• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 25, 2022

Brands that focus on Black, LGBTQ and women’s themes in their emails are being rewarded by their customers, according to a new study from Klaviyo.  

Klaviyo, a unified marketing platform, analyzed revenue data from nearly 13,000 clients who have used its email and SMS marketing tools to show their support for these occasions. The messages went to people who have shown interest in these subjects.  

For instance, firms that sent emails and texts that mentioned International Women’s Day (IWD) in February saw 6x higher ROI than companies that did not, and Klaviyo-attributed revenue (KAV) that was 3x higher than the median. 

Moreover, the percentage of consumers who purchased from brands that mentioned IWD grew by 8.8% YoY. And many firms did so — 9,771, which is 11.% more than last year.  

It was the same with Black History Month in February: Firms that talked about the observance in emails and texts saw a 3x higher ROI than those that didn’t and 6.21% growth in the number of consumers who purchased. 

Again, the number of firms that mentioned the event — 1,207 — was 11% higher than last year:  

Pride Month isn’t here yet — it occurs in June. But here are some insights from last year’s celebration.

Firms that talked about Pride Month in 2021 saw 12x higher ROI and 8x more KAV than those that ignored it.  And they enjoyed 77% increase YoY in the number of purchasers.  

Many firms are wise to this phenomenon: 85% more discussed Pride Month in 2021 than in 2020. The total is 2,125. 

Similarly, brands that sent emails tied to LBGTQ History Month last October achieved ROI that was 30% higher than that of companies who ignored it. And 54.5% more consumers purchased YoY.  

There’s only one negative note here: The percentage of brands that focused on LBGTW History Month fell by 20% YoY. And only 11 brands did so. This may be an opportunity.