The Power of a Woman with a Meme

This post by Morra originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review. You can read the whole thing here. 

If the Republican Party learned one thing this election cycle, it’s that women with opinions are a force to be reckoned with. But do brands understand that?

Women dominate nearly every major social media network. Weekly, 67.5 million women are logged on to social media sites. They drive 62% of daily Facebook activity, and 68% of traffic on Pinterest. They comprise 53% of Twitter users and tweet more frequently than men. Women who are active on social media also tend to be active across many social platforms.

This election cycle was filled with derisive remarks about rape, birth control, and pay equity. The internet, through social media, provided a safe space for women to act on, create communities around, and have conversations about these issues — and generate gaffe-specific memes that went viral. For Democratic candidates up and down the ticket, this spelled victory.