Comscore, Nielsen, Media-Metrix and Quantcast studies all show women are the driving force of the most important Internet trend of the decade: the social web. 
Comscore says women are the majority of users of social networking sites and spend 30% more time on these sites than men. Mobile social network usage is 55% female, according to Nielsen.
It may surprise you that on sites like Facebook, Groupon and Twitter, the majority of all users are female.
According to Yelp, while half of the site’s traffic is male, the majority of contributors and e-commerce purchasers are female.
Especially when it comes to social media and shopping, women rule the Internet.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has talked about how women are not only the majority of the site’s users, but drive 62% of activity in terms of messages, updates and comments, and 71% of the daily fan activity. Women have 8% more Facebook friends on average than men, and spend more time on the site.
According to an early Facebook team member, women played a key role in the site’s early days by adopting three core activities – posting to walls, adding photos and joining groups – at a much higher rate than men.
So how does a small business – like a tire dealer – harness the power of female customers in social media? It’s all about interactivity and creating a forum for two-way conversation. And luckily, there are several shining examples of tire dealers who are getting it right. Here are just a few examples of dealerships that have found success with social media:
Curry’s Auto Service & Tire Pros, with seven locations in northern Virginia, holds a monthly “Social Media Day” on Facebook, a day full of prizes, live blogging, tech sessions and more.
Waukegan Tire, with four retail locations in northern Illinois, holds regular Facebook and Twitter contests rewarding women with innovative giveaways and special reward programs. In fact, Waukegan Tire was featured during this month’s 2011 Marketing to Women conference, held in Chicago, as a result of the company’s innovation in marketing to women both on and offline.
Community Tire and Service in Phoenix, uses Facebook and Twitter to educate women on repairs, maintenance and local community events. The dealership also provided goodies and giveaway items at the Spring 2011 Woman’s Money Workshop & Expo, held at the beginning of April in Tempe, Ariz.
Lex Brodie’s Tire, Brake and Service Centers of Oahu, Hawaii, creates innovative coupon programs, green initiatives and auto service information that is regularly posted to Facebook and Twitter.
Country Tire in Blair, Neb., offers valuable educational blog content and tips on its Facebook page. 
When trying to interact with your female customer base online, keep in mind that women don’t just visit different sites than men, they use social media differently than men.
Experts believe the difference between how men and women operate online mirror their motivations offline. While women often use online social networking tools to make connections and share items from their personal lives, men use them as a means to gather information and increase their status.
Says Facebook’s Sandberg, “If you reach women [online], they will tell their friends.” What may be an evolutionary fact has turned out to be a marketer’s dream.
