Brands who hope to market to women should no longer consider the blogosphere as an emerging or fringe channel, but should recognize the pervasive presence and increasing influence of women as authors, readers, and commentors on blogs.

That’s the message of the BlogHer | Compass Partners 2008 Social Media Benchmark Study, based on a presentation Lisa Stone posted to BlogHer yesterday.

Among the key findings:

• 36.2 Million women participate in the blogosphere weekly
• 15.1 Million women are publishing at least one post weekly
• 21.1 Million women are rading and/or posting comments to blogs weekly
• 50% of blog readers said that blogs have had an influence on their purchasing decisions, along with 59% of blog authors

If you’re responsible for marketing or consumer outreach at a brand whose prospects are primarily women, you need to understand the impact that the collective intelligence of the people writing, reading, and commenting on blogs has on the success of your product or service.