Is Your Brand Ready to Ride the Rising Digital Tide of Women’s Health and Wellness?

Historically understudied, underfunded and under-represented, women’s health and wellness is beginning to get the attention it deserves. And as you might suspect, it’s happening online. 

Women are now 75% more likely than men to adopt digital health solutions; 80% of customers who purchase health and wellness products are women; and by 2028 women are estimated to control 75% of discretionary spending. For brands, this adds up to one word: opportunity.

Why do women dominate the digital health and wellness market? Because many of them feel discriminated against in medical settings. For instance, in Canada, 10 million women over 40 feel that their menopausal symptoms are dismissed by medical providers. Female patients, especially Black women, are more likely to have any symptoms at all dismissed by their doctors – just because they are women or women of color.

Gray Hair, Gaslighting and Gadgets: Reclaiming Women’s Health and Wellness in the Digital Age provides key recommendations for brands in the women’s health and wellness sector. Download it here.

As more and more women are feeling gaslighted or just ignored, it’s no surprise many are turning to self-diagnosis, using apps and wearables to help them better understand their health. ‘Femtech’ – the technology created explicitly for women covering maternal health, menstrual health, pelvic and sexual health, fertility, menopause and contraception is a dynamic, fast-moving industry with plenty of headroom for growth. Investment in Femtech has increased 1,000% since 2016. It’s set to be worth $1 trillion by 2027. 

Innovation in this space brings significant benefits to women – such as removing barriers to healthcare and democratizing access – especially for underserved populations. Yet only 1% of pharma R&D spend goes to maternal health, 2% of medical research funding is spent on pregnancy, childbirth and female reproductive health, and only 3% of digital health funding goes to Femtech companies. In other words, it’s almost all upside for brands that want to play in this space.

Likewise, in such an historically undersubscribed area of medical practice, the opportunities for innovation are plentiful. Take fertility, for example. The global fertility services market is expected to almost double by 2026, becoming a$41.4 billion industry. Or look at menopause. Long considered the final taboo, menopause is being de-stigmatized. There has long been a critical lack of education on the subject, even in medical schools. Only 30% of US residency programs offer a formal menopause curriculum. More than 90% of postmenopausal women were never taught about menopause, and as a result 73% of women do not treat their symptoms. The opportunity for brands to address this education gap is enormous.

Coupled with a lack of education is the growth of misinformation. For many, the doctor’s office is being replaced by online forums, TikTok and Instagram. Gen Z and Millennials are flocking to these platforms to discuss symptoms related to gynaecological and mental health. This has spurred the growth of micro influencers who are dishing out advice with varying degrees of credibility. For instance, a recent study found that fewer than a fifth of fitness influencers have any related qualifications or credentials. 

The algorithms on TikTok make it hard for consumers to separate influencers from clinicians. As a result, Gen Z are increasingly skeptical of influencers on social media. As trust is falling, they’re turning to online communities like Reddit to validate what they see on social. In these conditions, brands have an opportunity to be a trusted voice of authority by bringing real experts into the conversation.

The historical lack of focus on women’s health issues is about to change. In 2024, the US government announced $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research, $200 million to understand issues including sexual and reproductive conditions, as well as $275 million to improve care and treatment for women experiencing menopause. This is a huge opportunity for brands. Understanding what women want and expect in this space will be a source of considerable competitive advantage.

It all comes down to understanding. 

Whether it is the result of male unconscious bias, women’s lower social status or the long held social taboos associated with sexuality, women’s health has been sidelined for too long. But digital empowerment and access to information is giving women the confidence to take matters into their own hands. 

To develop a deeper understanding of women’s health as a source of potential growth and competitive advantage, the topics discussed above can and should be explored in greater detail.