5 things to consider when advertising to women

5 things to consider when advertising to women

Sexism in Marketing and Advertising

Sexism still exists in the media, marketing and even advertising. (Shock) Some of us are quick to call it out, some of us are oblivious it’s still happening, and some of us are just used to it and feel powerless. Sexism and gender inequality exist in the media and, unfortunately, the statistics are quite alarming.

 

Only 1 in 10 ads feature a woman.

– Marketing Week (2021)

Female-targeted Products are Expensive

Let’s split sexism down the middle. Women are featured less in advertising overall, AND female-targeted products and services are priced higher than the made-for-men versions.

You’ve probably heard of the pink tax, but it’s still a problem today. Despite many countries trying to remove the pink tax, it is still legal to price something higher because it is made for women.

In the USA, 22 states introduced bills that would repeal the tampon tax, but none went into law. – Listen Money Matters (2022)

The fact that some perfectly gender-neutral products and services are filtered by gender in the first place is a big problem. Either way, pure sexism in marketing results in an unfair and one-sided story and alienates over half of the consumer base.

In advertising, there is an obvious age gap. Fewer women are represented after a certain age and most women visible in advertising tend to be of a certain age (primarily young)

One thing is for certain though, is that the next generation of women will not tolerate any discrimination of any kind. You better be ready for being ridiculed online and called out for any discriminatory ads or sneaky sexism.

Marketers & Brands can Improve

Society WILL increase its pressure on businesses and brands to do better and to think smarter. So, if you’re not doing it already, you really should be looking at your campaigns up close.

Young women are consuming 10,000 messages a day from brands.
New York Times (2021)

Make sure that your brand, product, or service represents your audience. And if it is women you want to attract – prioritised authenticity and representation now, before it’s too late.

My Bright Digital is a conscientious digital marketing agency that strives to create meaningful campaigns that are inclusive, diverse, and future-proofed. We have put together our top 5 things you should consider to avoid sexism in marketing and advertising.

Be kind: Offer women a feel-good purchase

Women do not need your brand to make them feel better, empower them, or live a better life. Some of them are thriving and doing perfectly well without it. So instead, let them be, and do something for the greater good.

Use your brand to show your compassion, kindness, and willingness to support a more meaningful issue. You can demonstrate charitable deeds and show your wiliness to support a non-for-profit goal. This will attract an empathetic and valuable audience. Remember, three-quarters of consumer purchases are women. So, win them over by doing good. AND they will feel better by being associated with your brand.

Be open: Consider alternative messaging

Using direct language and making assumptions in your marketing message is a big no, it never works. (Did it ever?).

People have desensitised themselves from obvious marketing tactics and promotional traps. Stop telling us what we need, how to feel and what we should be purchasing. Instead, use thoughtful and considered messaging to speak to women.

Stop using these phrases: ‘You need this’ ‘Must have’ ‘You can’t live without’ and ‘Get the look’

Instead offer the alternative, and start using these: ‘Join us’ ‘Be part of this’ ‘Discover more‘ ‘Start something’ and ‘Explore the possibilities’

Be honest: Show your true intention

Being honest is human. When brands make a mistake, they must own up to it, fix it and show what there are going to do next. This is a sure-fire way to gain supporters.

We do not want to be told that we need to include 45,300 steps in our skincare routine, it’s also lying. Anyone can spot an overly airbrushed, filtered image of a model these days. It’s not only a turn-off but it can be damaging to someone’s self-esteem or mindset.

Instead, it’s more inspiring to be told we don’t need to do something. Just being told we’re doing a great job, feeling supported and celebrated might just be the ticket to getting our attention.

Masking your products or services and slapping on the colour green and putting the word ‘kind to the planet’ in front of it, is misleading. Instead, show your brand or service in a true light, with real people, in real situations with the real outcome. Zero carbon footprint or not, they are going to know.

Be helpful: Make their life easier

We are in the decade of problems and so we need more solutions than ever. As a modern society of women, we are trying to fix the world, save the planet, stop the wars, and bring home the bacon.

So, one of the best ways you can be an ally for over half the population is to help them do what they need to do. Solve problems, make life a little bit simpler, and you will quickly see the money rolling in.

Reducing time, saving space, creating less plastic and helping them be the superstars that they already will make a greater difference to your profit margin.

Be diverse

It’s an obvious one, but not many people are getting it right. Women need to be represented in a way that truly reflects the way they are visibly living across the world.

In your advertising campaigns, try to use diverse and inclusive imagery. Showcase a range of women and identities including size, identity, shape, race, abilities, and age.

Situations to avoid: Women cleaning or cooking, with a man looking happy, thin models in underwear or skimpy outfits, women with babies looking happy.

