Hello! Are you new here? We’re glad you found our gay little corner of the internet. Here at Debt Free Guys, we’re all about helping queer people live a life they truly love inside and out. We believe that happiness is a 360 degree experience (purpose, love, money, well-being and lifestyle) that you too deserve. After reading our article below, Find out here how we can help you.
How to market with LGBT Facebook ads
Queer entrepreneurs want to reach people like themselves. LGBT Facebook advertising is like. With some of Facebook’s anti-discrimination rules, that’s harder to do. But if you’re looking for queer people to support your LGBT business, you have to do it.
Why queer entrepreneurs should target the LGBT market with LGBT Facebook ads
The queer community has purchasing power of more than $1 trillion in the United States and over $3 trillion worldwide. When used correctly, this has a huge impact on the global economy and is the reason we promote it Queer money® podcast listeners and Debt Free Guys readers to spend their pink dollars wisely – ideally at LGBT-owned and operated businesses.
Thrive with Facebook Advertising by Monica Louie
Our favorite Facebook advertising training course that we took and still use today is Thrive with Facebook Advertising by Monica Louie. Monica is a Facebook advertising consultant and online business strategist who helps motivated online entrepreneurs increase their profits by optimizing website traffic and email list conversions.
Monica’s blog came about when she and her husband paid off $120,000 in debt in just two years on an average income. Monica monetized her blog with a training webinar that she marketed using Facebook ads. With a cost-per-conversion price of $1.26 per subscriber, she quickly mastered the ad platform and later optimized the strategy to a conversion rate of $1.01.
Due to the overwhelming demand for Monica’s Facebook advertising services, she sold her blog in 2016 to work as a full-time Facebook advertising coach.
Get Monica’s top tips on LGBT Facebook ads that convert Queer money®:
In addition Queer money® explains to Monica Facebook’s actions to prevent further data misuse in light of the controversies that have plagued Facebook since the 2012 election until today. She also explains the basics of Facebook advertising, strategies for targeting specific communities (e.g. the queer community), budgeting for A/B testing, and creating results-driven ads. Monica shares her 5-step process for Facebook advertising and explains how store visits and promotion options can increase footfall and sales in brick-and-mortar stores.
Additionally, Monica’s Facebook group helps maximize the algorithm to find niche customers and increase your business’s sales! Use Coupon code DFG50 for 50% off Monica’s Thrive with Facebook Advertising Course.
Target marketing to the LGBT community with LGBT Facebook ads
Below are five ways to target LGBT people on Facebook, as well as tips to help you navigate the challenges of Facebook’s new anti-discrimination rules.
Your queer brothers and sisters are out there in the land of Face and Book and ready to buy from you! Find and sell them with a creative LGBT Facebook advertising strategy that rocks their box of rainbow colored socks.
1. Use Facebook Ads Manager to create LGBT Facebook ads
Bloggers and businesses can use Facebook Ads Manager to market to targeted audiences, ideally people who would benefit from the services, products, or content you provide. One of the most effective ways to reach the LGBT community is to create value-added content such as an article or blog post on your company’s website and share it on your social media channels.
Your content shows readers that your blog and company exist to help them. Creating content that solves pain points or needs in your target audience’s lives helps sales conversions. However, since your target audience is the queer community, not every queer person is your customer. Use Facebook Ads Manager to reach your customer avatar and optimize sales conversions.
First, install Facebook Pixel on your website to track visitors and measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
Install the Facebook Pixel
Installing Facebook Pixel, a small snippet of code, on your website will notify Facebook of all your website visits. Monica explains how it works and how to do the installation for her Thrive with Facebook Advertising Course.
Use Facebook Ads Manager’s detailed targeting tool to filter LGBT interests
Facebook Ads Manager’s detailed targeting tool allows you to filter and target people based on specific interests such as “homosexuality,” “pride,” or “LGBT.” You can also filter for people interested in LGBT-friendly companies or LGBT-themed companies like Volkswagen or advocate.
By creating LGBT ads, you increase your chances of attracting people in the community you want to serve.
2. Create a “look-a-like” audience with LGBT-themed content
Cold audiences are those who visit your website for the first time. The more often someone visits your website, the “warmer” they become and the more likely it is to result in sales.
How can you reach a sizable, cold audience similar to your website’s “warm” visitors? Use Facebook Manager to create a look-a-like audience.
