Women’s History Month has begun. And while the month-long celebration is dedicated to embracing the hard work of the world’s women, it began as recognizing the often-overlooked contributions of women throughout history.
Are you overlooking opportunities to connect with women in your campaigns?
Tunnl audiences have enabled hundreds of advertisers to deliver their ads to the right people and maximize their message’s impact. But the demographic split of an audience can come as a surprise.
Time and time again, our data has affirmed the power and influence women have in politics, commerce, and finance. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re spotlighting six of our prebuilt audiences that embrace women’s value and what they really care about.
How to Achieve the Best Women’s History Month Marketing
As advertisers, we constantly consider how the world sees our products, causes, and candidates. But we may not realize the impact our campaigns have on how society sees itself.
Ads have been known to rely upon and proliferate stereotypes, a trend we need to thoughtfully correct.
Avoid Sexism in Advertising and Marketing to Women
The best way to reach women during Women’s History Month is to check your bias at the door. Consumers can spot sexism in advertising and marketing to women, and it impacts how they buy.
An AdReaction study found that ads featuring women with intellect or in positions of power perform better in terms of brand impact and purchase intent. So, can you really afford to get your ads wrong when it comes to gender roles and expression? Instead of seeing gender inclusion and equity as obligatory boxes to check, consult this checklist for getting your ads right:
- Involve women at every step of the process; strategy, creative, media planning, media placement, and measurement
- Consult women from different backgrounds
- Hear and action on the feedback you get from women on your team and in your customer base
- Thoughtfully consider your scripts and what stereotypes they may promote
- Go beyond demographics and assumptions to target the audience who actually cares
Identifying the right audience is a step you can take right now to ensure your Women’s History Month campaigns meet the mark.
And we’ve put together six prebuilt audiences you can use immediately.
6 Best Audiences for Women’s History Month
1. Swing Women
“Female voters who are likely undecided on the upcoming election and are receptive to messages from both parties”
Swing voters and their unpredictable turnout at the polls play a huge part in deciding elections every cycle. And with so many vital issues on the ballot, who shows up on election day and how they vote is top of mind for issue advocates everywhere.
This audience is specifically comprised of women who are undecided about the upcoming election, a group with prominent voices and a lot of power at the ballot box. As you plan your pre-election ad campaigns, keep this audience in mind if you need to:
- Sway voters who are on the fence about your issues or candidates
- Generate public discourse around vital causes before an election
- Reach a neutral or depolarized population of voters with your message
- Invite undecided voters to informational meetings, debates, or community forums
2. Working Moms
“Mothers with full-time employment”
Women’s History Month is dotted with celebrations of women who changed our society, many of them mothers. They never put down the mantle of “mom” even as they went on to win Nobel Prizes like Marie Curie or lead nations like Indira Gandhi or Margaret Thatcher.
Working moms are doing it all. They’re balancing their work with school dropoff and unexpected sick days, trying to keep from burning out as they burn the candle at both ends. Yet they still change and shape our society. Consider targeting this audience if you need to:
- Showcase convenient products or services for maintaining their momentum
- Highlight what you do as a business to empower the moms who work for you
- Raise awareness about programs helping working moms balance their obligations
- Invite working moms to partake in events and opportunities in their communities
3. Businesses with Breastfeeding Spaces More Likely to Support
“Individuals who are more likely to support businesses who create breastfeeding spaces for their customers”
Online shopping is almost too convenient to pass up, so when you do need to venture into a brick-and-mortar store, it better be a smooth experience. For families in the midst of breastfeeding and weaning, having a clean, private place to breastfeed can make or break their in-store experience.
The people in this audience know that the need to pump probably can’t wait and that a bathroom is no place to breastfeed. They respect businesses that see this need and accommodate their customers accordingly. As you plan your Women’s History Month campaigns, this is the ideal audience to target if you need to:
- Advance legislature or corporate policy surrounding breastfeeding accommodations
- Remind customers about in-store accommodations available for nursing mothers
- Connect people who breastfeed to resources on how to advocate for themselves
- Surface products and information that facilitate comfortable public breastfeeding
4. Paid Leave All Parents
“Individuals who believe businesses should provide paid leave for all parents regardless of their birthing status”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in married-couple families with children, almost 97% of them have at least one employed parent, but in roughly 62% of those households, both parents work. That’s a lot to juggle when a new baby joins the family.
The people in the Paid Leave All Parents audience see the value in having both parents home for a period of time when their family expands - but they also understand the financial toll that can take. They want businesses to provide pay while they’re away, allowing them to focus their attention on what matters most to them. Add this audience to your Women’s History Month targeting if you need to:
- Reach people who are thinking about family planning and money management
- Further legislation and business policy surrounding paid family leave
- Promote the benefits you provide to employees of your business
- Inform people about grants, programs, and other assistance for new parents
5. Federal Paid Leave Birthing Women
“Individuals who believe the federal government should provide paid leave for all birthing mothers regardless of their benefit status”
Similar to the Paid Leave All Parents audience, this group of people approves of providing financial assistance to new parents. The major difference between these audiences is that the Federal Paid Leave Birthing Women audience believes this is a federal responsibility rather than a business one.
They’ll be ideal for your campaign if you need to:
- Influence federal policy around family assistance, stimulus provisions, or tax credits
- Offer assistance to families applying for state or federal assistance
- Provide alternatives to federal programs for new mothers or families
- Connect birthing women to financial planning or assistance information
6. All-Female Segment of Passive Investors
“Women who consider themselves to be hands-off investors with at least one type of investment”
While we’re talking about women’s history, one of the elephants in the room is that women have not always had sole command over their financial futures. Times have changed. Women make 80% of a household’s purchasing decisions and are taking control over how their money works for them.
With fintech disruptors like Ellevest committed to opening the investment playing field to women, legacy financial institutions are in a hurry to build trust with the same group to stay competitive in the fast-changing market. When you’re planning to target financially savvy women with your campaign, this audience is ideal to:
- Promote passive or low-maintenance investment opportunities
- Elevate resources for financial literacy, wealth building, and money management
- Curate financial legislation information and business news relevant to passive investors
- Empower women to own their financial freedom with your products and services
Where to Target Female Audiences for Women’s History Month
Advertising and marketing still have plenty of lessons to learn about how to appeal to women. They are a demographic brimming with potential - they manage the family finances, change the tides of elections, and put causes on the map. Women could be your ideal audience.
Yet, women are often overlooked or minimized in advertising. Your campaigns can be a refreshing change from this with Tunnl's prebuilt audiences. Tunnl's prebuilts go beyond demographics and assumptions to show who feels which way about particular societal issues; when you use them to plan your media buys, you know you'll reach the people who care and, in the process, avoid stereotypes and outdated ideas about what defines womanhood.
You can access these audiences in the Tunnl platform right now, along with hundreds more prebuilt options that may be relevant to your campaigns. Or, you can go extra niche and design your own custom audience fit for Women’s History Month and beyond.
