Whether founding our own brands and online communities or working behind-the-scenes to partner with creators and influencers, women are leading the way in shaping a more inclusive creator economy. By creating opportunities for ourselves and other creative entrepreneurs—or “creatorpreneurs”—we are building a space that is equitable and profitable.

Despite us dominating the content creation and influencer marketing conversation, men still outearn women when it comes to revenue from their businesses. According to ConvertKit, 35% of men earn over $100,000 from their businesses compared to 19% of women; additionally, men are twice as likely to earn over $150,000. The obvious pay gap and other challenges beg a discussion about how we can better support women making way for themselves in the creator economy.

To find out, I spoke to five women in the space who are carving their own paths and empowering other women to do the same.

The creator economy is the gateway to entrepreneurship

For many female creatives (particularly Gen Z), starting a business is an opportunity to reimagine what work looks and feels like. As cultural attitudes toward the traditional 9-to-5 have shifted toward a desire for autonomous and remote work, more creatives are looking for opportunities that make that lifestyle their reality. Over 50% of Gen Z individuals desire a job as an influencer (or creator) and see it as a respectable career choice, according to a Morning Consult study. Simply put, the creator economy allows women to secure our bags.

Qianna Smith Bruneteau, Founder of the American Influencer Council, has built a nonprofit that prepares female creators for entrepreneurial success through mentorship, small business development, educational resources and community.

“I started the American Influencer Council to support women creators. When I think about women starting their own businesses, influencer marketing feels like such a great segue into entrepreneurship. During the pandemic, we saw how brands couldn’t work with many production companies, so they turned to creators. Now, whether they are full-time or part-time, we’re seeing women transform and redefine the future of work.”

While more people see influencing, creating and entrepreneurship as viable career options, stigmas around the influencer role may still cause individuals to hesitate.

Tiffany Hardin, CEO of Gild Creative Group, an award-winning full-service influencer marketing firm, says that while that has been the case, a female influencer’s point of view and voice still matters because they bring financial value to businesses that other influencers may not be able to replicate.

“Influencer marketing, at its core, is about trust. Back in the day, people didn’t take mom bloggers seriously. Still, the companies that were [partnering with] mommy bloggers were getting paid big bucks to activate and mobilize those groups of women because they were trusted [by their communities]. We’re even seeing it now with the Stanley cup craze. There’s a direct correlation between women involved [in influencer marketing] and profit.”

Of course, as more women step into their creatorpreneur eras, monetization opportunities become a priority, whether through sponsorships, product and service offerings, e-commerce, or more. Knowing these income streams are essential to the success of their business, women are calling on marketers and brands to challenge gender biases, promote equal opportunities, and ensure fair compensation for all creators—regardless of gender.

The pay gap is a systemic issue

The pay gap—and its impact on women in and beyond the workplace—has become a topic of conversation across industries. When women are not valued or compensated fairly for their creative work compared to their male counterparts, it perpetuates systemic gender discrimination. While women make up the majority of the creator economy and influencer marketing space, economic disparities still make it difficult for women to have financial stability and advance their creative careers.

For Georgina Whalen, Influencer Marketing Expert and Consultant, early education is the key to closing the pay gap.

“It’s similar to other issues in the world and [the US] in particular. It’s a systemic issue that starts when we are very young in school or when we are given career guidance. Then it travels all the way to [the workplace] in hiring, promotions, or how we’re perceived when we’re negotiating. Until those systems are broken down and rebuilt, we’re only going to see incremental change.”

Georgina and many other women in the space feel that more conversations around the pay gap are needed to foster an environment of transparency in the creator economy. However, the responsibility of pay transparency falls on more than creators and influencers. It’s also the responsibility of individuals who partner with them. Christina Le, Social Media Manager at OpenPhone, has had first-hand experience.

“Women and girls have always been taught to portray themselves in a way that’s likable, whereas boys and men have audacity [because] they were built to ask for what they want, and they think in their heads, ‘This is what I deserve.’ I’ve seen how when you ask women for their rates, they will always ask for less than the man does. If you’re working on the brand side, do your due diligence and help a girl out. Tell her what she could be making.”

Pay transparency throughout the creator economy, whether you’re on the creative side or brand side, allows women to advocate for themselves so they can get the compensation and opportunities they deserve. This is how we create an industry that is equitable for everyone.

Advocacy and community leads to equity

While more conversations around the pay gap and pay transparency are bringing to light many of the challenges we face in the creator economy, we must advocate for ourselves and go after the things we want with confidence—or, as I like to call it, standing on business.

Brianne Fleming, Brand Marketer and Creator of the Making the Brand podcast, feels being direct and knowing what value you bring is the best approach for getting the opportunities you want.

“We don’t have to wait for someone to see us. We need to be more confident in asking for higher rates. That’s something that I have worked on when trying to negotiate—coming to the table, knowing what I offer, and knowing how to communicate it. I don’t use filler language or things that water it down for likability.”

As more women excel in the creator economy, there are a growing number of tools and communities available to help them build successful, sustainable businesses. When asked which creator or influencer platforms and tools they recommend for people who want resources on pay transparency, establishing rates, negotiation, marketing, and branding, the ladies mentioned the following brands:

• Your Soulcialmate
• Wethos
• Women In Influencer Marketing
• American Influencer Council
• Clara For Creators
• Hashtag Pay Me
• F*** You Pay Me
• #CreatorTeaTalk

Okay, okay. I put the last one there myself, but this article is about taking control of your narrative. The reality is that the creator economy is ripe with opportunities for women who want to be the entrepreneurs they want to be and build the brands they want to develop.

As someone who has done it herself, I have found that leveraging my community, advocating for change in the industry, and championing other women is part of a more significant social justice movement. One that fosters equality and fairness for all individuals, regardless of gender.

As Beyoncé’s husband once said, “Nobody wins when the family feuds.” For all of us to win, we need women to win.

Want to dig deeper? Read more about why diversity in marketing and social media is non-negotiable.

The post How women are building a more inclusive creator economy appeared first on Sprout Social.

Cultural heritage months like Black History Month are a cornerstone to many DEI initiatives for brands. But in a landscape where consumers and professionals alike are skeptical with top companies reneging on their previous commitment, how can brands celebrate Black History Month authentically?

In this article, we’ll explore best practices for honoring Black History Month and feature stand-out brands who champion and celebrate all year long.

• What is the purpose of Black History Month?
• DEI as a business best practice
• 3 best practices for celebrating Black History Month
• Create and nurture partnerships with Black creators
• Brands that celebrate year round
• Black history is more than a moment

What is the purpose of Black History Month?

American historian and scholar Carter G. Woodson founded Negro History Week in the 1920s to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of Black Americans and others of African descent. In the 1970s, the week expanded into a month and became nationally recognized by President Gerald R. Ford. While it has been expanded upon by many Black figures in history, Black History Month reminds us to reflect and celebrate the contributions of descendants of the African Diaspora.

Black History Month takes place during February in the United States and Canada. The month is recognized throughout October in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Every year, a theme is applied to focus the public’s attention. The 2024 theme is African Americans and the Arts in the US.

DEI as a business best practice

So why should brands be cautious of withdrawing their previous DEI commitments and embrace celebrating cultural heritage months like Black History Month? Cassandra Blackburn, the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Sprout Social points to several reasons.

She explains there’s a proven business case around concerted DEI efforts and the value add it brings to an organization. The importance of viewing DEI as a best practice is reflected in a McKinsey & Company report, where executive teams with more diversity by gender and ethnic representation are more likely to outperform financially.

“There were a lot of commitments that were made in 2020 and beyond thinking about the value proposition. The most critical strategy or component of any business is its employees. When you think about the commitments that were made to individual communities and people altogether, taking that away is bad from a business perspective,” she says.

“It’s bad business because you’ve made commitments to people, your most valuable asset. You lose trust from employees once those things are taken away.”

Beyond the lens of 2020, she explains people are the root of DEI, which means the need to value it becomes even more important.

“As humans, we all come with various experiences, all different points of views regardless of skin color, whom you love, etc. The more that company work and employees’ personal lives become more intertwined, the more critical it becomes to acknowledge, respect and do something with the information that you have about people’s personal identities and beliefs,” she says.

She also points to a shift in mentality from new generations that are coming into the organizations now. Younger generations will push the needle and challenge perspectives because they have expectations of the world and organizations.

