For public relations practitioners who are using social media marketing or social media strategy to promote a company and company products the surveys summarised below are informative.
- The first three focus on the research skills of men who shop online;
- The fourth reinforces common knowledge: More Moms use Facebook.
Note: we have all been fooled by survey findings. A degree of skepticism is wise; rather, look to the results from a number of surveys before committing to a particular strategy.
Survey one, two, three: The social shopping habits of men
Key findings from the Performics’ 2011 Social Shopping studyinclude:
– Over half (57%) of men research products on deal sites compared to just 40% of women;
– 63% of men use shopping sites vs. 52% of women;
– 54% of men use social networks to research products vs. 43% of women;
– 62% of men compare products on shopping sites vs. 50% of women;
– 56% of men compare products on deal sites vs. 41% of women;
– Men are more likely to use their mobile device in-store to compare prices – 62% vs. 50%.
– Men are more likely to visit a company or brand’s social network page – 71% vs. 64%. – however women are more likely to “Like” that page after visiting (78% vs. 72%)
According to BizReport, Shoppercentric suggests that men browse online better than women, while research by Jacobs Media suggests men have significant input in the decision-making process in the majority of households.
“Advertisers ignore men at their own peril, opening up opportunities for competitive products and brands.”
Survey Four: More moms use Facebook, social networks than average internet users: October 19, 2011
Have you Facebook-friended your mom yet? Even if you haven’t, you probably have more than a few connections on the social network with little ones of their own, using the site as a way to communicate, stay in touch with families and exchange information about parenting, among other things.
eMarketer estimates 23 million US moms are on Facebook this year—a figure that counts women with children under 18 in the household who use the site at least once each month. That represents well over two-thirds of all online moms in the country. Overall, eMarketer estimates that just 57.1% of internet users (including children) use Facebook monthly.
Facebook, of course, is not the only social networking site moms use. Overall, 26.5 million mothers with kids in the home use social networks at least once per month, or 79.2% of online moms. This compares to 63.7% of internet users overall.
These estimates mean that as of 2011, moms will make up 17.9% of all US social network users and 17.4% of Facebook users. But the high rates of penetration reached in this group mean growth will be relatively slow, and moms will actually lose share on the sites over time. By 2013, eMarketer estimates, 16.1% of US Facebook users will be moms with children in the home, while 17.1% of all US social network users will be mothers.
