If the Republican Party learned one thing this election cycle, it's that women with opinions are a force to be reckoned with. But do brands understand that?
Women dominate nearly every major social media network. Weekly, 67.5 million women are logged on to social media sites. They drive 62% of daily Facebook activity, and 68% of traffic on Pinterest. They comprise 53% of Twitter users and tweet more frequently than men. Women who are active on social media also tend to be active across many social platforms.
This election cycle was filled with derisive remarks about rape, birth control, and pay equity. The internet, through social media, provided a safe space for women to act on, create communities around, and have conversations about these issues ? and generate gaffe-specific memes that went viral. For Democratic candidates up and down the ticket, this spelled victory.
And yet, with the exception of consumer products companies reaching out to the large and influential community of mom-bloggers, many organizations don't seem to understand the organizing power of women connected online. And it boggles my mind that in this day and age, rather than listening to what women really care about, communicators simply often "pinkwash" products in an attempt to gain women's support ? from the ill-fated "Bic for Her" pen to Ann Romney's "I Love Women" RNC Convention speech to the new pink Honda Fit.
The people who comprise women's social networks are more than just strangers on the internet ? women trust their online friends and followers. Seventy-seven percent of women active on social media now turn to blogs for information. Women are influencing each other's decisions through non-stop conversations on social media. In the 2012 elections, these conversations helped organize women against Republican candidates like Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, and Mitt Romney.
Strong online networks build strong social capital, which study after study has shown increases civic participation. While some have cast doubt on social media's ability to spur action, as opposed to discussion, the case of Todd Akin is instructive. Social media erupted within hours of the TV interview in which he stated that in the case of "legitimate rape," women's bodies have a way of shutting "that whole thing [pregnancy] down." My Facebook page lit up with frantic fact-checking and ideas about how we could mobilize support for Akin's Democratic opponent for Senate, Claire McCaskill. Darkly hilarious animated gifs, Tumblrs, and memes exploded. But it wasn't just talk: When the third quarter fundraising numbers were announced, Akin had raised $1.6 million, less than a third of McCaskill's $5.8 million.
In election cycles past, one gaffe may have died quickly in the rapidly moving 24-hour news cycle, long forgotten come Election Day. This year, social media created a continuous story arc of Republican candidates' remarks, highlighting the condescension and disrespect many members of the GOP showed toward women. These stories were disseminated across networks in a way that spoke to women.
What blogger Ananda Leeke calls the #digitalsisterhood spans geography, ethnicity, social class, and even party identification. My online influencer network, The Mission List, created #blogforobama, a network that quickly disseminated political content across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others to provide a safe space for women bloggers to share political opinions, questions and fast-breaking news. This is a magic combination. When a powerful meme meets a network of digitally connected women, the result is change.
Social media marketing ? whether for a political campaign or a brand ? must be multi-pronged and personal. In my networks of women online, it was our personal stories that resonated most with our audiences. From Instagramming our photos of voting with kids in tow to writing moving personal "endorsement" blog posts, or even doing silly things like "Baking for Obama," we shared our political journeys in the social graph. And this meant, when news happened, it spread like wildfire.
The results are in the numbers: Barack Obama was re-elected, and 55% of women who voted supported him. In swing states, the gender gap was even wider. There are now a record number of women in the U.S. Senate, and all the candidates whose "rape" gaffes went viral were defeated.
From selling diapers to selling a President, women's opinions make the difference. Social media offers marketers an opportunity to really listen to what women want (earth friendly diapers that really absorb!! A president who believes women can make their own healthcare decisions!) and to connect with these women in a meaningful way. It's not good enough anymore to patronize our femaleness (Binders Full of Women, anyone?) or simply launch a pretty product wrapped in pink. Ask our opinions, respect our authority, hang out where we live: in social media. Your brand will win in the end.
Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/11/the_power_of_a_woman_with_a_me.html
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