“As younger generations continue along their careers and we don’t address the needs they have identified, the pressures that businesses are going to feel will magnify, especially as [new generations] ascend into leadership roles and their voices become bigger. If businesses don’t prepare, they are going to face challenges and potentially fail,” she says.

“As an employer, you are bringing in diversity through many layers. The recognition and acknowledgement of diverse communities is so important for employees to feel seen, heard and included in the company culture. It’s also important from an inclusion standpoint because it’s a chance to educate people who are not part of those communities because they also play a role in the workplace experience,” Blackburn says.

“Often in the corporate environment, in the workplace and just the world overall, we can have tunnel vision. We know the experience that we may have had, but we don’t acknowledge the experience that others have had. So when you call out heritage months and celebratory moments, those are very important because we’ve all experienced triumph. It’s about breaking down those blinders and acknowledging the beauty that is the different cultures and communities that make up our world,” she says.

3 best practices for celebrating Black History Month

Here are three best practices for brands to follow while celebrating each year:

1. Recognize Black history 365 days a year

Blackburn says one of the most important best practices is not secluding the awareness to just a singular month, which also applies to all cultural heritage months. Brands need to consider how they’re championing Black people, culture and achievements beyond those 28 days.

“I want brands to know and be cognizant that this is an ongoing celebration. Be intentional about finding ways to acknowledge the celebration, otherwise it could be perceived as performative,” she says.

Recognizing Black History Month means brands need to go beyond marketing messages that preach solidarity but offer little action. If brands are serious about celebrating the Black community, that commitment needs to extend into aspects of the business and become part of the fabric of a brand’s culture. While they might start off with the best of intentions, brands need to consider the impact of their celebrations. Take a moment to recognize your brand’s role in the conversation, question who benefits from your Black History Month ideas and consider how those ideas can become staples in your brand’s culture.

“As brands make plans to celebrate diverse communities through Black History Month and others, it’s important that they approach their campaigns with authenticity, empathy and cultural intelligence,” says Blackburn. “Center your campaign on advancing the mission and purpose of the celebration by seizing the opportunity to honor the accomplishments of the community.”

“Cultural conversations exist beyond the realms of 30 or 31 days so it doesn’t make sense to only create content or launch campaigns around those months when you can talk about these cultures year round. I think one thing [businesses] need to consider, especially as our society grows, is that a lot more brands are moving toward appealing to the Gen Z audience. And Gen Z is more multicultural than ever,” says Jayde Powell, content creator, marketing strategist and host of #CreatorTeaTalk.

She recommends instead of just targeting Black creators during February, brands can start incorporating them into your overall strategy. She says doing this can help maintain authenticity.

“It makes it more than just this cultural heritage moment and actually shows you are a brand that cares about the Black community. You care about Black creators. And when you say you want to work with Black creators you mean that and it’s not just during Black History Month,” she says.

2. Use social data to inform intentional campaigns that align with culture

Review your social media analytics and social listening data to identify ways to specialize campaigns and identify unique opportunities. Talissa Beall, Strategic Services Consultant at Sprout, led several DEI efforts throughout her career in social. She’s also a committee member of Black@, a Sprout community resource group.

She recalls a time where she used social data to identify misalignment between a brand’s actual customers and their organic social media content. For example, her team discovered there was an opportunity to incorporate photo representation that was more closely aligned with their demographics.

“By reviewing social listening and replies, we paid attention to how people were talking about [the brand], paying attention to language as well. We learned there was a disconnect in imagery and the type of content being featured. We learned that people didn’t care for headshots, but preferred seeing diverse people in other ways, such as a hand shot, back of the head or from the neck down. We were intentionally queuing more representation in social content,” she says.

3. Avoid performative activism through ongoing initiatives

To avoid being labeled disingenuous or opportunistic during Black History Month, brands need to prioritize maintaining their commitment to the Black community year round. There are a number of ways to show solidarity:

• External partnerships: Work with companies, organizations and institutions such as HBCUs that champion diversity and have broad representation to diversity your talent pool and content. Collaborate with third-party DEI vendors to conduct unconscious bias training.
• Compensation: Compensate your partners, especially when working with content creators. If your company is limited on resources, think outside of the box and focus on adding value in another way. For example, you could donate to a nonprofit organization on their behalf or co-market their content across all social media platforms year round.

Create and nurture partnerships with Black creators

As we discussed above, one of the best ways to celebrate in February and beyond is by amplifying voices within the Black community by collaborating with Black creators. Powell says brands want to work with creators because of what they have to offer whether it’s their personality, interests, unique point of view or how they create content. Just as consumers enjoy purchasing from brands that are authentic and allow them to feel like they can trust them, brands want to work with creators they can trust.

According to The Sprout Social Index™, authentic, non-promotional content ranks as the top content type consumers say they don’t get enough of from brands on social media. Powell says leading with authenticity is one of the best ways to accomplish that trust consumers are seeking.

“Often, as creators, we’re the face of the brand. We are the people behind the scenes. So why not infuse who we are into the content that we create? One of those ways to do that is by showing up authentically in who you are,” she says.

Rethink collaboration to achieve authenticity

She recommends brands rethink their approach to establishing connections to help maintain the authenticity consumers seek. She points out that often when we think about relationships between brands and creators, it’s rooted in contract, but human connection makes all the difference.

She explains when she works with brands, she enjoys getting on calls to understand what the brand is trying to accomplish, their end goal and the best way to help them. Seeking this alignment is helpful because what a creator envisions for a brand’s channel or platforms may look different compared to the brand’s perspective.

“I feel like that face time helps them also understand who I am as a person, so they have the knowledge and pretense that this is also going to show up in the content I create—my personality, how I speak, how I write because it’s coming from my brain. It’s my creativity and my creativity is me,” Powell says.

Powell encourages brands to pass the mic to creators during cultural heritage months or cultural moments to center members of the community because that’s sometimes where brands miss the mark. They want to insert their product and services everywhere, but they aren’t a part of or active within the community.

“When it comes to Black, brown, queer, immigrant and plus-sized creators, if you don’t have an authentic, intentional way to step in those communities, leveraging them is a great way to do that because you’re picking people from those communities who already have a connection with your brand. If they don’t have a connection with your brand, there’s an opportunity to educate and showcase why the brand is valuable to them,” Powell says.

Expand your dollar into the community 

Powell explains these creator collaborations don’t have to be limited to creating content either. This ranges from nonprofit contributions to bringing in creators as consultants to get a genuine understanding of what cultural conversations are relevant to them.

“Whether you’re a corporation or a small business, if you know these are moments you want to be a part of, look for opportunities to expand your dollar into that community,” Powell says.

Powell emphasizes paying creators in a timely manner and other efforts toward pay equity because of the disparity within the creator economy. When we look at the creator economy as a whole, a large percentage is white.

“Because of this disparity, Black creators are often under-valuing themselves because when you’re not getting as much experience or knowledge into how much you should be charging in a space that’s already convoluted. I think brands also don’t always value Black creators as much as they should,” she says, “There’s that wage gap between Black and brown creators and white creators, but it also comes down to the people that are hiring creators.”

She explains when social media and influencer marketers are working in house to build these cultural heritage campaigns, they often don’t come from those communities so it isn’t always top of mind for them. She points to an example of a time she was working with a brand where a marketer was building an influencer list and it was entirely white, so Powell suggested including more diverse influencers.

“Black people are culture drivers and that’s shown in the creator economy. I’ve seen creators on TikTok who are white predominantly use sounds that were created by Black people and have millions of followers. That’s not to say it’s only Black creators who are creating original content, but that’s something for brands to consider during their research. Who are the true drivers of these trends? Which creators have helped these moments online come to life? You’ll often find that a lot of them are from Black and brown creators,” she says.

She mentions an example that happened on February 1st, 2024.  Content creator @cierralikeseggs called out a mega influencer who replicated her joke in a TikTok video word for word. People on both TikTok and X started calling the influencer out for not giving credit to the original creator. The mega influencer deleted the video in response, but didn’t acknowledge the situation.

Between these common scenarios and social media marketing teams often being smaller, Powell explains it’s not just one or two people to vet and validate creators—an industry wide shift is needed. So how can brands be part of the trailblazers making that shift? Pay transparency.

