I’ve read a great deal of reports on the Mommy Blogger and what they are about, their consumption habits, how some digital advertising efforts work, and others don’t, etc. But I’ve become more curious with how women as a whole consume online, and so I found these studies that I thought shed some interesting light on the subject.

Online, women are more engaged than men, spending more time on fewer sites during a single sitting, according to a new Nielsen analysis:

• Nielsen data shows that women talk 28% more and text 14% more than men every month; they are also heavier users of social features of phones (SMS, MMS, social networking) compared to men who tend to use features like GPS, email & internet more
• Women also visit more social and community sites, which is especially important given the popularity of immediate online/social discussion during major TV events like awards shows and reality programming
• For television advertisers, women tend to watch specials and awards shows live so they can engage in immediate “community viewing” discussions. And they use DVRs to time-shift recurring series programming as they fit television into their schedules when it is most convenient and relevant to them
• DVR penetration may not be as high across all ethnic female groups but it has more than tripled among African American and Hispanic women in the past 3+ years to reach 37.4% and 32% respectively, according to Nielsen

A study conducted by Bizo indicates that women click, and men act:

• Women deliver a 23 percent higher click-through rate than men, but after clicking, men follow through with an action (e.g., download a whitepaper, start a free trial, make a purchase) 53 percent more than women.
• Men are night owls – 3:00 am ET is the hour when men are most likely to click; women are morning people – 5:00 am ET is when they are most likely to click.
• A study by BlogFrog found that more than 90% of women bloggers are eager to partner with advertisers, but 60% have never been approached by any brand or agency.
• Yahoo! researchers uncovered that content sites focused on women’s lifestyles (iVillage, Yahoo! Shine, SheKnows), special interests (CafeMom, BabyCenter, DoItYourself) and reviews (Yelp!, Trip Advisor, Amazon) had the greatest impact on purchase decisions. Approximately 44% of women say they get information about products and brands on women’s lifestyle sites. In fact, the study found that women’s lifestyle sites and special interest sites fulfill the most needs for women online.

Key Takeaways:

• Advertising to women mobily has a higher chance of success than with men.
• Women need options. Although men have higher action rates than women, that does not mean women do not commit to the ads they click, it just means women might be savvier shoppers that need to know all their options. So Progressive Insurance-type tactics work well with women.
• Social Media Marketing is more effective on women than men.
• Women are highly engaged in the blogosphere, so utilize them to spread your brand’s message.
• Focus your advertising budget on special interest sites for maximum ROI.

If you have any other statistics that are interesting I’d love to hear them!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!