With an overall buying power of $1.3 trillion, the military community in the United States is not one that brands should be ignoring. And while we often talk about advertising to the military community overall, today we want to focus on a crucial segment within this audience: the military family.
Military families function differently than your average American household — and that distinction matters enormously when you’re building a campaign. Active-Duty Spouses carry $37.5 billion in spending power and represent one of the most loyal, community-oriented consumer segments in the country. According to Refuel’s Military Explorer™ 2025–2026 research, product quality is the #1 purchase driver among Active-Duty Spouses, and military discounts are their #1 loyalty driver — data points that should shape how every brand in this space positions its value proposition.
Military spouses and families strongly identify with the military community, but they also display key differences that brands need to understand. Here’s how to advertise to military families — from the team that’s been doing it for 37 years.
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1. Understand the military family
The first step in executing a successful campaign to military families is understanding who they are — and that’s where the team at Refuel comes in. We’ve been conducting proprietary research on the military community for decades, examining who military families are, how they live, what media they consume, and how they prefer to be reached.
Let’s start with the numbers. According to Refuel’s Military Explorer™ 2025–2026 research, Active-Duty Spouses have a total population of approximately 600,000, with an average age of 32.1 years (predominantly Millennials (42% aged 26–35)) and an average household income of $162,800. That’s a high-earning, high-spending, highly engaged consumer. 48% of Active Duty members are currently married, and the average age of Active Duty at the birth of their first child is now 28 years old (up from 26 in 2024) reflecting a maturing family formation trend. Military families average 2 children per household.
These numbers paint a clear picture: military service members are building families young, and those families are a priority. Military members and their families also maintain strong connections to VSOs — top organizations include The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Wounded Warrior Project, and USAA, among others.
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2. Avoid stereotypes to create authentic messaging
One of the biggest challenges brands face when building military advertising campaigns is a significant knowledge gap between marketers and the military community. This leads to campaigns that come off as self-serving, misrepresent military life, and ultimately fall flat with the very audience they’re trying to win.
Stereotypes are never a sound marketing strategy — and in the military space, they’re particularly damaging. The military community is more diverse than it has ever been. According to Refuel’s Military Explorer™ 2025–2026 research, 18% of Active Duty are women, 53% of the Active Duty force is multicultural (non-white), and that number has grown consistently since 2010. Hispanic service members now represent 20% of Active Duty, the highest share in modern history.
Military spouses are equally diverse. The spouse community is 86% female with an average age of 32, and their values — honesty, intelligence, authenticity, and commitment to family — should be reflected in the creative, not generic military imagery. Challenge your assumptions. The brands that resonate with military families are the ones that show genuine understanding of this community’s unique lifestyle.
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3. Advertise on-base and use military print
Military families frequent base facilities and trust military media — and both on-base advertising and military print consistently outperform off-base channels in driving brand connection, trial, and recommendation.
According to Refuel’s Military Explorer™ 2025–2026 research, 71% of Active-Duty Spouses have a deeper connection with a brand when they see its ads on-base versus off-base. 65% say they’re more likely to try a brand after seeing its ads on-base, and OOH ads are highly effective among Active-Duty Spouses specifically, driving purchase intent in 93% of those who see them. Active-Duty Spouses are also 11% more likely than the total military audience to engage with base print newspapers — a hyper-local, high-attention channel that reaches them directly where they live.
Military discounts remain a powerful loyalty lever with this audience. Our research confirms that military discounts are the #1 loyalty driver among Active-Duty Spouses — meaning brands that offer them aren’t just earning a transaction, they’re building long-term brand relationships with one of America’s most community-driven consumer segments.
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The most effective military family advertising strategy combines proprietary consumer data, omni-channel media placements, authentic creative, and the kind of on-the-ground access that only 37+ years of specialization can deliver. You can find out more about our Military Marketing solutions or explore our proprietary Military Explorer™ research to go deeper. Contact us for your customized plan.. You can find out more here. At Refuel Agency, we can build you a personalized, targeted media plan designed to win the military family audience strategically. Contact us for your customized plan.