A look-a-like audience is defined as a group of people who have the same virtual behaviors and characteristics as an original “warm” audience. Using Facebook Ads Manager, you can easily build a look-a-like audience because Facebook has specific data about the characteristics of those who have previously visited your website and matches those characteristics with other people who are similar. For example, individuals who liked it Attorney Facebook page.
By creating a look-a-like audience and showing them an LGBT-themed Facebook ad, they are more likely to interact with your ad, visit your website, and convert to your offer. Using the look-a-like audience strategy helps you optimize your Facebook advertising spend as you target your niche audience instead of wasting money on a generic “spray and pray” approach.
3. Use LGBT-themed emojis to appeal to LGBT people
A great way to quickly capture the attention span of today’s social media users is to captivate them with “You are my people” emojis.
Use an LGBT-themed emoji in the body or copy of your Facebook ad to signal to readers that your content is LGBT-friendly. Then LGBT people are more likely to interact with your content and purchase from your company.
Our most popular LGBT emojis for marketing to LGBT people include:
- ?️?
- ?❤️??
- ?
- ⚣
- ?
4. Make your Facebook ad headline LGBT-inclusive
A clear and concise headline that includes LGBT inclusivity can help your audience decide to engage with your post. The more specific you are about who your business and content serves, the better. However, one must be aware of the delicate nature of LGBT Facebook marketing as Facebook deletes real and perceived hate speech, which is good but challenging.
For example, if you are suspected of using “queer” or “gay” in a derogatory manner, your Facebook ad will be rejected. Don’t be frustrated if your ad isn’t approved. Simply write your title and resubmit your ad for approval.
Another helpful tip is to focus on your item, service or product rather than referring to a specific group of people or audience, and avoid the words “your” or “you.”
Headlines that worked well for us:
- We ❤️ Our LGBT community ?️?
- 5 Easy Steps for LGBT People to Make More Money Today
- 5 Surprising Facts About Retirement for LGBT Boomers
5. Use LGBT-inclusive images
Using LGBT-inclusive images is a must to quickly capture your reader’s elusive attention span!
Shutterfly and Adobe Stock are great platforms to source LGBT-themed images. Images include images with rainbow tones, gay and lesbian couples, rainbows, images of people who might be LGBT, and transgender people.
To comply with Facebook’s image guidelines, use images with minimal to no text and high-resolution (also called hi-res) images. Note that if you want to add text to your images, the images with text will cost more depending on the requirements of Instagram (owned by Facebook) and Facebook.
Based on our experience, these 5 key tips will help you increase your marketing and sales efforts to LGBT people and maximize the return on your business spend on Facebook advertising.
Risks of Facebook advertising data for the LGBT community
For all the benefits of being able to advertise to the LGBT community based on Facebook data, it’s the same thing Data can put millions of gay people at significant risk if you live in countries where homosexuality is illegal.
A Facebook advertising study by Ángel Cuevas Rumín from Charles III University. in Madrid, Spain, and his colleagues found that over 4.2 million people are marked with an interest in homosexuality and live in countries where homosexuality is banned.
Because these people could be targeted in Facebook ads, they are at risk of being targeted by people with malicious intent. This is just something to be aware of.
Understanding different types of Facebook data
1. Data submitted by Facebook users
The amount of Data Submitted by User The data that Facebook collects is extremely extensive. This includes, among other things, communication, content and other information when you use Facebook products. The data may also include details about the content you submit, e.g. For example, the location of the photo or the date a particular file was published.
2. Interest-related data from Facebook
Facebook’s interest-based data is exactly what it sounds like: data based on what people have expressed interest in or liked pages that are related to other similar pages or topics.
There are thousands of interests that can be targeted. You can find these in the Interests section of the Ad Set Settings.
3. Facebook exclusion-based data
With exclusion-based Facebook data, you can implement targeting rules that prevent your products from being shown to specific people in your audience.
For example, you could create a targeting rule that excludes people who have made a purchase on your site within the last 25 days. This will prevent your ad from being shown to people who are less likely to respond to your ad.
4. Facebook LGBT Policy
Due to the 2012 presidential election and other reasons, Facebook updated its user and advertising policies several years ago. While this has largely been a good thing and bots are capable of doing most of the monitoring of Facebook’s policies, there is still a lot to be desired.
With the intention of creating a safe space for users and not offending various groups, Facebook may have overcorrected and relied too much on bots. As a company that helps the LGBT community with debt, we’ve struggled to make Facebook understand that both “gay” and “debt” can be used in a positive, non-accusatory way.
