What Actually Gets Your Sexual Wellness Brand Flagged (and What Doesn’t)
The Clique Collective is a digital marketing agency in Jacksonville, FL. We specialize in writing/editing services, SEO, social media management, content creation, and website design. This is our blog (aka, a space where we ramble on about our strong marketing opinions and hope that someone will read it). Enjoy!
If you’re a brand leader in sexual wellness, it’s time for a hard truth: consumers scrolling on social media can only handle so many euphemisms for the word “vagina” before they decide to block your brand account altogether. We know, it’s tough to navigate the community guidelines when you sell sexual wellness for a living! The goal post for these platform guidelines is always moving, and brands in your space constantly have to shift their approach to adapt—or risk yet another account restriction or ban.
Thankfully, there are ways to work around, or, dare we say, with the community guidelines on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Yes, even when you need to say “clitoris.”
What doesn’t get you flagged (but brands avoid anyway)
The most important aspect of marketing for sexual wellness is approaching it from a clinical and educational angle—especially when it comes to your organic social media strategy or paid creative strategy. It’s far better to explain that oil-based lube can break down the materials in silicone vibrators than to say “you should use a water-based lube if you want your sex toy to get you soaking wet.” Are we stating the obvious? Yes. But you’d be surprised how many brands are either scared to make a post without censoring 50% of it or think they can get away with balls-to-the-wall (pun intended) shock value.
In your organic marketing for sexual health products or services, here are some platform-safe tips:
You can use terms like vagina, clitoris, sex, penetration, etc if used with a clearly educational tone. We like to say we create sex ed content “with finesse”, because there’s a clear line between crude and clinical. If you can read your own script aloud without wincing, you’re probably OK.
Tips for promoting pleasure are also generally safe to share, but try using language like touch and stimulation rather than more descriptive verbiage regarding sexual techniques or acts. Your target audience will be able to follow, trust.
In general, TikTok absolutely does not appreciate any imagery of sex toys or devices. It’s best to avoid any glimpses on that platform. That said, Instagram is a little more lenient, but only if the photos or videos are done in an editorial, tasteful way. (Again, this is where we bring up finesse.)
Paid creative strategy for sexual wellness is quite different:
Meta and other paid media platforms are going to be much more restrictive with what you can say, and what you can show. Sex toys and devices are a no-go, as well as any suggestive or explicit body or product photos. You can, however, feature products like lubes and serums if they can be featured from a health or wellness angle.
Keep it cute with your copy. Don’t try and get sneaky with too much cheeky or punny language—you’ll risk losing your account. Instead, think of the health and safety benefits you can promote in reference to a certain product or service. This is where a more mature and elevated approach is key.
Shock value or overly click-baity copy or imagery might be tempting so you can capture attention and encourage click-through, but that’s ultimately going to cheapen your brand. You don’t want to attract a crowd looking for Pornhub-level entertainment—you want people open to intentional ways to boost pleasure and improve their overall intimate wellbeing.
Who should be writing your regulated category content?
Whether you’re creating a blog on your brand website or building your social presence as a sexual wellness brand, hiring any random copywriter off LinkedIn is going to get you that exact type of result: random copy straight from a LinkedIn copywriter. When you’re establishing your brand’s voice and visibility, it’s crucially important to enlist creative partners who not only understand platform and community guidelines, but who also have expertise and at least some background in sexual health and wellness. (Spoiler alert: our founder totally does.)
A blog post written by an AASECT certified sex therapist or a board-certified sexologist (cough cough, our founder) is going to establish far more authority and relevance for both that post and your website than a marketing freelancer who has only worked with B2B tech clients. E-E-A-T, or Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness is the framework Google uses to establish whether content is credible, helpful, and safe to index and rank on any given search results page. An established or clinical sex expert is going to provide far more E-E-A-T for your brand than anyone else—and that can only help your target consumer find you and the work you do.
Need some help marketing for sexual wellness or building out your sexual wellness advertising strategy?
