Sunday, March 19, 2023
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Term & Condition
SEO Tools
Get leads. Get sales. Get growing.
  • Home
  • Free SEO Tools
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Digital Marketing
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • SEO Tools
No Result
View All Result
SEO Tools
  • Home
  • Free SEO Tools
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Digital Marketing
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • SEO Tools
No Result
View All Result
SEO Tools
No Result
View All Result
Home Digital Marketing

What Happens When Your Femtech Startup Can’t Use Social Media For Marketing?

Admin by Admin
August 5, 2022
in Digital Marketing
0
What Happens When Your Femtech Startup Can’t Use Social Media For Marketing?
585
SHARES
3.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[ad_1]

Entrepreneurs Alison Greenberg and Audrey Wu used to sign off investor emails with “happy vaginas!”

The co-founders of Ruth Health wanted to provide telehealth services for pregnant women to talk about incontinence, sex and other adjustments that come with giving birth.

Like most cash-strapped startups, Ruth Health began leveraging social media to advertise the company. But the content proved “offensive” to those platforms: Early in 2020, Instagram took down a post that used the word “vagina.” On Pinterest, one of Ruth Health’s ads showing a breastfeeding woman was flagged for inappropriate content.

Search less. Close more.

Grow your revenue with all-in-one prospecting solutions powered by the leader in private-company data.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Wu said. “Then we tried a different set of pictures and those were rejected as well. And it just becomes difficult. Like, how do you actually show a woman feeding her child?”

You might also like

From Rags To Riches During The Pandemic, Teamology PR Inspires Startups To Thrive

Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros, Marketing & Advertising News, ET BrandEquity

IMC Advertising joins hands with digital marketing agency ThreePercent Collective

Ruth Health isn’t the only startup struggling with this dilemma. The billion-dollar femtech sector is full of startups in their infancy. In fact, 40% of funded femtech startups in 2022 are at their seed stage, according to Crunchbase data. Armed with a small marketing budget, they rely on widely used social media platforms to grow an audience and show proof of concept to investors. Without that access to widely used marketing platforms, attracting funding can be challenging

“It quite frankly puzzles us, but unfortunately if we want to do this on the platform, we have to abide by the rules they set,” Wu said.

Trouble getting investors on board

For a long time, femtech (read: female-driven health technologies) have sat on the back burner of venture funding from a mostly-male VC pool. Since the term was coined in 2016, the sector broke the $1 billion mark in venture capital raised for the first time in 2021, per Crunchbase data.

Now it’s facing a new hurdle: Getting venture firms on board as startups struggle with a go-to-market strategy.

Emmeline Ventures, which invests in women-centric startups, has a portfolio of startups tackling ovarian cancer, sexual health and even a sportswear startup that allows for ventilation around the pelvic area.

“We have to talk about it right upfront because we know these issues are out there, and (founders) need to have a plan around how they’re going to market what they’re building, given where the hurdles are,” said Naseem Sayani, cofounder and managing director at Emmeline Ventures.

Dipsea, a sexual wellness startup that provides a wide range of audio erotica, has a history with Meta dating back to 2018 that involves a rotating cast of Facebook representatives. Weeks would go by when Facebook allowed Dipsea’s content, the company said; on other weeks, posts would get slashed frequently.

“We believe that a pleasure-first product, the product that creates erotica, is a sexual wellness product,” said Gina Gutierrez, co-founder and chief creative officer at Dipsea. “And we think that separating pleasure outside of healthy sex is actually really problematic.”

As Dipsea began pitching its sexual health platforms to primarily male investors, the same questions arose: How can Dipsea be less beholden to Facebook and Instagram and still get in front of a large volume of customers? Would it be possible to scale the platform without Facebook? Could it survive if it were unable to advertise on Meta?

“I can confidently say that it makes investors second-guess investing in sexual wellness businesses,” Gutierrez said.

But venture firms won’t be able to ignore the femtech industry much longer. The sector is growing as more companies in pharma and digital health build fertility drugs, health-tracking apps and sexual wellness products.

Funding peaked during the second quarter of 2021 at $892 million, an $807 million jump from the previous quarter. That momentum hasn’t stopped despite the recent economic downturn.

Consequences

The Lowdown, a London-based femtech startup, also experienced getting flagged on Meta platforms. The sexual health platform crowdsources peoples’ experiences with different types of contraception so patients can better understand side effects and pick the right birth control method.

Despite this seemingly noncontroversial objective, the platform has to use an @ symbol when discussing the vaginal ring on social media.

Once the team posted “Who’s up for some Sunday sex chat?” on an Instagram story to promote a panel discussing libido, vaginal dryness and uncomfortable experiences with intercourse. Instagram took it down for violating what it called “adult sexual solicitation guidelines.”

“We don’t allow people to facilitate, encourage or coordinate sexual activity on Instagram,” the platform said.

“It’s just another barrier for women trying to find information about this kind of stuff,” said Matilda Lucy, digital marketing strategist at The Lowdown.

Social media platforms employ advertising and content regulations to help monitor posts as the platform scales. Sexually suggestive content is not allowed on Meta platforms (in the handful of examples given, a naked statue of David is compliant but a woman eating a banana isn’t).

