Inclusive marketing is about creating content that serves the diverse communities of our country. It means elevating diverse voices and role models, decreasing cultural bias, and leading a positive social change through thoughtful and respected content that caters to many.
As a marketer or a responsible business owner, you have to convey your brands’ message in a way that resonates with people from all backgrounds, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, or physical ability.
Truly inclusive content help elevate voices of the people that have been suppressed because of stereotype or societal dogma. Inclusive marketing helps us connect deeply with a wider audience. According to Nielsen, 43% of 75 million millennials in the US would not prefer a brand if it does not have a multicultural strategy and does not cater to diverse groups of society.
Hence, being inclusive has become essential for brands!
Wondering how you can incorporate inclusiveness in your social media? Let us jump into it:
Language has a significant impact on our perception in the most subtle yet prominent way. While writing content, not only you should keep your target audience in mind but also focus on the core values of your firm. Try to use gender-neutral language. Avoid language that might be biased towards one gender like ‘Hello ladies’ or ‘Hey guys’ . Also, avoid using him/her and try to incorporate ‘they’ instead. One of the common mistakes is, we try to guess the gender of the person based on their name. Avoid making that mistake and address the person with their name and not ‘Ms.’ , ’Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’ Also, your message should reach the target audience with a right and respectful tone. Example: Instead of writing a‘ disabled person’ , write ‘person with a disability.’ You should always show respect to your current and prospective audience through your tone and language.
According to the research from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media:
While using pictures or making ads, consider how authentically you are representing diverse populations on your social media. You should not force diversity in your images or advertisements; in fact, your content should empower a variety of people. People from all backgrounds, irrespective of their age, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status should be represented equally.
While on social media, you run contests, campaigns, or even ask your audience to fill surveys and forms. Collecting information from your prospective customers is a common practice. There are times when people do not want to disclose certain information about themselves, and as a marketer, you should respect that. While designing the form, avoid asking the respondent sensitive information like gender, race, sexual orientation, or try making these questions optional. If such information is required, include options such as ‘Prefer not to say’ to sensitive questions like gender and/or sexual orientation. Also, avoid including the ‘title’ field where people have to choose between Mr., Mrs., or Ms.
As they say, ‘Haters will always hate’, people will keep on posting comments that are racist, stereotypical, homophobic, misogynist, or hateful in nature. You cannot stop the actions of everybody around you, but you can do your part. Remove negative comments from all your posts, so people know that you do not tolerate such behavior. Do not try to defend yourself even if you have the best intentions, try not to engage with such comments as you will be validating the commenter by doing so and it will attract similar responses from others as well.
Hiring people from diverse backgrounds has now become a trend. It increases creativity and productivity of people. Also, you get a variety of perspectives on a given matter-at-hand. Try to incorporate multiple voices and perspectives into your social media content as well. Sharing content that has been created and curated by people with diverse backgrounds shows a strong commitment towards diversity and inclusion. Form teams with people with different backgrounds, work with a wide range of social media influencers and promote a diversity of voices outside your organization.
The above strategies can help you make your social media become more inclusive. But, there is so much more you can do at an organizational level to be all-inclusive. When it comes to social media, listening is the key. Make sure to listen and monitor your audience to serve them better!
The above strategies can help you make your social media become more inclusive. But, there is so much more you can do at an organizational level to be all-inclusive. When it comes to social media, listening is the key. Make sure to listen and monitor your audience to serve them better!
