One Year Later, Have Brands Delivered on Promises to Black-Owned Publishers?

It’s been over a year since the media intensity surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others, shed light on the imbalance of financial support and inclusion of minority-owned businesses by the advertising industry. It was the heat of the Black Lives Matter movement that prompted the launch of SHE Media’s Meaningful Marketplaces, designed to pave an accessible and intentional path to match promised dollars with historically underserved communities.

But has it happened?

SHE Media Partners Weigh In

We surveyed our Meaningful Marketplace community of publishers, to hear how they feel ad spending has changed since the public commitments of many large-scale brands and agencies to turn their dollars into deals for Black-owned businesses. The majority (86%) of respondents self-identified as women, nearly half (47%) of the respondents identified as Black-Owned businesses, followed by 18% Latinx or Hispanic, 15% AAPI, and 5% LGBTQA+I.

 

And so far, the results show that, despite these promises, over 73% of survey respondents say they have not experienced an increase in direct outreach from advertisers in recent months. Thirteen percent reported that they have seen some increase and only 14% replied “Yes,” they have seen an increase.

Many publishers remain optimistic that although they haven’t experienced an uptick in campaign dollars yet, that it’s only a matter of time.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed “believe” or “somewhat believe” advertisers will follow through on their commitment to invest more in minority-owned businesses.

And of the 14% who responded that they do believe the follow-through will happen, they are evenly divided on when they will see increased revenue. Half of the respondents believe they will see additional ad spend within the next year, leaving the other half pessimistic that it will take longer than a year, or not at all.

SHE Media Working to Increase Exposure

In June, at the virtual Ad Age Next: Multicultural Marketing conference, SHE Media CEO, Samantha Skey sat down with LA Dunn, SHE Media Partner and Founder of Black Girls Eat, on the topic of Investing in BIPOC Creators at scale.

“We work hard to inform advertisers and agencies how (and why) they should direct spending toward minority publishers who produce high-performing and high-quality content, and who have been historically excluded from significant media investment.” – Samantha Skey, SHE Media CEO

When it comes to influencer campaigns, sponsored content, and speaking engagements, SHE Media has a legacy of promoting diversity to brands in their selection process. But funding diversity of voices in publishing has a long way to go. Despite small victories, the community has been showered with more virtue signaling and grand gestures than actual dollars.

SHE Media connects brands with the right content while serving both audiences and minority-owned businesses.

When SHE Media was founded 15 years ago, it was fueled by a desire to create inclusive media and a more responsible content distribution landscape. Today, the company partners with independent publishers—including Dunn and Black Girls Eat—who often represent underserved communities and face significant underfunding from advertisers. To garner attention from brands looking to reach specific audiences, SHE Media focuses on partnering with Creators that produce high-quality, high-performing content with far-reaching influence over their digital communities.

“Our technology is deployed across over 2,000 websites,” Skey said. And SHE Media’s platform has benefited from over a decade of learning and refinement with those partners.

While SHE Media cannot dictate a brand’s final media selections for audience and delivery on each campaign, the goal is to increase investment through proactively pitching Meaningful Marketplaces to the advertiser community, making this audience available and targetable.

Learn more about advertising via Meaningful Marketplaces and reach our team via marketing@shemedia.com

The SHE Media Partner Network helps content creators and entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses with dedicated support for managing ads, brand partnerships, and more. Apply now to join our mission-driven platform.