Instead use our FREE Library!

My bright digital has handpicked a small selection of diverse female-led imagery.

This library is 100% free to download. So, get inspired, use it in your campaigns and share away! It should give you an idea of what to aim for when creating a visual campaign and how to get the female audience on your side.

Download your free diverse women image library here.

Liked this blog? Then you may like us! We are My Bright Digital, a boutique digital marketing agency who are trying to do the right thing. We work with brands to improve their digital campaigns increase their ROI and offer consultancy services.

Contact Alex today.

Kickstart Your Digital Marketing Career

Kickstart Your Digital Marketing Career

Is Digital Marketing the right career for you?

When we hear the phrase ‘digital marketing’, many think of social media. memes, gifs, trending posts and TikTok. When in fact this is one small branch of the digital marketing tree. SMM or Social Media Marketing is important, but it’s not necessarily the first digital point of contact that a prospective customer may have with a brand.

So, if acronyms like SEO, PPC and CMS are sounding a little off-putting to you, remember that digital marketing is equally creative and analytical. Even if you’re purely working in social media marketing, you need to be able to analyse the results to ensure that your work is having a positive impact.

The beauty of digital marketing is that no day is the same. It requires analysing customer trends and working out what that customer needs, wants and desires. It requires forward-thinking and great organisational skills. As any digital marketer knows, having a content calendar and a clearly outlined marketing plan is the way to success.

If you are looking for a challenging career with storytelling at its heart, then digital marketing may be right for you.

Agency vs In House Marketing

Once you’ve decided that you want to start your career in digital marketing, you’ll want to investigate whether you’d prefer to work for an agency or in-house.

What is Agency Marketing?

  • Work with a variety of businesses
  • Gain knowledge in different industries
  • Become an expert in balancing multiple task lists
  • Develop fruitful client relationships
  • Help shape your client’s futures

What is In House Marketing?

  • Work with one specific brand/business
  • Gain high-level knowledge within the industry
  • Become an expert in your brand’s tone of voice and messaging
  • Develop fruitful in house relationships
  • Leave a lasting impact
  • Help shape the future of the business

Both agency and in house marketing have their pros and cons, but it is entirely personal preference as to which suits you better. If you prefer working within a variety of industries, agency marketing is probably the right choice for you. However, if you prefer gaining a deep understanding of one specific industry or company, in house might be a better fit.

So, what is Digital Marketing?

The ‘tree’ of digital marketing is made up of many different branches that come together to create a connected journey for the prospective customer or client. We won’t go into all the different departments as that’ll be an entire blog post in itself! But these are the major players of digital marketing.

Search Engine Optimisation

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is one of the bigger branches on this tree. Essentially, SEO focuses on improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website so that people on Google can easily find your business.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

PPC or Pay-Per-Click Advertising is a paid advertising model where the business only pays when they receive a click on their ads. Common examples of PPC are Google Ads, LinkedIn ads and Facebook Ads.

Email Marketing

Email Marketing is just as it sounds! Writing tailored email content for your brand’s loyal subscribers, giving them exclusive offers or updates and rewarding customers for staying loyal to you. Email is a great way of keeping the conversation going with your clients or customers, and ensuring they keep returning to you.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is about creating valuable, high-quality, relevant and consistent content that is distributed on different platforms. From website blog posts and articles to social media stories and videos, in digital marketing content is king with video continuing to storm ahead in popularity.

These are just a few of the branches that make up digital marketing, there’s a whole world out there for you to explore. We know it can be daunting starting a career in digital marketing with so much to learn, but there are some brilliant free resources online to help you get started.

Learn Digital Marketing for free

We know it can be daunting starting a career in digital marketing with so much to learn, but there are some brilliant free resources online to help you get started.

The internet is the best place to learn for free, and digital marketing resources are available far and wide. From blog posts to podcasts to videos to courses and so much more, these are some of My Bright Digital’s favourite digital marketing resources:

My Bright Digital’s Advice

There are so many different ways to kickstart your digital marketing career and there is no one size fits all approach. With that in mind, here are the top tips from the team at My Bright Digital.

Alex

“Don’t be afraid. Get things wrong, mess up and make big mistakes. That is the best way to learn quickly. Digital Marketing is incredibly flexible and never permanent. You can always change, swap, edit, improve and enhance your marketing efforts. Use your wider network and ask questions from a range of people who have different experiences and skillsets.”

Tabitha

“Consume as much marketing knowledge as you can. Read, watch and listen to different sources and authors so you can understand the truly vast landscape that is digital marketing. Remember, even CMO’s don’t stop learning!”

Fancy a chat with our experts? Fill out our contact form and we will get in touch!