How to Design Marketing Materials for Intimate Products

Designing marketing materials for intimate products isn’t always so straightforward.

By intimate products, we mean anything from certain medical items to sex toys. Basically, anything that might be the source of embarrassment for a customer.

Here’s how to deal with these products, and how to know what – and what not – to put on marketing materials for these products.

Take Away the Taboo

One strategy is to present an item without referencing the taboos surrounding it.

The taboo around marketing items like condoms has pretty much gone away altogether. But other items relating to sex – or embarrassing medical disorders – have not had as much success across the board.

That said, KY’s fantastic campaign has done a great job at breaking the taboo around its gels. It puts the product in the context of a normal relationship and uses humor to break down the barriers between the audience and an awkward subject.

Target and Treat Your Market Carefully

Choosing and aiming for a selected market is an important part of any marketing strategy. With intimate products, it’s even more important.

People don’t want to feel like someone is spying on them to promote products like this. So bombarding them with display ads might be a push too far.

But you can at least trim down your audience. For example, if you’re targeting an LGBT market you can use self-reported social media data to reach out to these people safely. But again, don’t overdo it.

Treat the Subject With Respect

However, there are some items which are very niche. For example, the whizzinator, where you may not be able to break the taboo in the mainstream. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still treat the subject with respect.

Everybody is into different things, and if you’re selling a product you don’t want your customer to feel like they’re being singled out.

Recent research says you’ve got just one second to make a great first impression on your customers. If you don’t appear respectful to their needs right away, you may have lost a valuable opportunity.

Privacy is Really Important

When marketing intimate products, you don’t want your audience to feel like you’re intruding.

Don’t be overly pushy to an audience who might feel awkward to even say they need something – for example, a piles cushion. It’s a hard thing to admit in public because people will often feel like they’ll be made fun of.

And remember, if you’re creating boxes for shipping, be discreet. Plain packaging is fine. If you must put a logo on the box, it should follow basic principles of good logo design. But it shouldn’t be overtly about what you do, or give the game away.

No one wants to think that the mailman knew what was in the package.