“If you’re working with a creator and you know you have a larger budget and they severely undervalue themselves, tell them. For example, if you’re creating an influencer list of five people and each quote $1000, but one person asks for $300, it would be unethical to give them a lower rate when you know you can do more,” she says.

Pay attention to tone

Remember it’s a celebration. Although it’s important to highlight the history of oppression, racism and institutional struggles, there’s power in amplifying joy in Black History Month and other heritage months such as Latinx Heritage Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

“I’ve noticed the more I’ve gotten into marketing, the moment we start talking about cultural heritage months, it’s always rooted in oppression. It’s almost as if being Black is synonymous with struggle. But for a lot of us, being Black is a celebration. It’s not always about our persecution or the dark history of our ancestors. Of course that’s part of it and why we’re able to celebrate, but our experience as people on this planet goes beyond oppression,” she says.

Appeal to the global diaspora

Powell encourages brands to shift their point of view of Black history and culture to include the global African diaspora. As an American citizen born to Jamaican immigrant parents, Powell says that heritage informs a lot of her experience. When we talk about the Black community, that includes people from Africa, Europe, Canada, Latin American, the Caribbean—literally everywhere.

“I think that’s a really missed opportunity for a lot of brands, whether they’re based in the United States or not. When we talk about Black History, it’s immediately around Black Americans. It’s important to get out of the US-centric point of view because the Black experience is global,” she says.

Brands that celebrate year round

Now that we’ve covered the importance of Black History Month and best practices while participating, let’s review some of our favorite brands who do a great job celebrating year round.

Topicals

If you’re looking for inspiration for celebrating year round, look to Black-owned brands like Topicals. In 2023, the brand made waves online through their brand trips. In August, Topicals hosted the first fully BIPOC sponsored brand trip. The influencer trip resulted in 3 million impressions and an increase of 5,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram. In December, #TopicalsGoneToGhana trip highlighted Detty December, a month-long annual celebration featuring music festivals and other events in West Africa. The campaign resulted in their Slick Salve lip balm to be sold out, but the brand used the opportunity to uplift other brands on social media. On Instagram and TikTok, Topicals featured other Black-owned lip balm brands in Sephora.

Topicals’ 2023 Community Impact Report highlights the brand’s support beyond social media. The skincare brand donated $50,000 to nonprofits, provided free therapy to the BIPOC community, donated 2000 products to help individuals experience financial hardship and more. These initiatives were fueled by the Spottie Sphere, an interactive ambassador program open to customers, creators and skincare professionals.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by TOPICALS (@topicals)

Pinterest

Pinterest has incorporated inclusive features into the platform. For example, users can search by skin tone, hair pattern and body type. Beyond their product, they also have internal initiatives including employee resource groups, called Pinclusion groups. In 2023, they hosted their inaugural Pinclusion Group Leadership Summit.

Target

Blackburn points to Target as one brand she admires for their work in celebrating Black History Month. “Through the African American Business Council, an employee resource group, [Target] developed a recurring campaign called Black Beyond Measure which amplifies success stories and celebrates Blackness. The campaign showcases products from Black-owned businesses (that are carried in their stores year-round), as well as Black entrepreneurs and Black Target team members.”

Ben & Jerry’s

Accountability follows a statement of solidarity, and brands need to be ready to show how they are backing their words up with visible action. Ty Heath, Director of the B2B Institute at LinkedIn, warns consumers are quick to call out brands that talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

“Saying your brand will do better without action won’t stand up to scrutiny,” said Heath. “While many brands have shown support for social justice issues, building trust requires sustained investment—not only during Black History Month.”

She points to Ben & Jerry’s as one brand that has figured out how to be authentic with their activism. “Ben & Jerry’s has made speaking out against social justice issues part of its DNA. The journey starts with an internal conversation about uncomfortable topics we often avoid. To support your growth, incorporate diverse voices and core values into the fabric of your company’s brand and culture,” she said.

Not only do brands like Ben & Jerry’s follow through on their promises; they also take big, bold stands that strive to move the needle on racial equality. The actions a brand takes ripples outside of the organization and can even impact society.

Dove

From representing different body types, hair textures and skin tones in their marketing to their award-winning body positivity campaigns, Dove has centered inclusivity as a part of their brand for years. In terms of supporting Black History Month year round, Dove co-founded a coalition to advance the Creating a Respect and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, a law that prohibits racial discrimination based on hair texture and styles such as locs and brands. They’re currently partnering with LinkedIn to create more equitable workplaces for Black women.

“These brands have not always been perfect. DEI is a journey that comes with bumps and bruises. And not everyone will be able to invest millions of dollars, but it’s the smaller commitment, the incorporation of DEI into our values and practices longer term that outweighs any singular campaign or initiative. As an organization, your north star is becoming the most inclusive, diverse and equitable company. That will rain through your social media campaigns, customer engagement and building your brand,” Blackburn says.

Black history is more than a moment

Black History Month social media doesn’t have to stop after February. Cultural heritage months are just the beginning of how brands can show consumers they are prepared to be held accountable for their DEI efforts. Supporting the Black community is an ongoing commitment, with the bulk of the work happening offline.

As brands prepare for their February campaigns, remember that Black history is more than a trend. Approach Black History Month with authenticity and action, but also think about how you can uplift Black communities and culture year round.

Ensure your company efforts are genuine and sustainable by prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in all parts of your business operations. To learn more about how to go beyond diversity statements and integrate DEI into your strategies for long-term success, read our article about who really runs the brand account.

The post Celebrating Black History Month: Best practices for celebrating on social media and beyond appeared first on Sprout Social.

According to a Q1 2023 Sprout pulse survey, 74% of consumers believe that social media has increased accountability for brands. With those numbers in mind, hitting the right notes for Women’s History Month is imperative. But how do you create social media content around diversity that resonates and feels authentic?

We spoke to marketers across industries to see what their brands are planning and what they’d like to see from their peers this Women’s History Month. We’re discussing both the icks and ideals for Women’s History Month social media ideas.

Why Women’s History Month Matters

In 1980, then-President Jimmy Carter declared March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week. After realizing there’s entirely too much women’s history to squeeze into seven days, Congress passed Public Law 100-9 in 1987, proclaiming March as Women’s History Month.

The month has deep importance for women, but there’s no monolithic way to celebrate. For some women, like Alexa Heinrich, Social Media Manager at St. Petersburg College, Women’s History Month is a source of energy and pride. The collective excitement makes her feel like she can do anything. As she says, “The whole month screams, “I am woman, hear me roar,” and I love it.”

Other women use Women’s History Month as a chance to slow down.

Women’s History Month makes me stop and think. Sometimes life moves fast and you don’t stop and smell the roses. For me, those roses are recognizing the hard work and sacrifice of generations of women before me, right now and after me.

Steph Hermanson
Strategic Services Consultant, Sprout Social

Women’s History Month is especially important for women holding positions that simply wouldn’t have been possible even 60 years ago, such as CEO at legacy companies like Carol B. Tome of UPS or Michele Buck of The Hershey Company. March is a time to thank trailblazers for giving women everywhere access to new opportunities. Lisa Richards, CEO and Creator of the Candida Diet, echoes this sentiment, saying, “Women’s History Month is a reminder that women have always been a force for change and that we have the power to shape the future. It’s also a time to celebrate our collective strength, resilience, and determination.”

Avoiding Women’s History Month marketing mishaps

Consumers increasingly decide who to buy from based on how a brand’s values align with their own. According to the 2022 Sprout Social Index™, company alignment with personal values is 74% more important than it was in 2021.

But it’s not enough to say you’re aligned. In an era of increased accountability, consumers want proof that businesses actually care about key issues and they don’t take kindly to lip service. Here are some tips to show your audience that you’re serious about women’s issues all year round—not just in March.

Take a look in the mirror

Have you heard of gender washing? It’s the practice of marketing your product or business as women-friendly while supporting patriarchal norms behind the scenes. Gender washing is along the same lines as “greenwashing,” or pretending your product is environmentally friendly when it really isn’t, or “pinkwashing,” which is marketing towards LGBTQIA+ folks without doing any work to stop their oppression.

Today’s savvy consumers can spot any type of “washing” from a mile away. The negative brand impact of coming across as a panderer far outweighs any benefits you may receive from making a post that acknowledges the month. As Dana Cass, the Founder of Cass Content Studios says, “Many brands would be better off not posting about identity-based celebrations if they don’t have meaningful support for that identity group.”

