “Fastest Growing Demographic, Women over
3. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D. and Eric Mattson, Social Media in 55” www.insidefacebook.com, February 2, 2009
the Inc. 500: The First Longitudinal Study (Center for Marketing http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/02/fastest-growing-
Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth July 11, demographic-on-facebook-women-over-55/
2008)
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/blogstudy5.pdf 16. Kathleen Clark, Atelier Report, March 5, 2008
http://www.atelier-us.com/internet-usage/article/leveling-the-us-
4. Brian Morrissey, “Social Media Outlay Still Small Forrester ﬁnds online-population
that marketers still relegate efforts to the sidelines”, 2009
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3ie- 17. 2007 US Census Report,
2b23ab2b6e7cd34591a961df87dc4eb (March 16, 2009) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

5. G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Vitón, “Dive into Social 18. Kathleen Clark, Atelier Report, March 5, 2008
Media Now” Business Week, May 2009 http://www.atelier-us.com/internet-usage/article/leveling-the-us-
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2009/ online-population
ca20090512_532970.htm (May 12, 2009)
19. 2007 US Census Report,
6. David Recordon, “A Social Web Intro at the Internet Identity http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
Workshop 2009”
http://www.slideshare.net/daveman692/a-social-web-intro-at-the- 20. Kathleen Clark, Atelier Report, March 5, 2008
internet-identity-workshop http://www.atelier-us.com/internet-usage/article/leveling-the-us-
online-population
7. Cate Riegner, “Media Shifts to Social Media” Netpop
Research LLC 2009 Social Media Report, 21. ComScore Press Release, “U.S. Hispanic Internet Audience
http://www.slideshare.net/Netpop/netpop-connect-media-shifts-to- Growth Outpaces Total U.S. Online Population by 50 Percent”,
social-2009 p. 13. April 16, 2009
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/4/
8. Nielson Wire, “Time Spent on Facebook up 700%, but MySpace U.S._Hispanic_Internet_Audience_Growth
Still Tops for Video”, June 2, 2009
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/time-spent-on- 22. 2007 US Census Report,
facebook-up-700-but-myspace-still-tops-for-video/ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html

9. Raging Analytics, “Make Online Shopping a Social 23. Darrene Hackler, Ellen Harpel, and Heike Mayer, “Small Busi-
Experience”, October 13, 2008, ness Research Summary, Human Capital and Women’s Business
http://www.raginganalytics.com/blog/tag/online-retailer/ Ownership”, April 2008

10. Richard MacManus, “Study: Women Outnumber Men on Most 24. 2000 US Census report on Education attainment for
Social Networks”, July 29, 2008 women. http://factﬁnder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_networks_women_ geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_QTP20&-
outnumber_men.php ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U

11. Chris V. Thangham, “Women Outnumber Men on 25. IBIT
Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and other social networks”, Digital
Journal, July 30, 2008 26. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol 30, No. 5,
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/258009 October/November 1990

12. Gord Hotchkiss, “Human Hardware: Men and Women”
March21, 2008
http://searchengineland.com/human-hardware-men-and-wom-
en-13614



34

Harvesting Insights from Social Media
Social media provides an opportunity for marketers to gather valuable insights without formal market research.
On the most basic level, monitoring posts and discussions can give you a sense of the breadth of issues
related to your brand, company and category. Niche networks and forums provide an opportunity to expand
beyond the most popular Social Networks and explore unique issues and needs.

