Women are ‘more likely’ to make your social media campaign go viral

uSamp has just published a study that gives a little insight into what kind of information men and women are willing to share on social networks.

Surveying 600 adults in the UK this past January, the survey revealed that 78% of women were happy to share what brand they preferred, compared to a slightly lower figure of 74% among men.

For both men and women, home addresses and phone numbers were off limits for the most part. 3% of women and 12% of men said they were willing to share their phone number online, while 3% of women and 7% of men were willing to share their physical address.

The difference in figures for most topics, as seen in the table above, weren’t vastly different, but with women more willing to talk about or share the brands that they like, it makes them more likely candidates for picking up on social media campaign buzz.

Gaelle Normand, MD of uSamp in Europe says:

“This is good news for retail brands trying to harness social media as a marketing tool. Those targeting a female audience are likely to see more success with viral campaigns, as women recommend their favourite products to friends and followers more readily. Those brands with a male following might find it slightly harder to create a buzz through social channels.”

A recent Social Media Week event in London,  Men are from Foursquare and Women are from Facebook, revealed that women in Europe are in fact more active on social media sites than men.

The event also revealed that women are more likely interact and engage, while men are more interested in giving their opinion.  More importantly, it also revealed that women are more likely to follow brands for discounts and offers, with 64% of women taking to social media to get a good deal, in comparison with 52% of men.

From a marketing standpoint, this is in line with uSamp’s survey. If women are more likely to follow, interact and take note of what’s going on around them in social media, they’re also more likely to share something that they saw on a friend’s page – an essential factor for any campaign to have any hopes of going viral.