5. Facebook controversy/overcorrection
We are not the only LGBT business affected. Unfortunately, according to a 2018 report The Washington Post In this article, according to Facebook, there were numerous Facebook ads with LBGT themes and words that were inadvertently blocked because they were said to be political in nature public database.
The rejected ads that Facebook largely gave in to The post were flawed, highlighting the company’s ongoing challenge in regulating the vast amount of information on its platforms.
Gay entrepreneurs on Facebook
But gay entrepreneurs can be successful on Facebook targeted advertising for the LGBT community.
One of the most cost-effective tools for niche entrepreneurs and bloggers is to grow their business with a Facebook advertising strategy.
With over 2 billion active Facebook users, it is likely that many potential customers in the LGBT community niche are active on Facebook and are ready to open their wallets for your latest amazeballz product or service!
Facebook ads increase online business and foot traffic to brick-and-mortar stores for as little as $5 per day.
For example, an “In-Store Visits” campaign in Facebook Ads Manager can help businesses connect with the right consumer in their geographic area. This is especially helpful for LGBT business owners who are stylists, real estate agents, insurance agents, and financial advisors.
An ad with a specific offer that compels the Facebook user to visit the store can be extremely effective in increasing store sales.
Are you curious about what Facebook ads your competitors are currently running?
Follow these steps:
- Go to the respective page
- In the Page Transparency section, select Show More.
- Under “View from this page,” select “Go to Ads Library.”
From there you can see all the ads currently running on the site in your country. If no ads appear, the site may not be showing current ads.
How to Start Your LGBT Owned and Operated Business
1. Select your company
Given the benefits of 24/7 ubiquitous technology, it’s easier than ever to create a geographically independent (as we call it, geoliberized) Business. Below are several ways to earn multiple streams of income anywhere in the world!
The world is your start-up-a-new-business Now! Oyster, so do like Nike and “just do it” today! From selling your products or those of others on Amazon or Etsy to babysitting or dog sitting to blogging and podcasting, there are no limits to how and where you can start your side hustle.
Want to learn more about starting full-time and part-time businesses? Listen to it Queer money® episode with the “Side Hustle King,” Nick Loper of Side Hustle Nation.
Listen to side hustle rock star Nick Loper Queer money®:
2. Write a book in your niche to position yourself as a professional
Publishing a book is a proven tactic for establishing yourself as a thought leader. Sites like CreateSpace, Lulu, and Smashwords make publishing books almost effortless. Get your content and catalog out there!
We used Amazon’s CreateSpace and Smashwords to self-publish three e-books.
Listen to Jenn T. Grace, founder of Publish Your Purpose, on the Queer money® podcast to learn more about why and how to publish your book.
Jenn T. Grace continues Queer money®:
Publishing a book is not a walk in unicorn park, although it is much easier than it seems. Even as a self-published author, you have street credibility today. In fact, a friend of ours makes money by writing, of all things, romance novels and e-books.
Michelle will guide you step-by-step through the eBook creation process that generates 5 additional numbers for her every year. Click this link to find out more.
3. Become a social media powerhouse and grow your brand
It’s fair to say that if your business isn’t on social media (and since this article is about Facebook advertising), it doesn’t exist. To earn maximum income, your customers and clients want to engage and interact with your brand on social platforms. Yes, you need a social media presence. Which? This depends on your target group and the social platforms they “live” on.
We are on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. We chose Facebook because, other than Scruff and Grindr, most gay men are active on Facebook. We use Twitter to connect with celebrities (John Cena, Margaret Cho and Taye Digg, etc.), national and local media and companies.
Since Pinterest is an important search engine, we’re there! Although Pinterest’s main users are mostly mothers, the rate of men joining Pinterest is currently higher than that of women. Additionally, Pinterest is investing millions of dollars to attract men to the platform. Undoubtedly, up to 8% of them are gay men.
YouTube also gets our social media vote as it is the best place to showcase videos. YouTube is becoming a platform for more and more high-quality LGBTQ-themed content. We recently interviewed gay YouTube star Jacob Michael about how he started his YouTube channel, how he’s growing it, and — best of all — how he’s making money from it.
Listen to Jacob’s wisdom on building a business on YouTube:
Instagram is a favorite because gay men are visual creatures and it’s a fantastic way for us to visually connect our brand with our people.
