We all know that women are heavy users of the Internet in ways that help them stay “connected” – to family, friends, and even reviewers of products or services that they may never meet in person.

The phenomenal growth of social media tools in the last two years seems like a natural fit for women. A recent study conducted by ShesConnected lends some insight into how often and in what ways women are using these tools.

Of the women who use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, an astounding 59% say they check these sites multiple times per day. (Hi. I’m Michele and I’m a social media addict…)

The big surprise for me was the breakdown of social media tasking.  Not so much the networking professionally and promotion of business, but the percentage of women that indicate they research a product or service – 79% of women say that social media tools are either very important or somewhat important in researching information about businesses.

And that includes YOUR business.  I’ve written here before about social media.  Do you have your Facebook page set up yet?  Have you been sending out Tweets on a regular basis?  Have you, in effect, done any work to build and strengthen your relationships with the community outside of traditional advertising and your website?

This latest statistic is a green flag to encourage you to do so today.



*chart courtesy of eMarketer