I’m sure most of you know what a blogger does, but do you really know who they are? Do you have visions of someone hunched over a PC 24/7? In our industry, we know who they are, and The Center for Media Research has also confirmed facts about bloggers. You may be surprised at what has been revealed.

Here are some top-line findings, in case anyone asks you about who’s blogging these days:

• Over 53% are male
• 44.7% are married
• Average age is 37.6 years old
• 69.7% are Caucasian
• HHI $55.8K

Bloggers are very tuned in to technology and use it regularly, which is not surprising. They own and use the following:

• 93% have cellphones
• 75.3% use some sort of IM
• 72.2% download video or TV content
• 66.9% are into video games
• 65.5% text message

The logical conclusion: another diverse group not to be placed in one bucket. Marketers who approach bloggers need to know that one size does not fit all, and each blogger needs to have his or her own personalized introduction to what you and your company do.

She’s more complex than you might think, according to Advertising Age. She is probably married, educated, environmentally conscious, works full time, sleep deprived and short on time. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Marie Claire magazine surveyed 1,800 women ranging in age from 24 to 49 (with a concentration on those in their 30s) to determine what this person is really like. The result? Even though this demographic is time crunched, they are a smart value shopper. That might seem pretty cut and dry for a marketer, right? Not exactly. These women just don’t fit into one nice bucket. Here’s the top five priorities and issues that this demographic thinks about:

Society and politics. More than half are concerned about environmental issues, and 25% actively shop for and use eco-friendly products. For marketers, there is enormous opportunity to sell items that have eco-friendly packaging and recyclable plastics.

Health and wellness. Over 60% follow a healthy diet and lead an active lifestyle. It is important for them to set a good example for those around them. Half also make it a point to constantly learn about health and fitness news. For marketers, this means acknowledgement of the target’s health concerns without dropping the “let’s get serious” gavel — after all, we’re talking 30-somethings here. Even though there are best intentions, perfection is not necessary.

Career and finances. Fulfillment is extraordinarily important to this group. Over 75% want work that they find enjoyable; over two-thirds are looking to achieve career success and personal goals. A whopping 78% are planning for retirement and personal finance goals. 60% said that having a shortage of money is more challenging than not having enough time (noted by 30%). For marketers, this means knowing that the target is going to do a great deal of research prior to purchasing. This goes for you and your competitors. Don’t waste her time — give her what she needs and wants up front.

Family and emotional health. 85% believe that having time to recharge is very important. Finding that time to recharge can be elusive — 61% stated that the biggest challenge is to actually find the time to recharge. For marketers, this means providing your target with time saving measures. Again, give her what she wants up front.

Fashion and Beauty. Expect strong opinions in this category, right? Surprisingly, no. Only 36% stated that they enjoy learning about makeup and beauty trends. 31% like to keep up with the latest styles. Only 13% follow what celebrities are wearing. Where are they buying their products? Almost 60% are purchasing clothing and accessories on the Internet. For in-person purchases, department stores, specialty boutiques and discount department stores are getting their business. For marketers, this means knowing that your target likes to mix things up — inexpensive with expensive, high end brands at lower priced stores. One thing that trumps all: authenticity of the product.

And that is the multi-bucket profile of today’s 30-something woman.

Interestingly enough, women are surpassing men on the Internet these days, according to eMarketer. And teen girls are leading the pack. It is suggested that females will outnumber males on the Internet by more than 8 million in 2012.  This year, females will make up 51.8% of all online users.

In all honesty, I expected to read the opposite finding, knowing that a lot of Internet content appeals to a male audience (online gaming, videos inappropriate for workplace viewing, etc.).  And yes, according to the census bureau there are a little over 5 million more females than males. But it is the female user that is using the Internet for self-expression: 35% of teen girls write blogs as opposed to only 20% of teen boys. Additionally, 55% of teen content is created by girls. This is something that all marketers should notice. It reminds me of eons ago when car manufacturers figured out that more females were making car decision purchases than males. Suddenly, the way cars were marketed drastically changed. I also see guidelines in the future geared toward what is appropriate to show on kids’ sites, as Internet usage is now measured for users aged 3 and up.

Up until now, I hadn’t seen the Internet as more geared toward a female audience. Given the current trending, I’m curious to see how everything evolves in the upcoming years.

What does this mean for those who are needing to get their clients more visibility on the Internet?

• First and foremost, shy away from gender-specific messaging. Why rule out half your audience unless your product is geared toward one or the other?
• Second, be as succinct as possible in your messaging. You know your audience is comparing you with your competitors, so there’s no reason to give anyone else an edge.
• Third, be able to deliver what you promise. You don’t want an angry female teen blogging about how they’ll never purchase your product or service again.
• Lastly, don’t forget that your audience is becoming more and more Internet savvy — make sure that you speak to them in a way that is useful and informative, and gives them what they want as quickly as possible.

Yes, I realize this topic has been beaten to death countless times. But there’s always a new opinion and I just came across another one from the Marketing Sherpa.

The long and the short of it, of course, is that marketers need to rely on their own tests to determine the best time to send something out. In my career, I’ve determined with many clients that Mondays and Fridays are a deathwish, make sure to send emails early in the morning, and don’t send emails right before or right after legal holidays. So I was curious to see what someone else would say about this topic.

Matt O’Laughlin, a Marketing Business Analyst at Second Act LLC, wanted to see what would work best for an electronics eretailer. The client was currently sending out a monthly enewsletter. Matt started a series of tests to determine where the best results would be. For this test, he ensured that emails arrived in inboxes at the same time and had the same subject line and offer.

The results of Matt’s initial tests were that Tuesdays were better than Mondays and Wednesdays (I was happy to hear that I have been advising clients correctly on this point). He also found that emails that arrived at 9am (as opposed to noon or 4pm) had a significantly higher click through rate. (Another sigh of relief from me that I have been advising this as well.)

In the end, Matt implemented the 9am on Tuesday mailing tactic for this particular client and will continue to do so. His logic suggested that the best time to reach people is when they read their emails first thing in the morning before digging into their workload. No word on my “no emails around holidays” theory, but I can guess my thinking is probably in line with his research.

According to a job placement firm out of Chicago, Challenger Gray & Christmas (interesting name given the time of year), employers could lose a total of $488 million in productivity today. This estimate is based on 68.6 million employees spending 12 minutes at work buying holiday gifts online.

Thankfully, this consulting firm is not completely anti-consumerism, stating that although some productivity will be lost, employees are not expected to be productive every minute of their work day. Additionally, according to John Challenger, cracking down today is a bad idea. “Doing so could negatively affect morale and loyalty, which ultimately will have a greater impact on the bottom line than a few minutes of cyber shopping.”

All of us can breathe a collective sigh of relief as shoppers continue to contribute to a 21% increase in online sales as compared to last year.

Here are some stats for the typical online shopper (according to Shop.org):

• Men more likely to shop at work than women
• Adults 18-24 more likely to shop at work than any other age group (73%)

Given the fact that the internet will make up 30% of holiday shopping purchases, there is no reason for agencies or clients to fear Cyber Monday. In fact, embracing the day by running promotions, specifically reaching out to consumers during that day (and black Friday) will prove to be more and more profitable each year.

Excuse me while I go squeeze in my 12 minutes of consumerism today.