Approach Pride Month With Authenticity, Empathy and Creativity

Happy Pride Month! 

Pride is an important reminder to advocate for the rights and equity of LGBTQIA+ people every day. But, Pinkwashing is a real thing and, sometimes, brand marketers can get it wrong and come off as inauthentic and performative.

Yet, the question isn’t should your brand talk about Pride Month. Instead, it’s how your brand should show up in a sensitive, informed and helpful way. Spotlighting the importance of Pride is crucial, and there is a reliable formula for exercising your marketing in a way that is respectful and productive. 

To kick off our Pride Month this year, let’s explore how marketers can do right by the LGBTQIA+ community and make a difference in the process.

How Brands Talk About Pride on LinkedIn

Brands increasingly engage their customers and prospects in the Pride conversation on LinkedIn. Our internal data shows that there is a strong increase in global company updates using Pride keywords such as lgbtqiaplus, prideatwork and lgbtqiarights, particularly in the Software & IT Services and Health & Pharma industries.

Engagement with posts using Pride keywords is also on the rise, especially in Brazil, the United States and India, and are most likely to resonate with senior executives.

Ultimately, brands using Sponsored Posts with Pride hashtags saw 2X more engagement on the platform, while Non-Sponsored Posts saw 24% more engagement.

How Should Your Brand Talk About Pride Month?

Think of Pride Month as a reminder and opportunity to do the month’s real message justice in your branding. Transform the momentum you build talking about Pride Month into a renewed commitment to using your platform to promote inclusivity and equality year-round. 

Now is the time to start building that momentum, using three guiding principles: authenticity, empathy and creativity. Here’s a look at how incorporating each of these principles in your Pride Month messaging will help you do right by the LGBTQIA+ community.

Authenticity

There are two impactful ways to be authentic during Pride Month. First and most important: don’t stop posting about LGBTQIA+ rights and equality after the month is over! Pinkwashing during June is the opposite of authentic, and your audience will notice it.

Instead, plan to make LGBTQIA+ advocacy part of your branding throughout the year. You could introduce narratives in June, and then periodically follow up on those narratives throughout the year to show your ongoing progress and commitment.

Next, make sure those stories are real, raw, and genuine. Tap your talent and encourage them to share their perspectives, like in the posts below. Don’t just talk about what you believe — show how those perspectives inform the company’s values on a day-to-day basis. Anyone can say they support LGBTQIA+ rights, but actions speak louder than words.

Empathy

Pride is about people, not brands, so let the people shine!

Avoid “tokenizing” your LGBTQIA+ workers by promoting soft interviews and employee spotlights about them over the course of the month, and then dropping the initiative. This will likely come off as an empty gesture.

Instead, give them something to talk about. Work together with the LGBTQIA+ team members at your organization to develop a plan for deeper advocacy. Let the LGBTQIA+ team members lead these discussions and incorporate their ideas whenever possible.  

Then, when you interview your LGBTQIA+ team members, ask them why they advocated for these updates. Let them speak to why they care about your new initiatives and how they will be a positive step forward for LGBTQIA+ equality within the workplace. Dublin Bus and Douglas connect with empathy in these posts:

Creativity

Infusing authenticity and empathy into your campaigns are strong ways to help differentiate your brand’s Pride Month messaging, but creativity will help you make an impact. Cabify and the Lego Group exemplify where inclusivity meets creativity.

These guiding principles will help to ensure your Pride Month content is compelling and resonant:

1. Humanize, humanize, humanize: Value statements and manifestos are boring, even when they’re about inspiring and important topics like LGBTQIA+ advocacy. Build on the real, human side of LGBTQIA+ support at your company.
2. Try something new and unexpected: What have you never seen anyone post about on Pride Month? Post about that. As long as you can back up your creative content with substance (and if you follow the advice above, you can), the sky’s the limit. 
3. Be Bold, Be Proud: LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights, and it's our responsibility to fight for them, all year. Say that and do that to gain a key distinction from other brands.

For more advice on purpose-first brand marketing during Pride and beyond, keep up with the LinkedIn Marketing Blog.