• by Dilip Venkatachari , May 7, 2013

It has been over 20 years now since John Gray published Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, less than 6 years since people traded their hard copies for Kindle downloads, and about a year since you could first add it to your virtual bookshelf and share it on your Facebook timeline via Goodreads. Social data may be the new currency of the Internet, but it proves that Gray’s age-old theory still rings true. When it comes to what men and women are “talking about,” Facebook data shows that they are indeed worlds apart.

A recent study examined favorite brands, media preferences and activities among the unique, engaged male and female Facebook populations. The research (which excludes the top shared interests between men and women) highlights the distinct -- and in most cases, polar opposite -- affinities of Facebook’s men and women, serving as a perfect illustration of the gender divide.

Brands that find favor with the female population? While some are obvious -- bebe, MAC Cosmetics, Steve Madden -- would you have guessed that Sauza Tequila is women’s top alcoholic beverage of choice, or that Green Giant is their number one food and beverage brand? In contrast, men prefer Johnnie Walker and Rockstar Energy Drink, in addition to Old Spice, Guitar Center and Ferrari. Of the top 30 unique brands among engaged women, the three largest categories are retail/services (23%), food/beverage (20%) and fashion (16%), while the top 30 unique brands among men belong mostly to the auto (40%), retail/services (20%) and technology (13%) verticals.

Men's and women’s unique activities, interests and media preferences are also distinctly contrasting. While women prefer to watch reality stars look for love and cope with teenage pregnancy on TV shows like "Teen Mom" and "The Bachelor," men would rather brush up on their combat skills with shows like "Deadliest Warrior" and "Ultimate Fighter." When it comes to movie preferences, women are looking for a heartfelt laugh or good cry, with classic “chick flicks” like “Steel Magnolias,” “Dirty Dancing” and “Pretty Woman” reigning supreme. In contrast, men enjoy edge-of-your-seat action, opting for war movies including “Full Metal Jacket,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “Black Hawk Down.” Male and female book preferences also reveal a rival interest in zombies versus vampires: women love Twilight, while men would rather read The Zombie Survival Guide.

Interests aside, men and women also behave differently in the social space. For example, the Like rate for males on mobile averages 3% less than that of women. Men are also 4 times more likely to engage with a post containing a link; however, women are 2.5 times more likely than men to engage with an all-text status update. In terms of engagement by category, women are over three times more likely than men to engage with luxury and pet-related brands, while men are over five times more likely to engage with content related to toys or games.

Even this most basic and broad of analyses illustrates how social data can help brands identify key audience targets, discover missed opportunities, and create effective content strategies through audience intelligence. For example, a brand like Sauza Tequila could learn that its best audience is females, and ramp up efforts to increase awareness and engagement amongst male audiences by posting articles like “5 Ninja-Like Self-Defense Tips to Win Any Bar Fight.”  At its core, what this exercise really teaches us is the importance of understanding your unique audience.

Maybe your customer base is full of women who like to sip energy drinks while watching action movies, or men who appreciate healthy eating and reality TV. Either way, it’s all about finding these actionable nuggets and leveraging them to better communicate with and convert your audience.