On www.sherpablog.com (Market Research via Social Media, Adam Sutton, 4/17/09), there are four main
categories of information that can involve mining social media:

1. Brand monitoring – What consumers are saying about their companies and their competitors
2. Trend analysis – Current trends in a market and where the market is heading
3. Customer information – Information about current and potential customers as well as best language to use
when communicating to customers
4. Unmet needs – Collect information about what products consumers wish they had

On www.sociableblog.com, there was a blog posted (April 29, 2009) on 100 tips and tools to research the
social web. The following are just a sampling of the tools, sites, alerts, and tips offered in the posting:

• Set up alerts: Use various services to track industry keywords and/or other relevant information.
• Set up feeds: Save time by setting up an RSS feed that will collect news for you
• Sign up for Delicious (the biggest collection of bookmarks online) and Digg (highlights top news across the
web)
• Explore tools to monitor popularity of keywords and conduct power searches



35

Brief Market Research Tutorial
With the rapid growth of Social Networks, it is incentive was offered, and how engaged the
important that the marketer have the ability to respondent is with the entire survey experience.
evaluate market research so as not to be
misinformed in making decisions. The following are
key considerations in judging the quality of research
Considerations in analysis and
on social media: reporting of data
According to The Art and Science of Interpreting
Market Research (DVL Smith/JH Fletcher, 2004),
Defining the population there are eight broad areas one should consider in
One of the first steps in designing a market research
determining to what degree compensation is required
study is to define the population you would like to
when interpreting market research:
generalize to. For this study, the population would be
women who have joined at least one Social Network.
• Could the context in which the research was
conducted have affected responses?
Creating the Sampling Frame • Was the research design fit-to-purpose?
The design of the sample is based on the goal of
• Was the sample representative of the target
getting the best representation of your population as
audience?
possible. For some populations, this can be a
• Was the most appropriate data collection method
challenge in terms of accessibility, incidence, and
use?
cost. Other considerations in designing the sample
• How natural was the dialogue with the
frame include the size of the sample and the level of
respondent?
precision desired.
• Were the questions asked neutral and unbiased?
• Was the study professionally executed?
Types of Sampling Methods • Have the study results been presented (or put
Probability sampling allows one to generalize the
in the public domain) from a neutral standpoint,
results of a survey to the population at large. There
or in a way that might seek to advance a
are many different types of probability or random
particular position?
sampling but they all share the common
characteristic of giving each person in your
population an equal probability of being chosen.
Statistical tests (such as significance, margin of error,
etc.) are only valid for results drawn from a
probability sampling frame.

Non-probability sampling does not involve random
selection.

Creating the questionnaire
The way questions are worded in a survey can have
a profound impact on the results. Data quality is also
directly related to questionnaire length, the flow, the
complexity of the tasks required, whether an



36

Authors

Mark Grindeland Cathy Harrison
Co-founder & CEO VP, Market Research

Mark is co-founder and CEO of ShesConnected Cathy is responsible for leading the market research
Multimedia Corp., and has been exclusively focused efforts for ShesConnected Multimedia Corp. She
in Social Media since 2007. His unique skill set has over 20 years of experience in both quantitative
encompasses Advertising, Mobile, and Social Media and qualitative research techniques across a broad
at executive levels. With over 25 years of experience range of industries. She is dedicated to the pursuit
working with some of the world’s leading consumer of actionable consumer insights using cost-effective
brands he is well equipped to provide strategic and creative research solutions. Prior to joining
leadership in the ever changing media landscape. ShesConnected, Cathy worked at Bose Corporation,
Mark was a co-founder of m-Qube Inc. the premier The Response Center, Wrangler, Young & Rubicam,
provider of mobile messaging and data solutions and The Advertising Research Foundation.
in North America. He was also the Chief Executive
Ofﬁcer, Wunderman Cato Johnson - Europe, Middle cathy@shesconnected.com
East, and Africa region. Prior to that Mark was a 617-674-2169 ext 289
Senior Vice President at Digitas.

mark@shesconnected.com
617-674-2169 ext. 200

Contact Information
ShesConnected Multimedia Corp - Boston ShesConnected Multimedia Corp - Toronto
2 Woodstock Drive, 40 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 502
Framingham, MA 01701 Toronto, ON M4P 3A2
Tel: 617-674-2169 Tel: 416-761-4071
Fax: 617-674-2469 Fax: 416-761-4073

ShesConnected
Properties
www.shesconnected.com
www.shesconnectedmultimedia.com



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