The primary catalyst for blog traffic will initially come from social media. For example, when you publish a new article, you announce its arrival on social media, just like you do with each and every one of Cher’s farewell tours. Simplify your life and use scheduling tools like Sprout Social and HooteSuite to automate social media.
By posting consistent and relevant content over time, you position yourself as an authority in your niche on social media. A great way to network with other businesses, bloggers, authors and journalists is through social media. Share, comment and like what they share. Tag them in posts and contact them for offers. By building these connections, you can open up future business opportunities with them.
To get the most ROI from Facebook, you should create a Facebook advertising strategy. Truly dominating the land of Facebook advertising is both a science and an art.
4. Write for others to earn freelance writing income
Do you want to make money with freelance writing but don’t have any experience yet? Offer to write for other blogs after you have published at least ten blog posts on your site. Learn how to set up your blog with our super easy step-by-step guide.
When we started freelance writing, we wrote for blogs with zero readers. We emailed every LGBT magazine editor in the US and offered free writing services. We got a bite and wrote a free article that was published in print. Over time, we were making $100 to $500 per article and our revenue per article continued to increase.
Join freelance job boards like BloggerJobs.biz, Contently, and ProBlogger and set up IFTTT to receive alerts when freelance jobs are posted. Save time by creating freelance pitch templates. You’ll need to customize each pitch, although a structured template will streamline the process.
Use a free customer relationship management tool like Capsule CRM to help organize and connect with the companies and people you’re pitching to
First, your income as a freelance writer will likely come from freelance work for little-known publications. By consistently showcasing and building your credibility and portfolio, you’ll earn $35 here, $100 there, until your freelance writing income earns you $230,000 a year, just like our friend.
5. Hire a business coach
Want to know the fastest way to grow your business? Learn from those who have already done it (and help others now).
There are a lot of unknowns when starting a business. You will have many questions and make many mistakes. But it doesn’t have to be as painful as it sounds.
By hiring a business coach at least somewhat in your niche, you can find a faster and less bumpy path to business success. This small monetary investment can bring big income later.
6. Join the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).
Finally, join your local LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
Why? For 2 reasons.
The first reason is that we are members (see bottom of this page) and would like to meet you one day at one of the annual NGLCC conferences. The second reason is that by joining your local and national LGBT chambers, you become part of a support system of all types of LGBT business owners with whom you can learn, socialize (and celebrate) well on your entrepreneurial journey.
Why we need more LGBT entrepreneurs
We get the same question from two different types of LGBT people.
From Generation Z and Millennials we hear: “I haven’t started saving and investing yet, but I want to know how I can retire early (FI/RE)?” From Generation X and Boomers: “ I haven’t started saving and investing yet, but I want to know how I can retire tomorrow.”
The quickest and safest solution to both questions is a three-step approach
- invest in the stock market
- invest in real estate
- Have your own small (or large) business
This creates three different sources of income that are completely separate from each other. This creates cash flow and increases wealth. So if you don’t have a business today, start one Today.
Whether you are an existing or emerging business, Facebook ads are a great tool to engage with and promote the LGBT community.
How to reach out to other entrepreneurs on Facebook
Below are some ways you can easily reach entrepreneurs through targeted Facebook ads:
1. Reach out to Facebook business page administrators
Many business owners are also administrators of their business Facebook pages. Therefore, it makes sense to consider targeting Facebook page administrators as part of your strategy.
You can find the “Facebook Page Admins” option in the “Detailed Targeting” section of the Facebook Ads Business Manager
2. Target group are online and print publications for entrepreneurs
In Facebook Ads Manager, you can easily search for industry-specific publications with a large circulation and target people with these interests. Examples of this are Wired, Assets And The Economist.
3. Target people with specific business interests
This can be easily achieved by searching for “company” as a keyword in a targeted Facebook search. Interests can be: business-to-business, distribution business, small business, etc.
4. Target your business according to specific industries
In Facebook Interest Targeting, perform a search under Demographics > Work > Industries to drill down into specific industries like architecture and engineering, business and finance, etc.
5. Target job titles
Target entrepreneur-related job titles under Demographics > Work > Job Titles. For example, “Director”, “CMO”, “CFO”, “CEO”, etc.
6. Re-engage your website visitors
Retarget your website visitors so they see your content on the day of their visit or a few days after the visit.
Retargeting is a cost-effective option to increase website traffic and allow visitors to take the next step toward purchasing your products or services.
