Picture this: you’re a part of a badass marketing team. You manage the brand strategy and help the team create more social reach, drive acquisition and attract customers. Things are seemingly going well, but once you take a deeper dive into your audience insights, you realize that your marketing strategy is centered around one very narrow demographic of people.
Crap.
That strategy is NOT aligned to the goals of the organization. The values of the organization are to be inclusive, transparent, and equitable. Not exclusive, narrow, and possibly insensitive to multiple groups of people. You have a feeling that incorporating more inclusion into brand content, but you aren’t quite sure what inclusive content is and why it is important.
What is inclusive content?
Inclusive content prioritizes diversity, incorporates accessibility, and focuses on equitable storytelling. Inclusive content should appeal to a wide variety of people and make an effort to include those who have historically been excluded. This can mean honoring marginalized identities of those who identify as BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ folks, veterans, and different religious backgrounds.
Whether a brand is creating targeted content for consumers, or an organization is developing their employer brand, inclusion should be the foundation of all company content. Acknowledging the cultures, traditions, and identities outside of “the majority” can ensure that a wider audience is included.
How is inclusive content different from internal DEI efforts?
Implementing processes for creating inclusive content can complement internal DEI efforts, but should be viewed as a foundational part of content creation and marketing strategy. Basically, inclusive content should be sustainably woven into marketing processes and procedures, while many other DEI efforts sometimes are more project based.
Why should brands prioritize creating inclusive content?
Marketing efforts are all about the ROI, which makes sense. If there aren’t any dollars, it often doesn’t make sense! The tricky part about making efforts to implement inclusive content is that it often can take months or even years to see a monetary ROI. Instead, brand should focus on aligning efforts with core company values and the “why” behind creating social change.
Expanded Market Reach
The U.S. is becoming more and more multicultural, with demographics rapidly shifting. The US Census Bureau shows that there is a growth in Black, multiracial, Hispanic and Asian populations. “By 2045, the non-Hispanic white population will fall below 50% of the American population and by 2050, non-Hispanic white people will represent less than 40 percent of the under-18 population” (The Hill). Basically, there will be less and less white people, which means a white-centered marketing strategy needs to shift.
Does this mean that your marketing team needs to exclude white folks as a target audience? No! It just means that there needs to be efforts to creatively target a wider audience that goes beyond just white people.
Building Audience Trust (aka People give a shit)
It has been found that 70% of Gen Z consumers are more trusting of brands that represent diversity in ads. (via Microsoft Advertising). This means that building trust means caring about inclusivity and diversity. Getting creative with storytelling, representation and using inclusive language signals to a diverse audience that their identities matter and it is something that the brand’s marketing team cares about.
Creating inclusive marketing campaigns help customers/clients feel like they matter and belong with the brand. A great example is Fendy Beauty, where the words “inclusion” and “inclusivity” were never used. Instead, they showed their audience that they had a wide range of foundation shades and highlighted models from a wide variety of backgrounds. The result of being intentional about skin tone inclusivity is that Fenty Beauty is now considered the standard of inclusive marketing for beauty.
(Image via Fashionmagazine.com)
Inclusive marketing can protect the brand
Okay, so here’s the thing. There is no clear way for a brand to avoid getting canceled. Butttttt, there are ways to show that inclusivity and equity are valued before a marketing campaign or content strategy is executed, which can help avoid drama.
The reality of today’s landscape is that brands are under scrutiny for being problematic and insensitive around areas of inclusion and equity. To keep the integrity of the brand and to avoid major PR crises and backlash, brands need to integrate marketing efforts that features diverse representation, inclusive language and accessible content.
Insensitive Marketing Example: Dove
Dove Beauty launched an ad that showed a Black woman taking off a brown shirt and becoming a white woman in a white shirt. It was meant to be a celebration of diversity but it ended up being insensitive and racist. Black women can’t wash off our skin color and this represents our skin as “dirty” or undesirable. Yikes. All of this could be avoided if there were more Black and brown people on their marketing team to voice concerns.
Inclusive content and marketing practices are here to stay, and there are so many opportunities to create a more equitable world through intentional and equitable brands.
Ready for your marketing team or brand team to learn more about implementing inclusive marketing and content processes? Book an inclusive content training session today!
