How to Reflect Your Company’s Diversity Online

A common mistake businesses make when marketing themselves is focusing too much on promoting their services and driving sales. An equally important aspect of showcasing your business in an attractive way online is to acknowledge the humans that make up your organization and the world alike. A large part of inbound marketing practices involves humanizing your business in order to become relatable to prospects and remind your customers of just exactly “who” they’re doing business with.

Making diversity and inclusion part of your business’s message and branding is a fantastic way of proudly showing the people that make up your business and what makes your organization awesome.

Below we will discuss some ways you can celebrate and show support to the people in your organization of different cultures, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.

Prioritize representation

Did you know that according to the Census, the U.S. population is 18% Hispanic or Latinx, 13% Black or African American, 6% Asian, and 3% multiracial? People want to see themselves in marketing material! Of course, we know most companies in the US have this same demographic internally, it could be a wise decision to show marketing material with those percentages in mind, even if it means using a few stock photos here and there. This by itself can go a long way in your organic and paid content as well as your website’s content.

Another fantastic way of prioritizing representation is seeking out and sharing user-generated content from underrepresented followers or their networks. This can pump up their volume and improve representation and is an underrated practice that can go a long way.

Share their stories.

Sharing minority stories even when they aren’t happy and triumphant is crucial to prioritizing representation accurately and realistically.

Sprout Social did a fantastic job in their video Social Marketers Exchange Live: Centering Black Voices.

Acknowledge other culture’s holidays

It’s easy to post about holidays that you know about and remember. However, acknowledging other cultures’ holidays can help others better understand the various celebrations and enhance your workplace diversity and inclusion efforts in the process.

Seramount has a fantastic and expansive calendar of heritage months and holidays that you could use as a reference.

Acknowledge Issues and Causes and contribute to the conversation

But first, ask yourself:

  • Where in the conversation about issues and/or causes does it make sense for our company to weigh in?
  • Where are there gaps in our own organization’s education and how can we further our own education?
  • What questions might our audience have right now where we could provide helpful, valuable insight?
  • How can we be there for those in our brand’s community who are looking for support or resources from us?

BONUS: Some Stats to Consider about diversity

  • 69% of brands with representative ads saw an average stock gain of 44% in a seven-quarter period ending last year. (Heat Test Report)
  • 64% of consumers surveyed said they took some sort of action after seeing an ad they considered to be diverse or inclusive. (Think With Google)
  • 71% of LGBTQ+ consumers are more likely to interact with an online ad that authentically represents their sexual orientation.  (Think With Google)
  • 91% of U.S. marketers agreed with the statement “There is still room for growth in using more diverse images by marketers.” (Shutterstock)
  • While one out of four people lives with a disability, only 1% of ads represent them. (Heat Test Report)

At the end of the day

The most important part of diversity and inclusion in marketing is that we shouldn’t be doing it for marketing purposes. We are all human and we should all get to feel good about what makes us different. If there’s truth and positivity in the message then everything else should happen organically!

If you need help with social media marketing or digital marketing in general, visit WheelHouse Web and learn more about our digital marketing and online presence management plans.

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