Reaching LGBTQ+ Community Worldwide – Exclusive Interview With Matt Skallerud
Matt Skallerud, president of Pink Media, specializes in LGBTQ+ online marketing, targeting gays & lesbians via content marketing, social media, programmatic ad banners, mobile smartphone apps and more. He also specializes in search engine optimization (SEO), keyword/search advertising (PPC) and social media analytics. He's been in the LGBTQ+ online industry for over 25 years now.
Matt Skallerud, President
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
Pink Media is an LGBTQ+ advertising and social media marketing firm, with a strong foundation in PR & communications. Quite simply, we help companies large and small reach their target LGBTQ+ demographic online, wherever they may be, placing good old-fashioned storytelling (content) at the forefront of their campaign, and developing an online marketing strategy that uses that content as its foundation.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
Our strategies work for targeting and reaching any niche audience on the Internet, but our focus is on the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve been doing this for over 25+ years, and our goal is to always strive to be one of the best agencies serving this amazing group.
What are your current goals for your business?
We found that in 2019, our focus on content marketing first, advertising second seemed to be taking hold in the marketplace. But then the pandemic put much of that on hold. As the world has moved forward and onward over the past 3 years, we’re finding that our strategy is even more relevant in today’s marketing environment, as many of the tactics and skills we’ve developed over the years in utilizing social media to help clients get their message out to the right LGBTQ+ audience have really come into focus in a strong way in 2023. Our goal is to simply continue on this path of growth and success.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
I think starting an LGBTQ+ Internet website in early 1995, at a time when there really were very few resources online, was my greatest achievement to date. Back then, there was no Yahoo or Google for us to find LGBTQ+ resources on this “new” Internet. It was still a challenge to even surf the web outside of AOL. But we felt strongly there was a real future here, and as we developed our website, GayWired.com, over those years, we grew alongside and with the Internet in terms of learning and utilizing banner ads, e-commerce, online personal profiles and so much of what we take for granted on the Internet today.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
In the LGBTQ+ media landscape, I would love it if so many of our entrepreneurs and business leaders would let go of some of the legacy elements when it comes to reaching the LGBTQ+ community online, including a reliance on print advertising, non-targeted banner advertising and more. The world has moved on from these mediums and technologies, with banner advertising in particular going through a renaissance over the past few years only with the advent of targeting technology and programmatic ad placements. These same entrepreneurs and business leaders should also embrace video in a stronger way, whether that’s a video on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram Reels.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
I was very fortunate to have studied to be an Aerospace Engineer at a time when computers and technology were just emerging in the 1980s. Having grown up with some of the first computers gave me a foundation in programming and computer technology that allowed me to develop GayWired.com into a global powerhouse reaching the LGBTQ+ community worldwide. In addition, back when I was working as an engineer, I made the leap from working in a lab to going out into technical sales. That second skill set I developed over time allowed me to take what I was learning about the LGBTQ+ Internet in those early days and bring the message out to the advertising public. I didn’t have to be the best programmer nor the best sales person, but I understood how the two disciplines worked, and I was able to develop a business that brought those two disciplines together, allowing me to be where I’m at today.
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