The sextech industry is estimated to be worth 4 billion dollars by 2023, yet obstructions impact female entrepreneurs’ success in the sexual wellness space.
Online platforms’ strict advertising restrictions on products and services that come under the ‘adult material’ label are a major barrier for sex-related or adjacent startups. Yet these restrictions are not equal. Unfortunately, there is an imbalance between what is construed as ‘inappropriate’ depending on the gender of the desired audience.
It’s mainly female sexual health and wellness ventures restricted from advertising freely across all digital media. What that means is that it’s not just directly sex-related ventures. Menstruation, menopause, contraception, and fertility ventures are restricted too. Anything to do with the female lens on sexual health and wellness has a problem. Yet male sexual wellness brands are not facing the same struggles.
Female sexual wellness and sextech entrepreneurs are often solving critical problems such as answering the needs of marginalised groups, providing education, and altering the conversation around sex for the better. Unfortunately, activism and sometimes protesting for change, is a core element of succeeding as a brand in this industry. However, there are also strategies for marketing to your key audience despite the advertising difficulties.
Who benefits from better market visibility?
Every person deserves access to products and services that benefit their sexual wellbeing for pleasure, protection, education and health. While it is primarily women and marginalised groups that suffer when digital platforms restrict access to the solutions and information they need, everyone is impacted by this un-equal censorship.
Taboo surrounding sex, sex-related topics, and female anatomy, in general, is the cause of a lack of open conversation, which leads to potentially dangerous misconceptions. For healthier sex and sexual wellbeing, education is vital. And from social media, it is clear that men are sometimes appallingly uneducated about female sexual and reproductive health. This has a negative impact on relationships between women and men -sexual or otherwise.
To be better allies and partners, men also need better education and a more open social landscape when it comes to talking about and learning about sex. Removing (or at least altering) the advertising restrictions on sexual wellness brands would have a positive social impact by normalising these topics and opening up a substantial secondary market.
The impact on sexual wellness businesses
Advertising restrictions are a significant growth inhibitor for sexual wellness and sex-tech startups. Due to the market need for products and services designed with the female lens, female founders find that media coverage causes a significant spike in traffic and sales. This demonstrates market viability and that advertising through the usual channels would have equally successful results.
Another indication that paid advertising would be hugely beneficial is the organic search terms brands measure from their consumer bases. Customers search for sexual wellness products and services every day. Companies with solutions to their needs exist but are not seamlessly delivered onto potential customers’ screens, forcing these viable demographics to search for them more manually. Sometimes the people that are in most need of these solutions have no idea they exist at all due to algorithmic censorship.
The lack of advertising potential also impacts founders appeal with investors as potential investors recognise this as a considerable growth inhibitor, along with the added issue of many investment firms having morality clauses and stigma surrounding the sex industry in the UK and US.
Changing restrictions to improve user experience, accessibility, and inclusivity
The current blanket bans on advertising sexual wellness are not serving brands or their consumers. From the perspective of founders who wish to serve tasteful advertising to relevant consumer profiles, scrapping the restrictions altogether would be the ideal outcome. However, reassessing and adjusting the policies to suit the modern climate with positive societal outcomes in mind would improve the current situation tremendously.
The truth is, without the restrictions, there are already safeguards in place to protect the sensibilities of more conservative people and the innocence of minors. Parental restriction options from internet providers, search engines, and social media platforms exist to ensure children do not come across unsuitable content. For adults who do not wish to be subject to specific types of advertising, these platforms provide preference options to tailor the ads they are served. Sexual wellness brands do not want to alienate audiences through R-rated language or overtly sexual imagery -and there is an argument that non-sex-related brands have been using sexuality to sell for decades. A tasteful illustration advertising a female sexual wellness product should not be judged differently from a similar ad for a male erectile dysfunction solution!
Alternative ways to reach target audiences
Until advocacy against advertising restrictions can make a difference, there are plenty of alternative ways that sexual wellness and sextech startups can market to their audience:
Create brand ambassadors
Your own community is loyal and committed. Encourage them to advocate for your business through email marketing. Offer discounts for referrals. Create member programs. Engage them in conversation through your social channels. Become a leading voice in sexual wellness and the causes they care about.
Sell merchandise
Well-designed merchandise with strong social messaging (especially clothing and accessories) create walking billboards for your brand and become fantastic conversation starters. Offer deals and discounts, and add to gift sets.
Media coverage
When you are restricted from advertising, the media are an excellent method for raising brand awareness. Build your profile as an industry expert and public spokesperson for the problems you face as a brand, the related societal issues, and the problem your product or service solves. Share content via Twitter and Linkedin, connect with journalists writing about your topics and seek out public speaking opportunities. Getting quoted in the press can lead to features and interviews where you can talk about the value of your brand.
Organic search
Make sure your brand name, website meta description, and online content reflect the search terms that your ideal market will be drawn to. For example, people come across ‘Make Love Not Porn’ daily because this brand name is exactly what people that are fatigued with performative, male-lens sexual content search for (before ever hearing about the brand). Without advertising, potential consumers must be able to find you as easily as possible.
Prioritise raising funding
Many don’t realise that advertising barriers disappear when you cut a big enough check. This creates a vicious circle where female founders struggle to advertise due to a lack of funds and can’t secure funding due to a lack of advertising potential. So take every meeting and opportunity to network and pitch your business. The landscape is slowly changing, and it is up to female founders to continue to advocate for themselves and the consumers they serve to create a more sex-positive society and equal playing field.