7. Use customer data to create lookalike audiences
If you have a large customer database with a “warm audience,” you may want to upload the data to Facebook so that Facebook’s algorithm can find more people similar to the people you uploaded. For example, you may have a database of 750 of your best leads and customers.
How to Target Gay Entrepreneurs on Facebook
Targeting gay entrepreneurs on Facebook can be easily achieved by targeting the target audience with a targeted Facebook advertising campaign based on information such as age, gender, location, as well as interests and language.
A great example of a successful “gay” campaign was created by Rakuten TARAD.com. In its research, Rakuten found that of Thailand’s 24 million Facebook users (data as of October 1, 2013), 1.34% (320,000 total) identified as men interested in men.
Rakuten started with an advertising budget of $400 and targeted its ad to: Men who are interested in men, between the ages of 20 and 60, and living in Thailand. The ad featured nutritional supplements, fitness equipment and sporting goods and offered purchase discounts of up to 50%.
The ad reached around 50% of the targeted segment and nearly 160,000 men interested in men (out of the total audience of 320,000) saw the ad – each of whom had seen the ad up to 13 times in total.
The ad resulted in over 1,300 new Facebook likes for the company’s Facebook page, a threefold increase from the baseline, and a 200% increase in gross merchandise sales (GMS) during the Facebook ad.
More resources for growing your LGBT business
1. Why you need small business insurance
Yes, you’re the blogger in your My Little Pony jammies—even you’re at risk of being sued by a cantankerous customer or threatened with copyright infringement. Because it is so easy for clients to initiate litigation even over unfounded allegations, it is important that every business owner has business insurance.
Purchasing business insurance with Pogo Insurance is easy and stress-free.
Jade and Hannah Sullivan, co-founders of Pogo, have created a small business commercial insurance platform that compares reputable business insurance companies. Customers can easily review offers to determine the most relevant coverage and price for their specific needs. Freelancers and entrepreneurs can get coverage in as little as an hour by filling out the quick and easy online form.
Find out why unicorns also need business insurance:
2. Why you need a small business valuation
Valuing LGBTQ small businesses is a “must” to build generational wealth. To ensure our companies last longer than we do, it’s important to start with an assessment.
In many cases, people in the queer community face the challenge of not taking the time to think about what happens to their companies after retirement. A major advantage of business valuation is that the business can be passed on to family and friends, increasing generational wealth.
Isn’t this a better solution than leaving your business baby orphaned when you cross the rainbow bridge to the other side?!
How to find out what your company is worth:
3. How to get a small business loan
Make getting a small business loan easier by determining what you need the loan for and exploring what type of loan and lender are best. Below is a checklist to help you get a small business loan.
1. Define the purpose of the loan
You must define the purpose of the loan as the information is needed to process your loan application. Examples include financing a business startup, daily expenses, emergency funds, and business expansion.
2. Choose which loan is best for your business needs
Loan options include a business loan, term loan, SBA loan and invoice factoring.
3. Decide which type of lender is best for you
Lender options include traditional banks, nonprofit microlenders, and online lenders.
4. Determine which loan you qualify for
Your credit score is an important factor when deciding which loan you are eligible for. Banks generally offer the lowest interest rates but require a higher credit score than online or microlenders.
5. Submit the relevant documents for your loan application
Typical loan application documents include business legal documents such as articles of incorporation, business and personal bank statements, business and personal tax returns, and business financial statements.
Best LGBT Facebook Pages
We follow several LGBT business pages on Facebook because they share information that helps us stay up to date on all business topics and connect with other LGBT brands. Here are some of our favorites.
- Professional lesbians
- NGLCC
- Debt free guys
- Out leadership
Best LGBT Facebook Groups
We are members of several LGBT business Facebook groups because they provide great resources for networking, asking questions, and sharing values (to become a thought leader in the LGBT business world). Here are some of our favorites.
- LGBTQ business owners and entrepreneurs
- LGBTQ+ business owners, professionals and aspiring authors
- Queer money
- Successful queer entrepreneurs
More Help for LGBT Small Business Owners (or Would-Be Small Business Owners)
Michelle Beauclair is a Texas-based freelance writer who creates blog posts that engage readers and increase conversions. She is a helicopter horse and dog mom whose favorite music artists include 2Cellos and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Their customers include Debt Free Guys, Manna Pro and Standlee Forage. View her portfolio below Beau Clair Media.