Tiktok bans ads focused on “intimate” body parts. Instagram doesn’t allow nudity either, even in the form of art, but will allow female nipples in the context of breastfeeding, health-related content or as a form of protest.

Navigating the specific rules for each platform is difficult. Algorithms have trouble digesting the full context of an image: Is a photo of female nipples a form of art? Protest? Health awareness? Or all three? But it also has thousands of human eyes scanning the internet, witnessing things too terrifying for Facebook’s platform, and making split-second decisions on whether or not to allow that.

But those split-second decisions can cripple startups that rely on social media to market their early-stage startups.

“(Now) we have done it long enough that we have a sense of what’s ‘safe,’ but that requires us to talk around our product in a way that arguably isn’t the best experience for Facebook users,” Gutierrez said. “Because if people are advertising products to you without using the truth of what the value proposition is like, is that a best case scenario?”

Getting creative

Despite the barriers to social media marketing, startups have found ways around big platforms.

“It’s a barrier to growth and conversion, but it’s not a dealbreaker because there’s so many ways to reach that end consumer … it actually becomes about, how creative is that founder being around navigating around those hurdles?” said Emmeline Ventures’ Sayani

From the startup perspective, Dipsea has invested a larger share of marketing dollars in podcast ads, capitalizing on the shared audio platform. Meanwhile, The Lowdown has in its armory a strong SEO strategy for organic searches, bringing people directly to its platform.

Ruth Health found its home on Tiktok, garnering thousands of views per video on breastfeeding, patient advocacy and life postpartum. In fact, Tiktok is one of the biggest traffic drivers to its site.

“We end up having to take these to other places because, can you do an Instagram live about this?” Wu said. “I don’t know. We haven’t tried. And quite frankly, why bother, right?”

Illustration: Dom Guzman


Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the
Crunchbase Daily.



[ad_2]

Source_ link

Previous Post

Finding Female Financial Freedom in an Era of Eroding Rights

Next Post

The 10 best SEO companies across the globe

Admin

Admin

Blogger & Youtuber

Related Posts

From Rags To Riches During The Pandemic, Teamology PR Inspires Startups To Thrive
Digital Marketing

From Rags To Riches During The Pandemic, Teamology PR Inspires Startups To Thrive

by Admin
December 4, 2022
Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros, Marketing & Advertising News, ET BrandEquity
Digital Marketing

Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros, Marketing & Advertising News, ET BrandEquity

by Admin
November 29, 2022
IMC Advertising joins hands with digital marketing agency ThreePercent Collective
Digital Marketing

IMC Advertising joins hands with digital marketing agency ThreePercent Collective

by Admin
November 24, 2022
Acuity launches AnalysisIQ to enhance online brokers’ education, retention, and engagement
Email Marketing

Acuity launches AnalysisIQ to enhance online brokers’ education, retention, and engagement

by Admin
November 21, 2022
Marshall Communication promotes Kat Child
Digital Marketing

Marshall Communication promotes Kat Child

by Admin
November 19, 2022
Next Post
The 10 best SEO companies across the globe

The 10 best SEO companies across the globe

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

GSC vs. Ahrefs vs. Semrush vs. Moz

GSC vs. Ahrefs vs. Semrush vs. Moz

September 19, 2022
Strong Web Designs with Kocaeli Web Seo

Strong Web Designs with Kocaeli Web Seo

September 24, 2022
► Lets Getting Rich blog

► Free SEO & Digital Marketing Tools

► SEO Tools blog

► Latest RVH News

► Find a domain and launch your site today!

Categories

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Digital Marketing
  • E-Commerce Marketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • SEO Tools

Don't miss it

From Rags To Riches During The Pandemic, Teamology PR Inspires Startups To Thrive
Digital Marketing

From Rags To Riches During The Pandemic, Teamology PR Inspires Startups To Thrive

December 4, 2022
Here’s how to stop the cost of Christmas from burning a big hole in your wallet
Affiliate Marketing

Here’s how to stop the cost of Christmas from burning a big hole in your wallet

December 3, 2022
Best Digital Marketing Courses: A Review of 5 Top Online Courses
SEO Tools

Best Digital Marketing Courses: A Review of 5 Top Online Courses

December 3, 2022
10 Stars that fans want to see on “The Manager”
Search Engine Optimization

10 Stars that fans want to see on “The Manager”

December 3, 2022
Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros, Marketing & Advertising News, ET BrandEquity
Digital Marketing

Irish privacy regulator fines Facebook 265 million euros, Marketing & Advertising News, ET BrandEquity

November 29, 2022
7 Ways Ecommerce Businesses Use Alternative Data in 2022
SEO Tools

7 Ways Ecommerce Businesses Use Alternative Data in 2022

November 28, 2022
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Home
  • Latest Post
  • Privacy Policy
  • Term & Condition
SEO & Digital Marketing Tools

© 2022 Blog.TopSEOsuperTools.com All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Landing Page
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Buy JNews

© 2022 Blog.TopSEOsuperTools.com All Rights Reserved.

What are cookies
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT