Marketers are still trying to fulfill commitments they made to spend more money with Black-owned media in response to the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020.
But there’s a misconception that Black media can’t boost campaign performance, according to Justin Barton, SVP of digital strategy and partnerships at Black-owned publisher Black Enterprise.
And that simply isn’t true.
Black media can scale, Barton says, but it’s hamstrung by programmatic, which is clogged with brand-safety censors and frequency caps that limit advertisers.
For example, agencies employ keyword blocklists to avoid bidding on media that uses relevant language for this audience (including the word “Black” itself). Meanwhile, advertisers using overly broad frequency caps for programmatic buys reduce their chances of winning bids for sites they want.
Some agencies are better than others at addressing those problems because they take the time to make manual adjustments to blocklists and manage frequency. But the lack of consistency is “why we push for programmatic guaranteed,” Barton says, which is basically an automated insertion order.
Right now, he says, “the best way for an advertiser to spend money with a Black media company is through a guarantee to make sure impressions [actually] deliver.”
But Black-owned publishers also need to do a better job of pitching themselves to agencies as an effective way to reach Black audiences compared to platforms owned by mainstream media companies like BET (owned by Paramount) or The Root (owned by G/O Media).
It takes time for brands to build awareness and trust with a new audience, Barton says.
But an investment in publishers that are “deliberately covering content from a Black lens,” he says, is the best way to get brand lift and generate conversions.
Also in this episode: More on programmatic vs. direct deals, the difference between Black-owned and Black-targeted media, collaboration and competition among Black-owned media and ad tech companies and some cool hangout spots to keep in mind for Cannes next year.
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