One-quarter Of “Women of Social Media” Prefer Socializing Online Rather Than In-person

Women appear to have adapted to social media  quickly and easily. Whether connecting with friends and family, recommending brands,  shopping, posting product reviews or sharing everything from business advice to recipes,  it’s clear women have embraced a variety of social media platforms.

Seeking to identify how to tap into the online female market even more effectively, PR firm Weber Shandwick in partnership with KRC Research surveyed 2,000 North American women, with an emphasis on those seen as “digital influencers.”

“No successful brand these days can be without a social media engagement plan,” explains Weber Shandwick’s Director of Digital Engagement Marcy Massura. “Nor can any marketer ignore the strength – in number and influence – of women who use social media.”

Just how large and influential is this group of social media savvy women?  Take a look at these numbers: 

Study: One In Five Young Adults Has Mobile Addiction

As we’ve already seen in study after study, young adults are becoming increasingly attached to their mobile devices.  New research on this topic not only confirms those earlier findings, but has even resulted in a label for those who seemed compelled to habitually check or otherwise use their smartphones: mobile addicts.

In its recently released report, Kantar Media found that more than 80 percent of those between the ages of 11 and 24 now own mobile devices, and that one out of every five individuals in this age range demonstrates signs of mobile addiction.

Mobile addicts are identified by the following characteristics: they send 100 or more text messages a week, connect to the internet via mobile every day, admit to constantly checking their phones for messages and even say that they “could not live without the internet on their mobile.”

But what also makes this group stand apart from all others is their comfort level with using advanced features on their phones.  While nearly everyone on mobile makes calls, sends text messages, takes pictures and listens to music, mobile addicts are also more likely to be adept at using apps that broadens what they use their handheld devices for.  For example:

How Do Consumers Use And Value Online And Social Media During Purchases?

For anyone who’s still struggling with whether and how to incorporate social media into marketing campaigns, here’s a somewhat obvious, yet brilliant, way to determine how consumers use online channels on their path to purchase —just ask them!

That’s what Radius Global Market Research did, and the results contain some compelling lessons for marketers developing online media strategies.

The survey questions centered on what kinds of products consumers researched prior to making a decision to buy and which platforms they used.  As in earlier studies, respondents indicated that online research played a major role in helping them make informed decisions.  This was particularly true for big ticket items, or products for which people have strong emotional investments.

Here are a few salient findings that caught my eye:

Hashtags Gone Wild: Seven Tips To Avoid “Bashtagging”

Twitter has undergone quite an evolution since it was launched in 2006, what with the community-generated addition of features like @ replies, reTweets and hashtags —each a helpful innovation that has made the platform more valuable for users . . . and brands.

As with any channel, however, each benefit must be carefully weighed against potential risks, and in many instances, the very things which make Twitter useful . . .

• Real-time conversations
• “Viral” spread of information
• Energized and engaged community

. . . can make it a bit of a stormy sea for marketers. Witness these recent hashtag-specific social media crises: the Starbucks #SpreadTheCheer tax snag, the almost legendary McDonalds #McDStories mess and the Skittles “Experience the Rainbow” kerfuffle. Whoops!

In each example, a well-meaning campaign got turned on its ear by Twitter users who not only exploited a gaping hole in the marketing strategy, but also took the company’s hashtag in directions marketers simply weren’t prepared for.

Does this mean brands shouldn’t use Twitter hashtags to start and participate in online conversations? Absolutely not! Does it mean that brands should be mindful of a few “dos” and “don’ts” when diving into the hashtag pool?

Definitely.

To help get you started on the right foot (or is that #rightfoot?), here are seven “best practice” tips for avoiding the perils of “bashtagging” with your Twitter marketing strategy:

Study: Social Media Pays Off For Businesses

New research suggests that businesses can see a direct and positive impact on their bottom lines when they make themselves available to customers via social media platforms—especially Facebook.

The University at Buffalo School of Management recently examined data related to individual customers’ participation on a Facebook page and combined it with their actual purchases at a large specialty firm in the Northeastern United States.

The results showed that customers who participate in a firm’s social media visit the business about 5 percent more frequently than those who don’t.

While past studies have shown a belief by many business owners that social media drives sales growth, and that a vast majority of small businesses do network online, there has also been indication that many, if not most, corporate CEOs still don’t fully understand or embrace social media marketing.