Before you start planning your Women’s History Month marketing, take a long look at your business. Have you taken steps to address the gender pay gap? Is your executive team and board of directors almost entirely made up of men? Do you have a solid DEI plan in place to recruit more women into positions of authority? Do you have employee resource groups (ERGs) dedicated to women in the workforce? If the answer to most of those questions is no, you might be better off sitting this month out.

If you’re in a good position to put out a message, start measuring your success. It’s not enough to say that your organization supports women in leadership. Your consumers want to know what percentage of your leadership team is made up of women, what programs you have in place to mentor early-career women and metrics for your DEI initiatives.

I want less talk and more action from brands during Women’s History Month. Don’t tell me how you’re going to support women, show me how you’re already doing that. I don’t want lip service, I want action.

Alexa Heinrich
Social Media Manager, St. Petersburg College

If you can’t back up your commitment, you’re better off not speaking to it. Gone are the days of posting a picture of Susan B. Anthony on Instagram and calling it a day. After years of lackluster appeals to underrepresented communities, audiences are tired of generic celebration posts.

Make meaningful connections with women

Tokenization, or using someone for their membership in an underrepresented community, is easy to spot in today’s landscape. And consumers see right through it. More than two-thirds of brands rate their external DEI leadership communication, hiring practices or growing diverse talent as good or very good.

Over half (54%) of marketers report seeing more internal and external communications about DEI programs. But only 21% of marketers report that their company has an established DEI team or program. Something isn’t adding up.

To make content that appeals to marginalized groups, you have to communicate with those marginalized groups. That means going to the women in your workplace and customer or brand advocate base and finding out what they’d like to see—not just for Women’s History Month marketing, but year-round. Your women and women-identifying employees aren’t props to be used one month out of the year. They’re valuable members of your team with insight that will make your marketing, and your company, stronger.

Reaching out to underrepresented groups can’t just be about hitting a quota or the visibility of doing something “right.” It has to be real and genuine to your brand. Do your homework, make a connection, and follow up. I see groups being used for reach and engagement, but then dropped off the face of the earth far too often. Make a long-term relationship.

Steph Hermanson
Strategic Services Consultant, Sprout Social

Women’s History Month social media ideas that actually work

We’ve talked about potential pitfalls for Women’s History Month but there are just as many opportunities to celebrate. This month isn’t just about women’s struggles, it’s about our accomplishments as well. We’ve established that going generic won’t pay off, so here are some ideas to get your Women’s History Month marketing plan and social media activism started.

Show your work

If you’ve taken our advice and examined your commitment to and success with DEI initiatives, you probably have some data on hand. That data can be invaluable for your Women’s History Month content strategy.

For instance, Sprout Social’s 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report shows breakdowns of the team and leadership by gender and highlights strategy and operations infrastructure efforts to move the needle. This kind of concrete content shows your commitment to women and gives a glimpse into your company culture. And keeping your customers engaged with your culture can have a big impact. Two-thirds (66%) of consumers agree that posting about company culture impacts their connectedness with the company. That connectedness directly impacts your bottom line, with 77% of consumers ready to increase their spending with brands they feel connected with.

Content about Women’s History Month — or any celebration of identity — resonates most when it comes from a company that is actually doing something to promote the well-being of that identity group. Tell me about your women in leadership or your top-tier benefits for moms.

Dana Cass
Founder, Cass Content Studios

Teach your audience something new

People love fun facts. Women’s History Month is a great opportunity to show off your knowledge and teach your customers something new in the process.

Over half (54%) of social media users who spend an hour or more online find educational content engaging, and a comparable amount (49%) are likely to share it with their networks. There’s one caveat though. The content has to be relevant to your brand and your audience. Nellie Bly was a fascinating historical figure and an advocate for women’s rights, but unless your product caters to undercover journalism, the content will just seem generic.

Reading with RIK is a kid’s reading incentive subscription box with the goal of motivating children to read more. For Women’s History Month, they’re planning on sending out books by and about women–and sharing some of those stories on their social media accounts. Ashley R. Cummings, the CMO of Reading with RIK, thinks it’s important to educate both children and families with their product and their social media presence reflects that. Their educational content doesn’t feel forced or generic since it’s seamlessly tied with their product offering.

Express your team spirit

They say charity begins at home. If that’s true, then recognizing the power of women should begin with your team. You could spend hours researching famous women who’ve had an impact on your industry. Alternatively, you could just talk to the women who make an impact on your team every day.

Over two-thirds of marketers (81%) and over half of consumers (66%) agree that brands posting about their employees positively impacts customers’ view of their company. Posting about the incredible women on your team is not only a great Women’s History Month social media idea, but it’s also data-driven. Creating profiles of your teammates’ accomplishments, strengths, goals and stories is an excellent start for your content strategy.

It’s who you know

Your internal team isn’t the only inspiration source for your Women’s History Month social media ideas. It’s a great opportunity to highlight other women in your network, whether they’re vendors, customers or partners.

Tom Leighton, COO of Sofary, a lighting business, will be featuring women who’ve broken barriers in the male-dominated industry. Their list includes manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and distributors. His hope is that seeing these stories will inspire the next generation of women and help create a more inclusive environment across the industry.

Libby Diament, Founder and Designer of Diament Boutiques in Washington D.C., highlights strong women and women’s issues on her business’s social media pages on a regular basis. But for Women’s History Month, she’s taking it a step further by highlighting women-owned businesses in her supply chain.

But you don’t have to stop at the stories of others. If you’re a woman in business, you definitely have one too. Posting about your own journey, obstacles and achievements can be just as inspiring as reading another story from the history books. You can even take it a step further by offering your time, advice and support to women who are trying to break into your industry.

I think using your own story can be extremely effective in providing inspiration. I make sure to mention that followers can reach out to me if they have questions on how to grow a business.

Libby Diament
Founder and Designer, Diament Boutiques

Reaching every woman

Women’s History Month is an opportunity to learn, reflect and celebrate. But just like any outreach attempt, it has to be authentic to your business and your audience. Women’s History Month represents a rich opportunity to connect with your customers and prospects. With a thoughtful approach, you can deepen your relationships with women across your network.

Is your brand ready to start addressing cultural moments on social? Learn more about how to determine which are right for you to act on.

The post Creating Women’s History Month social media ideas that resonate appeared first on Sprout Social.

In 2023, brands continue to be held accountable by their customers—but the bar is higher.

Fifty-three percent of consumers say brands that issue statements in support of racial equality need to follow it up with concrete action, according to an Edelman report. The same research found that 42% of consumers have started or stopped using a brand because of its response to protests against systemic racism and racial injustice.

With their most significant stakeholders keeping an eye on them, many brands have maintained their commitment to combat racial injustice. They have also focused on strengthening their relationship with the Black community by partnering with Black creators and influencers and investing in Black talent to incorporate into their marketing campaigns.

In the process, cultural moments like Black History Month and Juneteenth have become a time of high demand for Black creators. While these celebrations of Black culture are essential, Black creatives are challenging brands to think beyond these moments and collaborate with them year-round. Some brands are leading the charge by creating initiatives and campaigns centered around content creation, storytelling and featuring Black talent.

3 brands working with Black creators beyond Black History Month

1. HOORAE

Late last year, HOORAE—a media company led by Issa Rae—announced its partnership with Walmart: The Black & Unlimited Digital Development Program. Nine Black creators were selected to amplify their content creation efforts by providing them with resources, tools, courses, and access to a network of executives to learn from. Additionally, each creator was offered a $10,000 stipend “to offset pay inequities traditionally experienced by Black creators and help them focus on limitless discovery and creation,” according to the company’s press release.

Since Issa Rae owns the company, it’s not surprising that amplifying Black voices is at the center of her work. That’s always who Issa Rae has been. Remember when she infamously stated that she was “rooting for everybody Black”? She meant that.

While the program is in its early stages, HOORAE and Walmart plan to make Black & Unlimted an ongoing and evolving initiative that will continue to dedicate its resources to Black creators.

2. HBO Max

HBO Max—the streaming service that brings us fan faves like The White Lotus, Euphoria, and House Of The Dragon (also known by Black Twitter as “House of Dragons”) has been dedicated to sharing Black stories on and off their platform. In September 2021, they launched their social-first community initiative: Scene In Black. Like Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, Scene In Black focuses on highlighting the Black talent, creatives and fans from all HBO titles.

