While there is still much more work to be done, there are several learnings around the channels that have been deemed the most effective and the progress that has been made to show more diversity in creative campaigns.

Connatix and Digiday surveyed nearly 90 brands and agencies on this topic in its State of Media Diversity report. In our survey we asked respondents about which campaign types they found to be most effective in achieving true representation. The answer was that social media (78%), digital display (58%) and email (41%) were the most cited channels, with connected and linear TV coming in close behind and at virtually the same place on our respondents’ list.

1. Social media leads in channel effectiveness

The majority - 78% - of survey respondents noted that social media has allowed them to most effectively represent diversity over the past year. Adam Muscott, senior vice president at BAM Media said “For us, the most effective channels have been with walled-garden partners (e.g. social) and in some cases site direct buys. Layering in first-party data has helped in specific circumstances with specific brands as well.”

Reaching audiences in this way takes careful consideration though, as brands must be sensitive to consumer needs and look to avoid an undesired customer experience.

2. Digital display is a close second

Following social media comes digital display with 58% of respondents noting this as an effective channel in reaching and representing diverse audiences. Within digital display, video represents the largest opportunity to not only show diverse audiences, but also to target similar consumers. From there, tactics like contextual targeting can be leveraged to actually reach those diverse and underrepresented audiences. Advertisers would be wise to work with partners to help them identify the places where their ads should show up in order to build stronger relationships with diverse communities.

3. Connected TV joins the top three channels for diverse representation

As respondents have planned their campaign focus for increasing diverse representation in 2022, the rising channel of connected TV (48%) edges ahead in the mix, joining social media and digital display.

Connected TV allows advertisers to reach a more diverse group of people whereas traditional TV tends to reach an older, more homogenous audience. It also is a way to reach multi-generational households that are co-viewing.

With diverse representation becoming an increasingly central consideration, brands and agencies must put their resources and energy into working with partners that can help them navigate the channels above. Connatix helps connect advertisers with premium publishers, and offers comprehensive target lists of diverse-owned publishers within the network, whether a company is looking for Black-owned, women-owned, LBGTQ+-owned, etc. Connatix also offers proprietary deep contextual capabilities, leveraging machine learning to provide advertisers more real-time granular insights to help reach their target audiences.

To learn more about the progress made to date and how to continue to evolve DE&I efforts, download the "State of Media Diversity” Report.