Planned Parenthood recently came out with a statement about their founder, Margaret Sanger, addressing that she was indeed a racist, saying, “Margaret Sanger’s eugenicist ideas were wrong in 1916, and they’re wrong now.” Part of Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy involves claiming they are anti-racist today and disassociating themselves from their founder and the organization’s racist roots.
Yet even while Planned Parenthood tries to remove themselves from their past, they continue to achieve the results their founders could only dream of. Their deceptive tactics not only stem from their founder but sadly have continued over the decades as revealed in Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy to women online. Claiming that their mission is for reproductive and sexual health and freedom, abortion is their number one service – leaving women depressed, broken and devastated while taking the lives of their unborn children.
We want to give you an even deeper look into Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy, as disturbing as it is. As ones who are on the front lines every day, helping you reach and serve women and babies in your community is our mission. Believe it or not, taking a look at our competitors, like Planned Parenthood, can help clarify our strategy when it comes to reaching women online.
An effective marketing strategy like those using NextDoor Ads is what could direct a woman from a Planned Parenthood to your pregnancy resource center instead!
‘HEY JANE’ ABORTION PILL DELIVERY
As you may know, the FDA has temporarily changed their protocol and removed abortion pill requirements, allowing women to get abortion medication by mail rather than in person, with a doctor’s oversight. This brings detrimental risks to women who are clueless about the risks and side effects of the abortion pill.
Hey Jane is the new abortion pill delivery service, targeting women in New York and Washington, and they are still expanding. They call themselves ‘modern abortion care, without the clinic.’ This easy access to the abortion pill will impact the way women face medication abortion complications, as they are common within the abortion pill process. It has taken away the safeguards of medical oversight and the vital step of first confirming their pregnancy! It puts more women at risk for abortion complications and side effects. Virtual doctor oversight is just not the same. It also tightens the window you have as a pregnancy center to reach that woman with your compassionate, life changing services.
CLAIMING TO BE FOR “WOMEN’S RIGHTS”
Planned Parenthood has claimed from the very beginning that they are protecting women’s rights and their right to decide what’s best for their body. This deception is laced within their online marketing, perceived by many as ‘empowerment.’ Their marketing looks fun and playful to the eye, but it does not give women education on ALL their options, and only plays to one agenda, abortion. Their crafty vocabulary and beautifully designed graphics capture the attention of the younger generations. They have over 750,000 followers on Instagram alone!
PARTNERING WITH THE MAINSTREAM OPINION
The mainstream media opinion is vulgar and unapologetic, and sadly Gen Z and Millennials are the ones most impacted by this false narrative. For example, Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy on social media weaves political agendas into posts with Black Lives Matter, using phrases like “You deserve high-quality health care,” “Reproductive Justice,” and other explicit sexuality and sex education content. Sadly, the mainstream opinion is justified as truth and anything outside of it is silenced.
PROMOTING THEMSELVES AS AN INDUSTRY EXPERT
Everyone wants to take advice from a trusted, industry expert, and Planned Parenthood is seen like this today. Due to the push from mainstream media and the great number of medical professionals Planned Parenthood has partnered with, they are seen as a credible medical resource to many. With their online marketing, no topic is off the table. Some medical and non-medical topics that put them in the forefront of the industry include topics like:
• STI/STD testing
• Pap smears
• Sex education
• Covid-Vaccine
• Endometriosis
• HIV information
• Trans health
THEY CHAT AROUND THE CLOCK – CHATBOT ROO
Part of Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy involves targeting young women around the clock with their tool called Chatbot Roo. It’s a 24/7 chatbot that answers young women’s questions about sexual health. They promote this tool saying, “Young people can ask Roo their burning questions about their health, their body, relationships, getting care at Planned Parenthood, or choose from a list of questions, to get the answers they need within seconds, day or night.” This tool also directs them at the bottom of the screen to book an appointment for any of their services at their nearest Planned Parenthood. It’s clear to see that their goal is to catch the hearts of the youth and they do it around the clock.
HOW PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS CAN COMBAT THIS STRATEGY
Now that you’ve gotten a glimpse into behind the scenes of Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy, how do we combat them? It may take a bit to rewire our brains to adjust to the mainstream way of doing things. While we don’t promote the same things Planned Parenthood does, their strategy is what we can use to our advantage. Here are four steps to beginning your new marketing strategy as a pregnancy resource center in today’s day and age:
1. Have An Empowering Message
Women want to feel known and supported in their decisions for their unplanned pregnancies. It’s important to create content
that speaks to a woman’s identity and also portrays empathy. Try creating new language around your service offerings through social posts, Google My Business posts, blogs, and website content. You could include language like:
- “Feel confident in your next step today.”
- “You are not alone, we are here every step of the way.”
- “Get the peace of mind you need today.”
- “Know all your pregnancy options to make the best decision for your future.”
2. Google Paid Search
A great paid search strategy puts you at the top of Google! It helps you reach your target audience and get discovered before competitors like Planned Parenthood with keyword-specific ads. Paid search ads can reach your target audience through paid search text ads and responsive display ads. With our Choose Life Marketing paid search strategists, we develop ad copy and conversion-optimized landing pages to successfully guide women to click on your ad and make an appointment.
3. Develop Name Recognition
Everybody knows who Planned Parenthood is, their name is known across the country and beyond. It’s what people think of when they hear your name that matters. Developing name recognition takes time but is so worth the effort to become a household name. How do you start building a brand that develops and becomes more and more popular? Here are some ways to start:
- Be active on social media and share content often
- Go where your clients are online
- Interact and engage with your audience
- Tell your story (This one is a bit tricky for PRCs, but can be done in a more general way)
- Create beautiful and cohesive brand designs (logo, website, social posts, a good name)
- Be actively engaged and visible in the community
4. Create a Professional Brand Identity in Your Community
Within the last two decades, most pregnancy centers have added limited medical services – including ultrasound and STD testing. While their were multiple strategies behind this move for many, it has helped centers “compete” in the same space as abortion clinics because they offer similar services. If you are medical, build a medical and professional brand identity in your community. It’s vital to have factual resources and medically backed information in all that you write and post. Talk about some of the topics that Planned Parenthood highlights like STI/STD testing, women’s health, pregnancy symptoms/testing, medical services that you offer, and more! Any way that you can give valuable medical information, the better. Women are prone to feel more confident about your services and brand if they know you are medical professionals or are connected to them.
We know this seems like a lot of information – but it’s valuable insight to start using today for your online marketing strategy! If you would like to learn how to transform your marketing strategy even more, talk to our Choose Life Marketing team. We would love to see how we can elevate your marketing and help you reach the abortion-minded woman today. There is so much more work to do, but know you are not in this alone. We are with you!
Give us a call at 573-445-9295, email us at info@chooselifemarketing.com, or contact us on your website to learn more about how you can help counter Planned Parenthood’s marketing strategy!
