As much as I think social marketing is about touchy-feely things like human interaction, emotional connections, intuitiveness, social instinct and x-factors, I realize such things are practically alien hieroglyphics in many brand-marketing offices.  There, only one thing is eagerly welcomed and vigorously absorbed…numbers.

Burst Media took a good long look at how people are using social, including how they relate to brands on social.  Here are some numbers for your eye-glazing pleasure.

The Numbers: Half of females, including 58.6% of moms, visit social media sites at least a few times per day vs. 1/3 of men.

Takeaway: If your brand targets women, especially moms, get your social act together.  And make sure you’re posting a few times per day so you’re at least as involved in social as your target audience is.

The Numbers: 62% of independent web users “Like” or follow their favorite content sites on social.  Again, moms are power-users.  70.6% either frequently or occasionally follow content sites on social.  Content sites offer up sports, news, education, entertainment, etc.

Takeaway: The tail is not wagging the dog here.  Content sites are attracting and winning people over with their own digital properties first, which then leads to users wanting to also follow them on social for the quick communication, access and interaction that brings.  To translate even clearer: content is what’s winning fans and making them fall in love, be that on a www or a social site.

The Numbers: 49.1% “Like” or follow brands on social media.  2/5 never do.  Surprisingly, the highest percentage do this to show support for the brand.  (!)  After that comes the ability to get the latest information on a brand’s offerings.

Takeaway: I hope your heart has been sufficiently warmed to find out that your customers who are Liking you on Facebook aren’t necessarily doing it for themselves, they’re doing it for you.  They like what you’re doing so much that they want to give you a digital pat on the back, and they use a “Like” to do it.  However…that only requires a lightning fast, one-time visit.  Getting them to come back and stay engaged is all on you.

The Numbers: Of the 57% who read blogs, 65.5% say a brand mention or promo in the blog influences their purchasing decisions.  Lean younger and those numbers really go crazy.  18-34, 4/5 of men and women say bloggers can influence their buying.

Takeaway: Many brands don’t even include blogs in their definition of “social.”  Maybe that’s why so many don’t even do them.  But these numbers say people read them.  And highlights from them can get pushed out via social as both content and a way to drive people back to the full blog.  Make them video blogs and you’re really golden.  But to influence buying, these bloggers have to develop voices that are trusted.  They have to build credibility…which you don’t do by coming across as a brand shill.

The Numbers: 46.2% say recommendations from friends and followers are very or somewhat influential with regards to brand preferences and/or buying decisions.  In the 35-44 demo, that number goes up to 60%.

The Burst Media report concluded a core behavior of audiences is that they “thrive on authentic conversations.”  If you’ve spent longer than 3 minutes around this blog or Vitrue in general, you pretty much already knew that.  But are you doing it?  Users are not trying to hide their behavior or anything else from you.  We know what attracts them, we know what holds them, we know what they want.  The trick is using these numbers we love so much to push us toward that touchy-feely stuff that makes fans fall loyally in love with you.