Chapter 3
The Best Influencers: The Power of Women on Your Bottom Line
In This Chapter
Seeing the influence women have on their households
Recognizing the power of women in social media
Appreciating how on-point women are when it comes to social trends
If you’ve decided that influencer marketing is the right tool for you, the next step in carrying out your marketing strategy is to identify which influencers are right for your brand.
So, how exactly do you determine who the most successful influencers will be specific to your needs? Each situation and product will call for a unique set of influencers and campaign offerings, but it’s almost always a safe bet to start with female influencers.
In this chapter, we explain the powerful role that women play in their households, in social media, and in social trends. When you fully appreciate the power of women, you’ll be able to work with them to accomplish your marketing goals.
Women Rule the Household
Traditionally women have taken on the primary role within the household. Although gender roles are changing, women still rule the household when it comes to making purchasing decisions.
Young women are exceeding their male counterparts in education and earnings in many metropolitan areas in the United States. They’re also holding a greater percentage of jobs as compared to a couple decades ago. All these factors in turn, lead to an overall increase in spending and purchasing power.
TIME reports that there has been an 8 percent increase in the number of women ages 25 to 29 holding a bachelor’s degree or higher from 1999 to 2009. In addition, almost 50 percent of non-farm jobs in the United States today are held by women, and they own nearly one-third of companies. Furthermore, in 2008, 64 percent of mothers with kids under 6 years old worked outside the home, compared to 39 percent back in 1975.
Another significant statistic reported by TIME: In 47 out of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas, single childless women in their 20s make more money than their male peers. Women are outearning their male counterparts by 117 percent in New York City, 121 percent in Atlanta, 119 percent in Memphis, 115 percent in San Diego, and 116 percent in Sacramento. In 2008, 35 percent of wives outearned their husbands, compared to 25 percent in 1990.
Not only has female purchasing power changed over the decades, but female purchasing habits have changed as well. The Female Factor, a study by Women@NBCU, reports that over the past couple of decades, women have become more involved in family finances and decision making when it comes to big-ticket purchases. Women today are doing more financial planning, negotiating, purchasing stock to make a profit, and buying into traditionally male-dominated spending areas.
Susan Malfa, senior vice president of sales for Bravo, Oxygen, and Women@NBCU reports: “Women are not only buying in the typical categories like groceries, home, and family items, but they are also shopping for traditionally male and big-ticket items such as financial products and flat-screen TVs.”
As female purchasing habits have changed over time, the public has recently focused in on this opportunity to target specific female influencer groups as a marketable demographic who not only make their own household purchasing decisions, but also hold a tremendous amount of power in helping both men and other women make their purchasing decisions as well.
Women drive purchasing decisions
According to the Harvard Business Review, women are the ones making a majority of household purchasing decisions. They report that women are the decision makers for 94 percent of home furnishings purchases, 92 percent of vacation purchases, 91 percent of home purchases, 60 percent of car purchases, and 51 percent of consumer electronics purchases.
What is it about women that makes them the authorities when it comes to household consumer decisions? According to Forbes, it’s actually because women are multiple markets rolled up into one. Although traditional gender roles are changing in today’s American society, in the majority of societies, women still have very traditional roots of being the caretakers of families. They’re the primary caretakers of children and the elderly in most societies around the world, giving them the jurisdiction to decide what to buy for kids, in-laws, parents, and grandparents.
Plus, women aren’t just buying for themselves, their kids, and their parents. They’re also influencing and buying for their significant others. Savvy male-dominated brand marketers are now building female bloggers and influencers into their marketing strategies. Categories that you think would normally target a male audience — such as male grooming — are now also turning to female influencers to drive sales because they recognize the power that women have on pushing their products.
Women running successful households with a lot of purchasing power oftentimes share the knowledge they’ve gained along the way. If you’re thinking, “Can female bloggers really make my bottom line look fatter?,” the simple answer is, “Yes!” And if you’ve never considered working with female bloggers, it’s a group you should definitely consider as part of your next strategy.
So-called “mommy bloggers” (not a preferred term by moms who blog) were one of the first groups of blogger types that emerged when blogging started to become popular (see Chapter 2). And their popularity has not diminished. Brands still desperately try to reach female bloggers, researching mothers’ spending habits and daily routines to find ways to get this demographic and niche community to promote their products.
In fact, President Obama met with a group of female bloggers in the spring of 2015 to talk about gender and finance issues. Political opinions aside, there is no denying that this once demeaning title of “mommy blogger” has given rise to a powerful, influential group of women who have a lot of sway in our economy.