Scene In Black also announced their “More Than A Month” campaign with one goal in mind—showcasing why Black stories deserve to be seen and heard beyond Black History Month. Finally, HBO Max became the official sponsor of The Creative Collective NYC’s CultureCon, an annual conference in Los Angeles, New York City, and Atlanta that aims to help Black creatives elevate their social network and make a real mark on culture.

3. TikTok

In November 2020, TikTok began encouraging its consumers to shop Black-owned through its initiative: Support Black Businesses. Building on efforts to relieve Black small-business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, TikTok invited its users to participate in a #ShopBlack challenge. They asked creators to make videos that spotlight their favorite Black-owned businesses or share their stories as entrepreneurs. On TikTok, the hashtag now has over 97.2 million views.

In January 2021, TikTok introduced its incubator program: TikTok for Black Creatives. According to the press release, this program was designed to “invest in and support emerging Black creators and music artists on TikTok. The three-month program focuses on nurturing and developing 100 talented Black creators and music artists, helping to open doors for them to reach new heights in their careers.” TikTok has previously had issues with Black creators on the platform. Many reported that the company was suppressing their video content, and others also reported not receiving proper credit for viral trends, sounds or dances made by Black creatives. In light of these concerns, creators have stated that this program is a step in the right direction to getting Black TikTok creators equity and visibility on the platform.

How brands can partner with Black creators

Whether you’re building out a creator development program like HOORAE, amplifying Black stories and creatives like HBO Max, or supporting Black-owned businesses like TikTok, the opportunities to collaborate with Black creators are endless.

• If you’re not sure where to start, look within. Your brand’s Black employees will likely recommend their favorite Black creators and influencers. The best part is that if your organization is committed to actual diversity, equity and inclusion, you’ll find that their recommendations will differ. Sure—everyone will be Black, but they’ll also have different niches, community bases, content types and an array of life experiences. Some Black people are queer. Some Black people have disabilities. Some Black people are immigrants. With this in mind, you’ll be sure to have the chance to collaborate with creators who represent the Black community and beyond.
• When sharing Black stories, consider the tone. Often, brands tend to go the route of focusing on Black people’s oppression or struggles. While that is a part of many Black creators’ narratives, that doesn’t necessarily define who we are. There is beauty in Black joy, and to celebrate it is to acknowledge and honor it.
• Prepare your purse. Depending on the ask, you may need to set aside $500 – $2,500 per content creator. Pay transparency is more important than ever, which means creators are talking. Trust me. You don’t want to be the brand that lowballs a well-known creator in their community. That said, many creators, especially Black ones, are often unsure how much they should charge brands. Not only should you set the budget aside, but you should also advocate for the creators you want to work with. If you know that a creator you want to partner with is undervaluing themselves, tell them. That allows for pay equity throughout the entire creator economy and further folds these creators into your community.

Black creativity is what moves culture. If you’re not tapped in, now would be the time to do it.

Want to dig deeper? Read more about why diversity in marketing and social media is non-negotiable. 

The post How brands can collaborate with Black creators in 2023 appeared first on Sprout Social.

For the most part, scrolling through social is a no-brainer. We can log on while we watch TV, throughout the day, even during Zoom meetings (hey, we’ve all done it.)

But the ease of scrolling through social isn’t a universal experience. For people who use accessibility aids to people who need additional contrast in visuals and text, partaking in social media can be a frustrating experience.

Thankfully, you have the power to make your social channels more inclusive of more of your audience. And that puts your brand in the enviable position of improving social media engagement, while showing the whole of your audience that you see them.

What is social media accessibility?

Social media accessibility is the practice of designing and developing social media content and posts that provide a smooth, inclusive experience for everyone—including for you, the marketer.

Non-accessible content can cause all sorts of annoying, disruptive experiences—like videos with a lot of background noise that don’t use captions. Creating more accessible social content is truly a win-win for everyone involved—from you, to your audience.

We talked to social strategist, accessibility advocate and creator of Accessible Social Alexa Heinrich for this article. When it comes to social media accessibility, she said: “Creating accessible social media means ensuring that everyone can access your content. No matter their physical or cognitive abilities.”

Make accessibility part of your strategy, and apply it to your social content every day—not just when disability awareness dates are trending.

Why accessibility matters on social

One in four Americans lives with a disability. And according to Pew Research, 62% of adults with a disability report owning a laptop, and 72% use a smartphone.

In other words: without inclusive social media, you risk alienating members of your audience, or missing them entirely.

“Logically, the more accessible you make your content, the more people that will be able to access and engage with it,” Alexa tells us. “Inclusive best practices can have a direct impact on your communication efforts and affect how many people you reach with your digital content.”

From screen readers to Sticky Keys and more, technology has made it easier for people with disabilities to be a part of the online conversation. But that same technology requires you, the marketer, to follow accessibility best practices to provide an inclusive experience.

“Marketers should care about the experience that their followers have when they engage with their brand on social media.”

In short, Alexa summed it up best, “Marketers should care about the experience that their followers have when they engage with their brand on social media.”

8 guidelines to make your social posts more accessible on every platform

Making your social posts more accessible on social media is relatively easy, once you know where to start.

Here are 8 social media accessibility best practices and tips you can start implementing today:

1. Add alt text to images
2. Make your text accessible
3. Be mindful of emojis
4. Add closed captions and subtitles to videos
5. Make your visual content accessible
6. Use inclusive language
7. Prioritize inclusivity in your images
8. Make accessibility and inclusion part of your routine

1. Add alt text to images

Alternative text, or “alt text,” is a short yet informative description of an image that screen readers use to describe that image on social media.

Here’s an example of what it looks like on Twitter:

Alt text is easy to add, yet underused. Other times, it’s used incorrectly altogether. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see some brands or accounts use alt text to hide unhelpful easter eggs, image credit and calls to action.

Best practices for creating and adding alt text

Alexa put it best: “When writing alt text, ask yourself, ‘What about my image is vital for someone to know?’ Think about what you’re trying to achieve with your social media content. Make sure that your alt text is descriptive enough to make your image accessible in a way that helps you meet those objectives and properly informs your followers.”

Here are some best practices to follow:

• Keep it succinct, yet informative. 125 characters is a common guideline, but don’t be afraid to write longer to paint a clearer picture for graphics or images alike.
• Skip writing “image of” or “picture of.” These are a given.
• Include keywords. Alt text plays into SEO—include keywords, as long as they’re relevant.
• Include context, too. The alt text for the Tweet below is “Snoozing fox in the brush at Lake Clark National Park & Preserve, Alaska,” which clearly explains why the image was paired with text about waking up early.

And pro tip: Add video descriptions, too. Videos may not have an alt text option, so remember to add descriptions to your captions or threads to describe your video content. The below video from US Fish and Wildlife Services provides an in-depth and extremely informative description of their video.

Finally, just remember: don’t overthink it. Alt text is subjective. As Alexa put it, “As the content author, you have the power to decide what details are important in not only your image, but your entire post as well.”

As far as how you actually implement it, here are a few tips on how to add alt text on each platform:

Twitter:

1. Upload an image to your Tweet.
2. Select add description under the image.
3. Enter your alt text description up to 1,000 characters.
4. Tap save.
5. An “ALT” badge will appear on your image to indicate that it contains alt text.
6. If you have multiple images, tap add description for any of them and use the arrows in the editing window to toggle between images.
7. According to Accessible Social, using GIFs from Twitter’s media library allows you to add alt text to GIFs, too.

Facebook: Facebook will automatically add alt text to images, but these auto-descriptions are far from perfect.

To add alt text to a new post:

1. Upload your image to a post.
2. Tap edit (or, on mobile, tap the three dots on your image.
3. Tap Alternative text.
4. Add your Custom alt text.

