We’ve always known that men and women use social media in different ways and for different purposes, but slowly the gap is closing. Men are now sharing more images on Instagram than they were a couple of years ago and women are doing more business networking through LinkedIn.
However, if you are targeting your business message to a certain demographic, you need to make sure you are using the right platforms. If your product or service is tailored more to the male demographic you are better off using LinkedIn or YouTube, and if it is more for the female market then Pinterest or Twitter would be a better platform to be using.
We have summarised some of the main points in our infographic, and a lot of the information probably won’t come as a surprise. The platform with the most equal number of male and female users is Instagram. This isn’t just the users of the platform, but those with active accounts. This gap is closing each year, and with Instagram’s popularity rising it would seem that whoever you are targeting, Instagram is a sure thing!
From research done, it is also noted that women have more loyalty to brands over men. One study showed that only 18% of men followed at least one brand on social media compared to 71% of women. So this would show that if you can get the loyalty of female shoppers there will be a higher probability of return.
It is also clear that women spend more time on social media than men, which might also point towards why their loyalty to brands is higher. They have more of a connection with other accounts and form more conversation. Women are more likely to find out the stories behind the brand and want to know more.
So before you head to your favoured social media channel, look at who your audience is, who you want to target and find out where they are. A little bit of research can go a long way.
Do you have any thoughts to add? We’d love to hear them. Tweet us @Cosmic_UK and let us know.