Women trust other women
What specifically about moms is it that makes them such a profitable target? According to a 2011 Scarborough USA study, 14 percent of mothers blog, and that number may very well be higher now that blogging has blown up bigger than ever.
Why are female bloggers — particularly mothers — so successful? First, they’re relatable. Motherhood is an instant bond shared by all moms, relevant across countries and societies. It’s like an inner elite that you fall into and hold membership in for life. Women bond over the difficulties and the joys of motherhood, and they’re always looking for ways to make their own lives, as mothers, better and easier. Who do they turn to as a resource? Other moms who are doing it successfully.
If you aren’t a mother, or even a woman, and you’re reading this thinking “How is motherhood relevant to me?,” don’t worry. At some point in your life, you’ve had contact with a mother — whether it was your own mom or a friend’s mother, or a friend or colleague who is a mother. Maybe without your even realizing it, those mothers have had an impact on your purchasing decisions. Your mother may have taught you what laundry products to use when she sent you off to college. Your colleague who is a mother may have advised you on the best lunch places around the office. Most likely, you trusted their opinions. In fact, men value women’s advice more than the advice of other men!
TalkTrack (www.kellerfay.com/solutions/talktrack), a large research project that monitors conversations about products and brands between consumers with a survey, reports that when men receive consumer advice from a woman, they deem that advice highly credible 58 percent of the time. In comparison, when men receive consumer advice from a man, only 50 percent of them consider that advice highly credible.
The U.S. Census reports that there are about 44.2 million mothers in the United States. If you think about how many people those mothers interact with on a daily basis (kids, spouses, parents, and so on), that gives them a lot of influence.
When it comes to mom bloggers, people look to them as a resource for giving advice on running a model household. These moms are the ones who are doing it right. A part of it may also be aspirational — if a mom sees one mom who has all the steps to running a successful household, career, and family, she wants to know her secrets! Just as we read magazines for tips and advice, when blogging started, women discovered and shared tricks of the trade through their own experiences and trial and error.
Women Rule Social Media
Women make up a greater percentage of social media users than men do, which is why it’s a natural step to use a predominantly female influencer base to drive your marketing campaign.
Women are the top social media users for every social media channel except for LinkedIn. According to a report by Ruby Media Corporation and FinancesOnline, 76 percent of women use Facebook (compared with 66 percent of men ), 54 percent of women use Tumblr (compared with 46 percent of men), 33 percent of women use Pinterest (compared with 8 percent of men), 20 percent of women use Instagram (compared with 15 percent of men), and 18 percent of women use Twitter (compared with 17 percent of men). For LinkedIn, 19 percent of women are on the platform (compared with 24 percent of men).
Not only are more women on some of the biggest social media channels (except for LinkedIn), but they’re also more active on those channels. In a 2014 study sponsored by the American Marketing Association and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, 70 percent of brand marketers said their company would increase spending on social media, more than any other marketing channel. So, it makes sense for brands to focus on women as a priority to drive more impressions and engagement for them.
In 2012, The Next Web reported the following stats about online marketing and social media usage as it pertains to women:
- As early as 2000, women were found to have surpassed men in Internet usage.
- Seventy-eight percent of women in the United States use the Internet for product information before making a purchase.
- Thirty-three percent of women research products and services online before buying offline.
- Women account for 58 percent of all total online spending.
- Twenty-two percent of women shop online at least once a day.
- Ninety-two percent of women pass along information about deals or finds to others.
A survey by Women’s Marketing, Inc., and SheSpeaks also reported that 55 percent of women are more likely to purchase from brands they follow on social media.
What do all these stats translate to? That having a strong presence on social media works as a strategy for brands.
Women Rule Social Trends
Earlier in this chapter, we tell you how women rule social media because they dominate all the major social channels except one and are more active on those channels in general. In this section, we explain how they rule social trends as well.
First, we explain the difference between social media and social trends. Social media is the content that is being served up on various social channels. Social trends are how that content is being served up and how people are interacting with that content. So, when we refer to women ruling social trends, we’re saying that women are dominating on three of the biggest trends in social: mobile, brand interaction, and visual media.
Mobile
Social media originated on desktop computers, but today much of social media content creation and sharing is done via mobile. In fact, some of the most popular social media platforms today — such as Instagram and Snapchat — were created specifically for mobile and the desktop counterparts of those platforms can’t even serve the same functionality as their mobile apps. With the advancement of technology in portable devices, there has been a major shift in how we engage with social media and digital marketing, and that’s how mobile became a social trend.