Editing alt text that was automatically assigned to your photos is easiest on mobile. The auto alt text for this image was “may be an image of cat and indoor”—all the more reason to add your own. To edit your alt text:

1. Go to your post.
2. Tap on your photo.
3. Tap the … in the top corner.
4. Select Edit Alt Text.

Instagram:

When adding Instagram images on desktop, you’ll see an Accessibility dropdown option. But adding alt text to images as you share them on mobile is more complicated:

1. Upload your image once you’re done editing.
2. Hit Next.
3. Tap Advanced settings.
4. Tap Write alt text.

To add alt text to an existing post:

1. Tap the … above your post.
2. Tap edit.
3. Tap Accessibility.
4. Write your alt text.
5. Hit Done.

LinkedIn:

1. As you add an image to a post, tap Add description in the top right of your image.
2. Note: Adding or editing alt text is only available on desktop.

Between the back and forth and limitations, like not having the ability to use alt text in Facebook’s Business Suite, adding alt text platform by platform can be challenging. Using Sprout Social streamlines your accessibility and publishing efforts. You can add alt text to your images across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in one step.

While API limitations mean you can’t add alt text to Instagram images in Sprout, you can add image descriptions to your captions as you schedule your posts—an accepted and widely-used alternative.

The Sprout platform helps cut down on steps so you can double down on accessibility. In fact, our accessibility features were a big factor in why Texas A&M University chose Sprout as their go-to social media management platform.

2. Make your text accessible

While playing around with typography on your website or social posts can be trendy, fancy fonts can be a nightmare for screen readers.

When it comes to social posts, a number of best practices will make all of your text more inclusive.

How to write accessible text

Let’s start with a few best practices to follow:

• Format your hashtags the right way. From adding humor to celebrating hashtag holidays, hashtags are here to stay. Make hashtags easier to read for screen readers and users alike with “CamelCase,” where you capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag. So instead of #weloveteamsprout, write #WeLoveTeamSprout.
• Avoid all caps. All caps make words harder to identify by their shape, and screen readers may read them as acronyms—not full words. For example: text vs TEXT.
• Be mindful of font color. This is more relevant for landing pages or blog posts you link to. Ensure your font and hyperlink colors are accessible.
• Spell out acronyms first. This helps screen readers and people unfamiliar with acronyms.
• Write in plain language. Avoid jargon and overly technical language to make your posts more accessible to those new to your industry, non-native speakers or people who experience cognitive impairments.
• Avoid run-on sentences. Instead, opt for clear, short sentences.
• Present the most important information first. Helpful for accessibility, and to get your point across clearer, sooner.
• Include @ mentions at the end of your posts. This helps the flow of your post, especially for screen readers.
• Use special characters correctly, and in moderation. Screen readers know to not read all special characters aloud, like ampersands. But too many special characters in your text can result in a confusing experience for people using screen readers.
• Avoid “creative” typography. Playing around with cute fonts has become popular in social bios and posts. But these don’t work well with assistive technologies.

3. Be mindful of emojis

Consider this: every emoji has a description assigned to it, like alt text to an image.

A screen reader would read the Tweet below as, “I pencil love red heart writing writing hand: light skin tone content laptop.” Not so cute.

How to use emojis while keeping your content accessible

You don’t need to stop using emojis, just be mindful of where and how much you use them. Here are some tips:

• Be mindful of trends that rely on repetitive, overused emojis. The viral “red flag” trend, for example, is a nightmare for screen readers. If you must jump on a trend like this, limit your post to just a few emojis rather than using dozens. Find more tips in this article.
• Use emojis in moderation. This limits confusion in your posts. Put them at the end of a social post. This also helps you lead with your key information. And keep in mind: custom emojis that represent different skin tones are fantastic and inclusive, but be aware that they have longer descriptions. If you use multiple in a row, you’ll add complexity for folks using a screen reader.
• Avoid emojis in your profile name. This is disruptive to screen readers.

4. Add closed captions and subtitles to videos

Including closed captions should be an essential part of your video marketing strategy.

As Alexa put it, “Captions make videos accessible for a variety of users—from those with hearing loss or cognitive disabilities to those learning a new language to people who simply don’t want to wake their sleeping partners or babies.”

It also happens to be popular with Gen Z and millennial content consumers. Plus, captions even give you an SEO boost.

Captions are always a win when added to your videos. Here are a few common best practices:

• Go beyond what’s being said. Subtitles write out what’s said, but closed captions add extra information for context like sounds in the background or music being played.
• Ensure captions aren’t covered by platform content. Especially important in formats like Reels and TikTok.
• Create high contrast captions. Make sure your captions are visible against your background, like white text against a black highlight, or vice versa.

Here’s how to add and edit closed captions

Most social platforms have made this an easy step to include. But while auto captions are incredibly helpful, like any AI process, they’re not perfect—which can lead to confusing, or even offensive caption mistakes.

Luckily, platforms that offer automatic captions also offer ways to edit them.

Using Sprout: Using Sprout, you can upload SubRip Subtitle Files (SRT) to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter videos while creating your posts in Compose.

1. Navigate to “Compose.”
2. Select Facebook, YouTube or Twitter from the Profile Picker.
3. Click the camera icon, select upload video and add the video you want to use.
4. Add a title.
5. Select the language for the SRT files you plan to upload.
6. Click Choose File to upload your file. You also have the option to click Upload another language file.
7. Schedule your post.

YouTube: It’s important to caveat—on YouTube, closed captions are called subtitles. There are a number of tools you can use to generate YouTube subtitles faster. But adjusting auto captions is an easy and quick place to start.

1. To add or edit auto captions on your videos, log into YouTube Studio.
2. Click the Subtitles tab on the left navigation.
3. Select the videos you want to add subtitles to, or edit subtitles of.
4. Set your language.
5. You’ll be taken to a page where you can edit the auto-subtitles of your video. Click Duplicate and Edit to correct any auto-caption errors.
6. Publish.
7. Heads up: When you upload a video and opt into auto captions, your captions may not populate right away. Keep checking back, then edit them when they are available.

Facebook:

On desktop:

1. Add your video to a post.
2. Click Edit.
3. Click Add Captions.
4. Click Upload Captions. Facebook uses Subrip (.SRT) files for captions.

On mobile

1. Add your video to a post.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap CC at the top of the screen.
4. Facebook will transcribe the audio.
5. Select the look of your captions.
6. Edit them by tapping the Edit Captions button. Then, adjust words you need to change by tapping on them and typing in corrections.

Instagram:

1. Upload your video (all videos on Instagram upload as Reels now.)
2. Tap Next.
3. Tap the Stickers icon at the top of the screen.
4. Tap the Captions sticker.
5. Instagram will transcribe your audio.
6. Tap your captions as they appear on the screen to edit individual words.

TikTok:

1. Upload your video.
2. Tap Captions on the side navigation.
3. TikTok will transcribe your audio.
4. Review your captions, and tap the pencil icon to edit them.

LinkedIn:

1. Exciting news: LinkedIn now offers both auto captions and a way to review them. Start by logging into LinkedIn on desktop.
2. Add a video to a post.
3. Under Auto Captions, toggle on Add auto captions and review captions before viewers can see them to be extra safe.
4. You’ll see a banner below your post when your captions are review-ready.
5. Review your captions by clicking the … on your post.
6. Click CC Edit Captions.
7. You can also upload an .SRT file instead, which is prompted above your auto caption option.

Twitter:

1. To add captions to your Twitter video content, you need to upload an .SRT subtitle file.
2. Click on a video within your Media Studio Library.
3. Select Subtitles.
4. Choose your text language.
5. Click Upload and select the .SRT file.
6. To update the file further, click the pencil icon.

5. Make your visual content accessible

Making your images and videos accessible goes beyond just using alt text and captions.

From providing warnings on content that would impact people with photosensitivity to making your content accessible to people with colorblindness, there are a number of ways you can provide a better experience with your visuals.

How to create accessible visual assets

There are a number of ways you can make your visuals more accessible to all:

• Avoid packing a graphic with text. Consider limiting the information on your graphics and linking to a blog post or landing page for a full statement, full event info, a full blog post, etc.
• Include a warning for people with photosensitivity. If you post a video with strobe effects or flashing lights, include a warning and create a pause before your content plays. TikTok includes a warning for content that may trigger unpleasant or dangerous effects for some people.
• Be mindful of viral trends that are not accessible. Trends that rely on unique post formatting, like the handshake trend below, may be fun to jump on. But they’re not friendly to assistive technologies. Before jumping on trends, consider how they would be read by a screen reader, and consider limiting using these trends, or holding off altogether.

