Women are responsible for more than $5 trillion dollars of spending every year.  We’re a growing economic force in the world and more companies are recognizing the need to understand our preferences in much greater depth. SheSpeaks.com is a community of smart women created around this idea.

“What if, as women, we could get together in large numbers and tell companies what we want, what we like and what we don’t?” asked Aliza Freud, who started the community. “What if we could directly influence the products and services we consume.”  The idea has certainly caught on – their membership grew more than 230% in 2008.

They surveyed their members about their online activities and the results give us some valuable insights into marketing to women in social media.

Top activities online

1. Shopping/purchasing products online
2. Researching product to purchase offline
3. Connecting with other

40+ Women

A sizable number of 40+ women are taking advantage of social networking, and in some cases are more engaged than their younger peers.

The  40-something women have a strong presence on social websites. Nearly one-half (45%) have profiles on social networks, and of those, 70% log on to social networking sites at least few times per week. They are also more likely to be connected to people they’ve met on the social network (20%) than are women under 30 (14%)

Aside from social networking, their online behavior is compelling for marketers.

They”re also more likely than their younger peers to  purchase products because of emails they receive from companies (52% for 30+ vs. 45% for <30) and are more likely to post product reviews on shopping websites (62% vs. 53% for <30yrs).

While they lag behind their younger peers in terms of blog usage for discussing products, 40-somethings demonstrate an active usage of peer-to-peer tools for sharing product and shopping info. And, given their higher level of disposable income, 40-somethings are a key target for marketers online.

62% have discussed products in a social networks and beauty products are the top category discussed  (69%)

What About Ads?

Women of all ages  are not very interested in ads in social networks.  28% actively ignore them and only 2% frequently click through on an ad.

What does all this mean for PR?

If you’re trying to reach and influence women, online is definitely the place to be.  Since they’re most interested in finding out about products online and connecting with each other, provide them with ways to do that.  Find existing conversations about your brand or your product category and participate.

Figure out what your share of voice is in these conversations.  What interests them – what are they talking about? How many of the conversations contain your key messages, if any? What can you offer that these women will find valuable?

Smart brands overcome the temptation to treat social networks like a billboard.  Find ways to extend your brand into their social life.  Get involved in the conversations and build relationships.