AutoTrader.com on Tuesday highlighted the success of its Purse Powers the Pedal sweepstakes that was designed to raise the visibility of the site’s female-focused vehicle shopping tips.

As the site’s first sweepstakes that was primarily promoted via social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, the campaign generated more than 2,600 entries, and officials said 70 percent of entrants were female.

AutoTrader.com went on to mention that its Facebook page experienced a 31-percent lift in “likes” throughout the sweepstakes, and the number of unique visitors to the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success page increased 1,855 percent over the same time frame in the previous month. That spike made it the second-most viewed article on AutoTrader.com in October.

Site officials reiterated Purse Powers the Pedal sweepstakes came as response to their research that showed women are a large part of the vehicle-buying and decision-making market. They also noted that most women are not sure of themselves when visiting dealerships.

According to AutoTrader.com research, women influence more than 80 percent of all vehicles purchased and are the sole buyers of more than 50 percent of all vehicles sold in the United States, but 75 percent don’t feel certain or sure of themselves when visiting dealerships.

Seeking to change that atmosphere, AutoTrader.com launched the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success, developed with Courtney Hansen, host of Spike TV’s Powerblock and author of The Garage Girl’s Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Your Car.

“Women are such a large percentage of the car buying market and an even bigger influence over car purchasing decisions, so we wanted a fun, accessible way to engage them with our car shopping tips,” explained Clark Wood, chief marketing officer at AutoTrader.com.

“The sweepstakes proved to be a successful way to increase the visibility of these tips, reach more women and give them the opportunity to win prizes along the way,” Wood continued. “We would like to congratulate Nicole on her big win and wish her and her friend a great trip to Los Angeles.”

The sweepstakes ran from Sept. 30 to Oct. 20. To enter, participants read the Roadmap to Car Shopping Success at www.autotrader.com/roadmap and then visited the AutoTrader.com fan page at www.facebook.com/AutoTrader to answer a question about the vehicle-shopping tips and access the entry form.

In addition to the grand prize, AutoTrader.com awarded two other winners drawn during the sweepstakes a designer purse.