#3 Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Women-centric Social Media Campaign To get viral for all the right reasons, brands need to be sensitive while highlighting female empowerment.
By Nidhi Singh •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
In this digital era, new-age brands are tapping on the power of social media to reach millennials. The more successful a social media campaign is, the more it benefits the business. In the rush to attract more eyeballs to their campaign, brands forget that the message has to be delivered to the right audience in the right place and at right time. In addition, companies must also learn the fundamental elements, instead of hopping on the bandwagon without a social media strategy.
Every year on International Women's Day, we see many brand campaigns celebrating female power. Sadly, not many are able to pull off an outstanding campaign. To get viral for all the right reasons, brands need to be sensitive while highlighting female empowerment.
Entrepreneur India lists out common pitfalls that brands must avoid when building a women-centric social media campaign
Avoid Antagonizing Men:
According to Ambika Sharma, Founder & Managing Director, Pulp Strategy Communications, awareness is the most important ingredient for empowerment and is essential to bring about desired and lasting results. She believes any kind of empowerment without awareness – irrespective of its degree and magnitude – will eventually wane over time.
"As a marketer, I often see many campaigns project women in stereotypical roles, facing cliché-ridden challenges before their life just turns on its head with the entry of a particular product from a particular brand. This approach simply lacks innovation as well as imagination and also serves against the purpose of women empowerment. Some campaigns also end up pitting women against men. This attitude must also be avoided," shared Sharma adding that in the battle for gender equality, men and women have to join hands to fight against the flawed and conformist attitude prevalent in the society.
Kiss Goodbye to Stereotypical Representations:
There's a thin line between being edgy and being degrading. Anshul Sushil, CEO, BoringBrands emphasized that the campaign should not have any sexual or biased references as it kills the purpose.
"Women empowerment on women's day has been the front and center of many brand campaigns around this time of the year. However, before embarking on such a campaign for your brand, do a little self-check. You can't be slapstick one day and be all praises of women the other day. If you do so, the campaign can be in danger of being viewed as superficial at best, condescending at worst. Also, strive for gender-balanced campaigns and contests to prevent stereotyping from being a "blind spot' in your creative campaign," shared Sushil.
Never Forget to Add Value to Your Content:
What can seem like a great idea in the boardroom doesn't always go down well with consumers. Brands seem to jump on International Women's Day to build a campaign that cherishes womanhood and in a bid to make it trending and sensational, forget to attach some value-added content to it. There are numerous campaigns by well-established brands that have dealt some serious damage to the brand's reputation.
Swati Nathani, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Team Pumpkin feels that brands need to stop doing this and start to focus on building consent-based and story-driven engagement.
"Showing the consumer you care about their well-being regardless of whether they buy your product, is critical to developing a successful campaign," she added.