• Don’t rely on different colors to convey meaning. This may exclude those who are colorblind, and may be impacted by cultural differences.
• Create visuals with high contrast. High contrast makes graphics easier to interpret. Ensuring the colors in your graphics have a 4.5:1 contrast will help make the text on your graphics visible to everyone.

6. Use inclusive language

It can be all too easy to perpetuate bias, stigmas and marginalization in the words and phrases we may have gotten used to every day—even when we don’t realize we’re doing it. Not even beloved musical artists are immune.

Inclusive language is what it sounds like: using language that is inclusive and respectful, and free of bias, discrimination or exclusionary terms. Using it in your communications—from social posts to job descriptions—helps everyone feel like they’re addressed, included and welcome to participate.

Here’s how to use inclusive language

Inclusive language takes self-checking and education. But it’s important to start now and to make it a part of your everyday process.

Here are a few ways to start using more inclusive language:

• Bust bias in your writing. For example, using the word “normal” as a comparison group can be ableist, or puts one group in “the norm.” Using gendered language is biased, too—a tool like the gender decoder can help.
• Use people-first language. For example, saying “a person with a disability” vs “a disabled person.”
• Keep an eye out for offensive language. Language is ever-evolving. Keep an eye out for now-outdated phrases, sayings or references, and cultural appropriation in your language.
• Keep learning. Language is constantly evolving, and we are constantly learning. Be curious about others, and educate yourself on preferred terms. Our inclusive writing guide is a great place to start.
• When in doubt, ask. Preferred terms even differ within groups and over time. Rather than assuming pronouns or preferred terms, when in doubt, respectfully ask.

7. Prioritize inclusivity in your images

Accessibility and inclusion matters when it comes to HOW you post.

But it also applies to WHAT you post.

After all, according to a recent Sprout Social survey, 66% of respondents said they were more likely to buy from brands showcasing people of diverse races, gender identities, ages and more. A Facebook analysis found that people with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community, for example, are underrepresented in digital ads.

Prioritize diversity in social media and ensure that the whole of your audience feels included. Just remember to make these images accessible, of course.

How to prioritize more inclusive marketing assets

These are just a few tips to get you started. To dive deeper, check out our article on diversity in social media.

• Be mindful of your models. Do your models reflect the many ages, backgrounds and perspectives of your audience?
• Consider your collaborators. Inclusive social media content extends to creators, agencies and partners you work with and feature, as well. What voices are you amplifying, and are there voices you could amplify more?
• Listen. Listen to your audience if they take issues with your materials, and make changes.
• Prioritize diversity all year-round. Only featuring a diversity of gender identities and couples during Pride Month, or women during Women’s History Month is inauthentic and risks tokenism. Feature people of all ages, backgrounds, body types and more all year around to truly represent and speak to your audience.
• Make your alt text descriptions inclusive. There are many resources out there about being inclusive with your alt text. Educate yourself on how to be inclusive with your descriptions, and know that this could come down to preference—for example, how someone identifies. When in doubt, ask—never assume. This resource has some great examples.

8. Make accessibility and inclusion part of your routine

If all of this seems overwhelming when you’re just starting out, know that you’re not alone. In a recent Sprout Social survey of 300 marketers, almost a third said that the time commitment to making posts accessible is their biggest challenge when it comes to accessibility.

But by now, you know how important it is to include more social media accessibility and expand your audience.

Integrating accessibility best practices into your content creation workflow makes accessibility part of the process—not an afterthought.

And, silver lining: in that same data above, almost a quarter of marketers report being able to prioritize accessible content smoothly.

Provide training for yourself and your team. Then, bake accessibility practices into your social scheduling and content planning routine. Setting your team up with a platform that makes adding alt text as you publish easy (like Sprout Social’s publishing tools) can help you streamline this further.

Social media accessibility benefits everyone

Don’t let the fear of perfection hold you back from making your posts more accessible and inclusive. The first step is the most important. The sooner you start putting accessibility and inclusive practices into your social media strategy, the better.

If you want to see how Sprout can streamline social media management for your entire team—accessibility features included—try us for free for 30 days. Sign up for a free trial and start your accessibility practices today.

Start your free Sprout trial

The post 8 guidelines to make social media posts more accessible appeared first on Sprout Social.

Truly embracing diversity in marketing requires cross-organization collaboration, a sustainable strategy and internal work first.

People expect the companies they shop with and the organizations they support to take a stand. In fact, according to the 2022 Sprout Social Index™, 40% of consumers will pick a brand over a competitor because the brand aligns with their values.

Your team has likely created campaigns in the past for Black History Month, Women’s History Month or Pride. And you may have made commitments to supporting marginalized communities and DEI. In fact, more than half of marketers say their company has adopted more communication internally and externally about DEI values, according to a recent Sprout Social survey of 300 marketers.

That’s all a great start. But diversity in social media must be incorporated into your long-term strategy—not just when a hashtag is trending. And that requires work inside of your organization, and out. Use this article to guide your diversity efforts.

What to consider as you emphasize diversity in marketing

Diversity in marketing isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a must-have to ensure you’re truly representing and building trust with your audience.

According to Pew research, the “post-Millennial generation” is the most ethnically and racially diverse. Truly representing your audience means they can see themselves in your organization’s marketing materials, and within your organization.

This impacts your bottom line, too, and will continue to. According to a recent Sprout Social survey, 66% of respondents said they were more likely to buy from brands showcasing people of diverse races, gender identities, ages and more.

From including more diversity in social media images, to identifying when to add your voice, diversity in marketing must be done mindfully and authentically. It’s all well and good to create social content. But developing a strategy for diversity in marketing rooted in your business and values will ensure that you have a sustained, meaningful plan.

As you get started, here are two things to consider:

1. Start from within

Diversity in marketing is external. But we can’t do this work without first looking inward.

Before you can publish anything on social, it’s important to have an understanding of the DEI landscape and values within your organization.

When it comes to DEI, content developed in a communications or creative silo risks coming across as performative if your company’s commitments and activities don’t back it up. After all, 91% of 25-40 year olds think social media has increased accountability for businesses.

If you don’t know what your company is already working on when it comes to DEI, start a conversation—here are a few questions to ask internally:

• What is our company’s DEI strategy? What are the main areas our brand is focused on?
• Where are the gaps in our own organization’s education and how can we further our knowledge?
• How has our audience responded to communication about these topics in the past? Are there areas of our efforts they were particularly interested in?
• How is our approach to DEI integrated with our employer brand? How do we represent our employer brand on social, and what could we add or change?
• Does our workforce reflect our audience and our DEI commitments?

In the meantime, focus on the elements you and your team can control and change. This might be internal representation when developing new ideas, representation within social creative, who your brand Retweets or where you source user-generated content.

For example, Target’s social feed is visually extremely inclusive, right down to their UGC—and they often back this up with the products they offer.

Every brand and community are different. If you want your social media approach to resonate with your audience, it’s important to develop a plan that’s truly representative of your brand.

2. Know where you can add authentic value

What your brand says and does on social media should be a direct reflection of your organization’s values and actions.

No brand will be able to speak up on every issue (although some will require speaking up), or jump on every celebration. But your brand values can help guide what to prioritize, where you can add expertise and where you can show up authentically—not in a performative way.

Ben and Jerry’s, for example, is known for having strong, clear values—and sticking to them. They have a landing page that outlines their brand values and commitment to DEI.

And they use their social channels to back these values up with content they produce, or relevant content they reshare from other people or organizations they want to amplify.

In the context of your brand’s responses and actions, take a step back to determine what role your brand should play in larger conversations and what your audience is expecting from you.

How do you determine your brand’s place? Ask yourself and cross-team stakeholders questions like:

• What are our company values, and how can we connect these to more diversity in our marketing efforts?
• What stances has our our company taken in the past? What cultural moments have we activated on? What were the next steps we outlined, or how can we improve?
• Where in larger conversations about DEI, equity, policy or systemic inequity does it make sense for our company to weigh in?
• How can we be there for those in our brand’s community who are looking for support or resources from us?
• Are we living up to the values we claim to uphold?

These questions will help you understand where your organization is focused today and develop a social strategy to share those efforts with your audience. They will also help you identify potential problem areas or gaps so you can proactively connect with the right internal stakeholders to support responses and share feedback.

Finally, when it comes to contributing to larger conversations, it’s not all about your brand. Maybe your focus will be on sharing resources, using your data to talk about how this issue relates to your customers or industry, increasing representation in your content or amplifying expert voices where it counts.

