SHE Media Expands Meaningful Marketplaces to Support More Underrepresented Publishers
SHE Media speaks with media experts from GroupM, XO Necole, The Rebelle Management and adidas on how the industry can take action to support BIPoC publishers.
SHE Media and BlogHer have always prioritized diversity and inclusion among community members, and today, our mission feels more important than ever. For us, it’s imperative that our words and actions are aligned.
We’ve created “Meaningful Marketplaces”, curated publisher communities from our over 2,000+ publisher partners that allows advertisers to support Black, Latin, AAPI and LGBTQAI+ Owned media.
“There are business advantages for the brands, the clients, the groups that figure this out first.” -Kirk McDonald, GroupM NA CEO
Meaningful Marketplaces are comprised of premium publishers within the SHE Media Partner Network who self-identify as members of an affinity group. Advertisers use the Marketplaces to buy media and branded content from traditionally marginalized publishers at scale.
SHE Media launched Meaningful Marketplaces to match advertisers with both the audiences they intend to reach AND with the publishers whose businesses they commit to support, enabling brands to invest their ad dollars directly with the affinity group of choice.
Brands looking to support more than 700 Black-Owned publishers within the SHE Media Network, for example, can purchase premium display ads through programmatic or direct deals across Black-Owned partner sites. The private marketplaces funnel advertising dollars directly to these publishers and the communities they create content for.
“As small businesses, as minority-owned businesses, it’s very important that we get voices when it comes to advertising” – Shakyna Bolden, Head of Partnerships, XO Necole
And while accommodating advertiser interest is one part of this initiative, it’s also accompanied by our long-standing desire to give these publishing partners enhanced opportunities, both for revenue and through other channels of our business. Supporting them through more programs like this, as well as through our events, sponsored content, and business mentorships demonstrates our commitment to amplifying their voices. And through our e-learning platform, BlogHer also provides a range of services to help small businesses grow year-round.
Further aligning with this goal, Meaningful Marketplaces provides a pipeline of speakers and content creators for our BlogHer events that reach global audiences of influencers and entrepreneurs, while continuing to provide educational and networking opportunities. Across all of our BlogHer virtual conferences in 2020, 60% of speakers were women of color.
You can read more about our industry relationships with Google and Ad Age and see the recap of our recent AdAge Next: Multicultural Marketing panel where SHE Media CEO, Samantha Skey and LA Dunn of Black Girls Eat spoke on Accountable Advertising.
To learn more about advertising with Meaningful Marketplaces, reach our team via marketing@shemedia.com.
We are proud to share this advertising program as it furthers our goal to serve traditionally underrepresented groups in the digital landscape.
Watch the full-length panel:
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.