As Black History Month comes to end, it is important to continue to honor the contributions and hardships of the Black community. Indeed, one month out of the year does not suffice in recognizing the racial injustices that our country continues to deal with. In this blog, we look at valuable statistics around diversity and how it applies to our field of digital advertising.

Recent data points to a desire from users – especially younger generations – to see more diversity in advertising. What does this mean? Younger generations are seemingly the most passionate about, and trusting of, brands that represent diversity.

Here are more statistics and key takeaways:

1. Diversity In Ads Builds Trust With Users:

• 70% of Gen Z consumers are more trusting of brands that represent diversity in ads (Microsoft Advertising via Impact).
• 59% of consumers are more trusting of brands they are represented in their ads (Microsoft Advertising via Impact).
• 59% of people say they are more loyal to brands that stand for diversity and inclusion in online advertising (Facebook Advertising via Impact).

2. And Is Good For Business:

• Brands with the highest diversity scores see an 83% higher consumer preference (Heat Test Report via Impact).
• 69% of Black consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand whose advertising positively reflects their race/ethnicity (Think With Google via Impact).
• Studies have shown that more inclusive ads have seen 23% more “purchase intent” from Gen Z consumers (Microsoft Advertising via Impact).

3. But Many Consumers Still Do Not Feel Represented:

• 54% of consumers surveyed by Facebook said they do not feel fully culturally represented in online advertising (Facebook Advertising via Impact).

4. And Focused Ad Marketing Spend Needs to Increase:

• Multicultural consumers make up almost 40% of the U.S. population, but multicultural media spending is only 5.2% of total ad and marketing spend (PQ Media via Impact).

5. Here’s What You Can Do: 

• Work with Bidtellect’s in-house creative agency, [b]+studio, to ensure your creative assets incorporate a range of faces from varying backgrounds, plus use language to connect differing age ranges. Maximize Bidtellect’s advanced targeting and optimization capabilities to reach more users, especially skewing towards gender and age with cookieless context demographics targeting.

Focusing on genuine representation and building a connection with all communities builds trust with consumers and ultimately builds brand loyalty. It is imperative to not only represent minorities within advertisements, but also to normalize the presence of non-white bodies within the media. While we have a long way to go, learning and reading more about it is a great place to start.

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