Introduction to women online

Over 18 million women in the UK are active online through their PC or laptop and almost four million are using their mobile phone to access the internet. Females now account for half of the ‘fixed’ internet population and over 40 per cent of the mobile equivalent. However, it’s not just the sheer size of the audience that is compelling to marketers but what they’re driving.

Through social media, women are establishing more authority online. They are using the web to provide information and advice, organise communities, socialize and build relationships. A wonderful example of this is the US phenomenon of the online “Power Mom” which is sure to be seen on our digital shores before too long.

The social media phenomenon is a reminder to marketers that targeting women online isn’t all about trendy teens and twenty-somethings. Women aged between 35-49 were the fastest growing demographic group to the social networking and blogging sector over the last year followed by women aged between 50-64. As a result, there are now twice as many women over 50 years of age visiting social networks and blogs than girls under 18 doing so.

Furthermore, women online are increasingly tech-savvy and, in many cases, are driving the next-generation use of the internet as a medium for television and video. For example, almost 60 per cent of people in the UK downloading a TV programme on a weekly basis are female (that’s almost 650,000 women). When it comes to mobile, over one and a half million British women use email through their handsets and nearly as many are downloading games to play on the move.

Women are increasingly using the internet to research product information and pricing and, consequently, their purchasing power is increasing. The fact that some car manufacturers are making their websites more appealing to women is testament to this. It used to be that to get to the parents one targeted the children but now it could be a case of targeting and winning over women online to get through to everyone else.

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