A new study on social media, “Why Social Media Matters to Your Business,” fielded by Chadwick Martin Bailey and Imoderate Technologies, highlights, among other findings, the motivational differences between men and women in following a brand on Twitter, which should give PR pros pause when tweeting to brand followers.
“We see that females are more interested in discounts and promotions while males were more interested in exclusive/early content and promoting the brands they like,” says Brant Cruz, VP, retail and eCommerce practice leader at CMB. Cruz adds that the study proves that social media strategy is never going to be a one-size-fits-all solution.
“Understanding these types of differences will lead to big opportunities to improve PR and marketing effectiveness,” says Cruz. In particular, these gender-driven preferences affect organizations that have products and services that appeal to both men and women, such as online blinds seller Blinds.com.
“Though it skews slightly female, the male in the household is often the one that does the measuring and installing of blinds,” says Esther Steinfeld, PR manager of Blinds.com. “So we have to make sure we create and provide content that appeals to both men and women.”
For Heidi Sullivan, VP of media research at Cision, the findings point to a broader difference between men and women when it comes to social media: “While men may have a larger audience that they can broadcast news, opinion and brand recommendations to through content creation like blogging, women have more one-on-one interactions, and therefore have built more word-of-mouth social capital.”
BUY OR RECOMMEND
In another finding, the majority of Facebook fans and Twitter followers say they are likely to buy from at least one brand (they follow or are a fan of), or recommend a brand to a friend. Interestingly, Twitter followers are 15% to 19% more likely to buy or recommend a brand than Facebook fans. Why the disparity?
“Facebook is primarily a site that catches people in a non-commercial mind-set,” says Sam Ford, director of digital strategy at Peppercom. “On Twitter, people are commonly using the site both to interact with those they know and to follow brands they want to know more about.” PRN
CONTACT:
Brant Cruz, [email protected]; Esther Steinfeld, [email protected]; Heidi Sullivan, [email protected]; Sam Ford, [email protected].