Ruby Media Corporation reports that in 2013, 46 percent of women (compared with 43 percent of men) used their smartphones for social media, and 32 percent of women (compared with 20 percent of men) used their tablets for social media.
More women than men use mobile devices for social media, but in addition to use, more women view their mobile devices as the most important devices in their lives. According to a study by Time, Inc., and Nuance Digital Marketing, 60 percent of women listed their mobile devices as their number-one device in terms of importance, while only 43 percent of men reported feeling the same way.
In addition to using mobile devices for social media, an increasing number of people are also using mobile devices to make online purchases. A report by e-Marketer shows the dollar increase in mobile sales over the past few years, along with projected growth through 2018. The dollar value of sales via mobile device is on a steady rise, with tablets leading the way as the main platform for sales.
According to e-Marketer, in 2012, $24.78 billion was spent via mobile commerce (excluding travel and event tickets). In 2013, this number jumped to $42.13 billion, followed by $57.79 billion in 2014. In 2015, it was projected to be at $76.41. By the year 2018, the total amount of Internet purchases made via mobile devices is projected to be at $132.69 billion, and growth does not appear to be slowing down.
As for mobile purchasing habits, women lead as well. According to Adweek, men use mobile devices to make purchases, but a higher percentage of women use mobile devices for all aspects of the buying process, including researching products, collecting coupons, making shopping lists, and even sharing pictures of their purchases. As a result, there are more opportunities for brands to reach more women along the purchasing process.
Brand interaction
According to Burst Media Online Insights, the main ways that people interact with brands via social media are
- Showing support
- Accessing offers or coupons
- Staying current
- Sharing information
- Learning about brand content
- Offering opinions or comments
Women dominate four of these categories. More women interact with brands to show support of the brand. A significantly higher number of women than men also interact with brands to access special brand offers or coupons. More women interact with brands just to stay current. And more women interact with brands to offer opinions or comments.
So, what drives brand interaction? MediaPost reports that based on a survey by Burst Media, among what they call the “social influencer segment” (participants ages 18 to 34 years old), online ads have greater effectiveness than TV ads at driving social engagement with brands (67.6 percent versus 60.6 percent, respectively). The difference is also most noticeably higher with women ages 18 to 34, of whom 73.9 percent say digital ads with social media calls to action are effective in motivating them to interact with brands.
Just because the brand interaction happens on social media doesn’t mean that it has to be prompted by social media. Based on the Burst Media survey, digital ads were most highly reported as effective in driving social brand interaction, being reported from 61 percent of respondents. However, 58.7 percent also said TV ads are effective, followed by 52.4 percent for print ads, 41.5 percent for radio ads, and 39.4 percent for outdoor ads.
In total, 54.2 percent of women and 48.6 percent of men have engaged in a brand-related social sharing activity based on something seen on or in an ad, which is how women also rule brand interactions on social media. Brands over the years have also steadily increased their presence on social media. And, of course, one way of doing so is by using social influencer marketing.
Visual media
Although there are many types of channels for visuals on social media, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Polyvore are some of the social media platforms that center on image-based content (and Snapchat may soon be added to the mix). A 2014 study by Ruby Media Corporation reports that over the course of a year, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr gained 10 million users, making the “visual web” the fastest growing social media type.
To further drive the point home, more women are dominating these visual channels than men, with more women on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Instagram (see “Women Rule Social Media,” earlier in this chapter).
In order to be successful on these channels, content is generally beautiful and emphasizes aesthetics. Areas of interest that tend to do well include fashion, food, and scenery.
Because women are most active on these channels, it makes sense in most cases to use female influencers to reach this audience. These channels are also valued at billions of dollars, with Pinterest in the lead. As of 2013, Pinterest is valued at $7.7 billion, followed by Instagram at $5 billion and Tumblr at $1.1 billion.
Pinterest (now that it has a sponsored feature) is a marketer’s dream when it comes to elevating visibility of household brands. Women are authorities and resources when it comes to the household. Because a big portion of Pinterest is dedicated to accessible recipes, crafts, and fashion turned into beautiful projects, the audience reach spans widely. And because pins are able to be directly linked out to another page, the content can easily translate to sales and brand engagement.
This is one of the main reasons Pinterest is valued higher than Instagram, even though Instagram is a more popular network across audiences. Women are, for the most part, dictating the future of these billion-dollar platforms because they’re the main content creators, curators, and consumers.