Aug 22, 2017
Navigating the online space to market your business can feel a little like the Wild West. There aren’t any hard and fast rules, and everyone is still trying to figure out what works best. If your business caters to the LGBT community, you may have encountered the added challenge of trying to find your audience. Where exactly is the gay community hanging out online? Matt Skallerud is the President of Pink Banana Media, a company that helps businesses target the LGBT community online and grow with social media. Matt began his career in online marketing in 1995 with GayWired.com, one of the top LGBT websites worldwide. Today he is focused on the most cutting-edge innovations in programmatic ad buying, social networking, and Web 2.0 technologies. Matt is passionate about helping businesses large and small reach the LGBT consumer. Today Matt shares his 20-plus years of experience in the LGBT online marketing space, discussing the evolution of the online ad space, Pink Banana’s decision to niche down to the LGBT community, and why Twitter is the best social platform for learning social marketing. Learn to engage with others online (rather than just speaking to them) and find the right social platform for your industry, and let’s grow the network of successful LGBT entrepreneurs and influencers! Topics Covered The evolution of online marketing • Banner ads and email marketing • Social media (Facebook paving the way) • Third wave coming along with Twitter The differences between Facebook and Twitter • Facebook is Main Street, USA o 5,000 maximum reach o Business page only seen if willing to pay • Twitter is the big city o Noisy, loud o Infinitely scalable o Connect, engage with 1 million Why speaking with people is more effective than speaking to people on social • Speaking to drives traffic via headlines, news clips • Speaking with involves sharing, retweeting • LGBT businesses, associations in UK have high level of engagement Why Pink Banana focuses on serving the LGBT community • Can’t be all things to all people • Wanted to be best at one thing The struggle to find the gay community online • On all platforms • Instagram works for visual businesses (i.e.: destinations, wedding company) • Advertising, marketing and finance better suited to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook groups The companies Pink Banana works with • Wide range • Recent partnership with Bud Light (Pride Video Message) • Worked with Comcast during San Francisco Pride • Collaboration with Laguna Beach as destination and OC Pride • Companies trying to leverage influencers, social media networks The types of influencers Pink Banana works with through the ILoveGay network • Didn’t go out looking for influencers • Find content, develop organic relationship • Partner to grow business How the travel industry has been ahead of the curve in reaching the LGBT community The best niche opportunities for aspiring bloggers • Still room in travel (speak to different audience in different way) • Night life, foodie space • Anything with strong personal interest What makes an influencer successful • Speak the language of Instagram, Twitter • Use appropriate hashtags, @ to connect profiles, tagging photos • Active in including who they’re talking about • Passion, interest Why Twitter is the best social platform to train on • Forces into 114 characters • Can still tell story with ‘snapshot’ Cutting edge globally innovative programmatic ad buying • Technology identifies you as an aggregate of data • Allows agencies to target specific group, i.e.: people who shopped for insurance in last 30 days he best time for businesses to partner with Pink Banana • Get active on social • Bump into Pink Banana online • Packages available for under $500