Reaching the Gay/Transgender Community with Digital

Published on
June 11, 2021
Contributors
Allison Gibson
allisongibson@vicimediainc.com

Allison has over 20 years of advertising agency and media relations experience. Being on the agency and client side she offers a unique perspective to client needs and what it takes to achieve them. As a seasoned marketing professional she has managed strategic planning and multi-media marketing for many healthcare clients, banks, schools, non-profits and universities, as well as the Kentucky Derby Festival. She prides herself on creating and maintaining great relationships. Her experience is a great match for leading and training teams and helping businesses grow

Subscribe to our newsletter
Read about our privacy policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Our world is comprised of many types of people, from many walks of life and many different types of interests and lifestyles. Pretty cool right? You know what else is cool? Being able to reach ANY type of individual with digital. And now that we are in June, we all are surrounded by messages of Gay Pride Month and celebrating all the differences that exist and I wonder if the gay and transgender audience is an audience that can be reached with digital? You better believe it is. Summer historically is a time for events and a time to relax and celebrate. And with half of Americans 12 and older fully vaccinated the state of our country is nearing “normalcy”. And mass gatherings and events are slowly starting to rise again, including many celebrations and festivals this month to support LGBT Pride Month



How did you hear about a recent event? Or Festival? Online, I am sure. And this makes me all happy inside. Reaching this audience and many others for events and Festivals with digital is key

Here are some of the best tactics and targets to reach the gay/transgendered community and event enthusiasts

SOCIAL MEDIA

First, let’s start with social. As we all start to be a little more social, we are sharing it with pride on social media. So naturally, this is a great place to start to reach people about your socials concerns or Festival and events

Some of the best ads to run can be Facebook and Instagram single image or video ads, carouse

and/or Facebook Event Response ads



Great targeting categories include:

Transgenderism

LGBTQ community/other LGBT+-related interests

Festival

Live Events/concert

Entertainmen

*After Jan. 19, 2022 Facebook will be removing this as a targeting option, https://bit.ly/3E9i3e



SOCIAL MIRROR™

Studies show that the average user spends almost two and half hours a day on social media and 50% of our day on our mobile devices. We hop in and out of social media in and around our normal online activities. Social Mirror™ ads look like social media or display or video ads but appear on other websites and apps, linking back to the social media platform and the client’s website. The ads “mirror” the exact look and feel of a paid or organic post, targeted just to the people you need to reach across all devices. Social Mirror™ ads can be done with any organic or paid posts from your business account on these 8 social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, or YouTube. Ads can be display, video, or carousel



The targeting for Social Mirror™ can be more comprehensive than social media targeting. This includes keyword targeting, artificial intelligence (AI), retargeting and behavioral targeting. For keyword targeting, we can target a list of up to 500 keywords related to your business and show Social Mirror™ ads on the web pages where they appear. When you layer in AI, machine learning shows your display or video ads to people across all devices to target consumers based on who is engaging with the ad. Retargeting allows us to follow people after they leave your client’s website and showing them your Social Mirror™ ad, on other websites and apps they go to, across all devices

With behavioral targeting, there are thousands of targeting categories including demographics

online and off-line behaviors, and interests. Some great ones to use include

LGB

LBGT activist

LGBTQ advocac

Hitting people with liberal views on LGBTQ rights and pro-choic

Marriage equality supporter

Society – Gay Lif

Politics & Society – LGB

Charitable Donors – LGBT Cause

Entertainment – Gay & Lesbian Movie

Voter Profile – LGBT Donors and Supporter

Sociodemographic – Lifestyle – LGBT

Gay Datin

Events & Ticket

Music Festival

Arts & Cultur

These same strategies and targeting can be used for display, native display or video, video pre-roll, Over the Top or Connected TV as well as online audio



MOBILE CONQUESTING

Mobile Conquestingis one of our most popular products and you will see why! As consumers spend more of their online time on smartphones and tablets, it is important to include a mobile strategy in your digital marketing. OurMobile Conquesting product allows advertisers to use both location-based targeting combined with demographic and behavioral targeting to reach desired consumers on their mobile devices





There are some great features with Mobile Conquesting. First, we can target any geographic territory and then we can add some great categories like

Millennial

Young Professional

Community Service

Community Organization

Live Event Attendee

Park Lover

Outdoor Enthusiast

Social Event

Festival Event

Colleges & Universitie

Next, we can also geo-fence places and events. If there is an upcoming Pride event and you want to reach that audience, this is a great tactic to use. The way it works is we virtually fence that area and work to serve ads to anyone in the fence. We can also serve ads after they leave the fence, using geo-retargeting to further the message to this audience















Additionally, we can track visits to a business or event from anyone that has been served an ad

This is a great ROI tool

If you have a specific audience you are trying to reach, there is not match to digital. Take pride this month every month that you have the tools to take your next campaign to a whole new level. And let June be a reminder to be kind to one another.

Related Posts

Tips, guides, industry best practices, and news.
Category Link
YouTube+: The Branding and Awareness Machine
In today’s digital landscape, attention is everything and YouTube is where that attention lives. With billions of users, laser-sharp targeting, flexible budgets, and measurable performance, advertising on YouTube isn’t just a trend it’s a strategic advantage.
Dan Charon
June 25, 2025
Category Link
From Pitch to Performance: Selling Smarter with Digital Media
The best digital salespeople aren’t just selling—they’re guiding. With the right materials, mindset and momentum, your pitch becomes a performance your client won’t forget.
Tracey Geary
June 9, 2025
Category Link
Are You Missing Out on the Marketing Power of the Theatre of the Mind? Online Audio!
Online Audio is a great tool to enhance a digital campaign and falls within the branding and awareness part of the sales funnel. Audio reaches consumers while they're engaging in other things like commuting, working out, or cooking...
Katie Pray
June 3, 2025