Prioritizing diversity in social media

DEI efforts cannot exist on social media alone. They must be backed up by your company’s actions, products, commitments and more.

That being said, diversity on social media is crucial to building trust with online communities and consumers. All consumers want to work with brands that share their values, and want to see themselves represented—27% of Gen Z survey respondents said they’re more trusting of brands that represent them in ads.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Highlight representation all year round

Diversity in marketing is a year-round effort. When setting your goals, consider the demographics of your core audience, who currently isn’t represented in your social feed and the specific process you’ll use to increase and track representation in your photos, videos and written content.

Clothing brand Aerie and their #AerieREAL Life initiative comes to mind here. They’re known and celebrated for featuring unfiltered women of diverse body types and backgrounds in their social media content, product photos and campaigns…

and in the creators, fans and companies they work with.

Prioritizing representation on social media also means amplifying underrepresented voices–through content you create, and even passing the mic.

For example, in the #ShareTheMicNow campaign, Black women took over white women’s Instagram accounts for a day. The goal? To center Black women’s voices, work and experiences. More than 40 pairs of women participated with a reach of over 300 million followers, amplifying previously underrepresented perspectives.

Amplifying diverse voices on your brand’s social platforms, as celebrities and influencers did with #ShareTheMicNow, is an intentional, measurable step that companies can take towards fulfilling their commitment to DEI. For example, a brand may set a goal along the lines of, “We will ensure that X% of our social content features Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) or their work.”

How to improve representation:

• Choose your models and images with intention. Gen Z is the most diverse yet. Keep that in mind while putting together creative assets and gauging representation of perspective, backgrounds, identities and religions.
• Credit BIPOC content creators and creators from other underrepresented groups for their work. External representation of your internal team counts, too!
• Ensure your content is accessible: Representation also means removing blockers. Ensure your social posts are accessible: add alt text to images, add closed captions (and edit them for accuracy) and, if you have a global audience, consider multi-language campaigns and captions.
• Know your audience. Who is in your audience who may not see themselves enough in your marketing materials? And what communities do you want to reach that your marketing materials don’t reflect?
• Enlist your followers. Your brand’s social media pages present an opportunity to uplift marginalized voices. Seek out and share UGC from underrepresented followers or their networks to pump up their volume and improve representation.

Representation isn’t only about external content, either: It’s about ensuring the internal voices of BIPOC at your organization are heard and taking part in decision-making about your social approach.

2. Show, don’t tell

A corporate statement tells your audience what you believe and what you plan to do about it. A long-term social media strategy shows them how your brand is doing what you promised, and the ways that DEI is a long-term commitment for your brand.

Make a plan to highlight your employees’ actions and your brand’s ongoing work in your social media strategy. This could focus on education; for example, if one of your initiatives focuses on internal education and dialogue, you can share the resources and organizations your team is learning about with your audience.

If your team is focused on volunteering, use your platforms to highlight your team members and their stories of impact when it comes to serving the community. This gives you an opportunity to promote nonprofit organizations and show the world who makes up your team and what they care about.

And of course, if your brand is making a financial commitment, communicate it clearly and make sure to follow up to cover how that money has been donated or spent. Foot Locker’s LEED initiative includes a $200 million commitment to the Black community. Since the program’s 2020 launch, they’ve regularly provided updates on where this money is going, and how they’re following through on their promises.

The ability to make financial commitments ranges from company to company, but fortunately there are many ways to help and to be part of a movement rather than just posting about it.

How to provide solutions:

• Research how racism affects your industry and create or recommend, promote and amplify anti-racist resources like books, podcasts, industry thought leadership and more.
• Get your company involved with the movement via volunteering (remotely if necessary), and invite your followers to do the same.
• Learn about your company’s efforts and develop a plan to tell your employees’ stories and show your company’s actions on social.

3. Check yourself

Your approach shouldn’t focus only on sharing the DEI work your brand is doing. Instead, focus on how you bring the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion to all of the work you do. All of your content and initiatives should be evaluated through that lens, even when they don’t specifically relate to your brand’s DEI efforts.

If you’re not thinking about DEI before publishing any of your content, you run the risk of coming off insensitive at best. Take, for example, the fashion industry. Statements about solidarity and diversity in social media posts feel inauthentic when brands’ products, decisions and content have historically showcased a lack of diversity and been hurtful as a result.

But fear of making a mistake should not hold us back. Instead of running from the solution, take time before making a post or finalizing a campaign to think about the impact of your content.

When developing campaigns and content, ask questions such as:

• Are we appropriating elements of a marginalized culture?
• Are we using insensitive language or phrases that have racist origins or insensitive connotations?
• Are we amplifying the voice of someone who is considered racist or harmful to the BIPOC community?

Make it a habit to filter your content through a lens of equity, and be ready to get it wrong sometimes. Doing the work behind the scenes will give you a stronger product when it’s time to hit publish. And, if you do make a mistake and receive critical feedback, you’ll be able to reflect on the process you went through to determine what went wrong and how to improve in the future.

How to prepare:

• First, talk with your team about the potential for missteps. Together, you can come up with a social response plan that covers who to inform if negative or constructive feedback appears, who responds or approves responses and anything else your team deems helpful.
• Make intentional space in your strategy for feedback to learn from your experience.
• Accept criticism with an open mind and a goal of understanding.
• Be brave and prepare for mistakes. You will mess up, and you will need to bring it up to leadership when it happens in order to have productive conversations and move forward.

Mistakes are how we learn. Growth happens outside of our comfort zone, and we need growth now more than ever. Now is the time to be open to criticism and change.

Hire diverse teams

Remember how we mentioned that diversity in social media starts from within?

Hiring diverse candidates should always be a priority, and there are plenty of reasons why this can positively impact your business (beyond just being the right thing to do).

Diverse teams enrich content and stories

More diverse teams generate more diverse ideas.

This extends to your team, and to the creators and agencies you work with, too.

“Diverse content comes from diverse, innovative perspectives,” Sprout’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion Cassandra Blackburn tells us. “We also know that diverse teams drive innovation–it literally increases the range of perspectives in a room.”

Beyond inspiring more unique content, more perspectives on your team also helps bust bias. This can help stave off mistakes that even the most well-meaning teams can make in social content and campaigns.

Cassandra said it best: “If you build a diverse team and network, your content will follow.”

Next steps: Audit your hiring materials for bias, and review the perks you offer employees and company culture.

For example, research shows that women are more likely to feel they need to meet job postings’ full criteria. Eliminating the college degree requirement can expand your candidate pool. And a recent Atlassian study highlighted that location flexibility may expand your talent pool.

Diverse teams have a positive business impact

Diversity sparking innovation doesn’t stop at creative content. These teams can have a serious impact on your company’s bottom line.

Research has shown that more diverse teams create a high-performance environment. And companies with more diverse management teams and decision makers see higher revenue.

As Cassandra put it, “Diverse teams are critical to the success of any company. Research from McKinsey shows companies that have a more diverse workforce outperform industry norms by an average of 35%.”

Next steps: Look at your teams and decision makers—are these as diverse as they can be? Are there leadership opportunities that can be provided or expanded to extend opportunities to more diverse internal candidates?

Diverse teams enforce your values

A company can say they prioritize DEI all day.

But if a company that prioritizes diversity in social media lacks diversity behind the scenes, that doesn’t bode well for their reputation or trust.

As Cassandra put it, “The world’s demographics are shifting and the public increasingly relies on social media to understand which companies align to their values,” Cassandra says. “A diverse social media team ensures you can maintain your brand’s reputation with your target market.”

Next steps: Review those values again, then look within. Are your current diversity goals being met?

Diverse teams improve company culture

Cassandra put it best: “All people want to work with and for companies that live their values. Companies seeking to diversify their talent without investing in their people won’t succeed in maintaining that talent.”

It’s no question that diversity has a positive impact on company culture. In fact, according to a Deloitte survey, Millennials are more likely to feel engaged at work when they feel their workplace fosters an inclusive environment.

Being challenged with new ideas and perspectives also helps teammates think in new, sharper ways than a homogeneous group would. In fact, research has shown that diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time.

Next steps: Celebrate your teams. Create a meet the team social post series showcasing your team members’ stories and uplifting the diverse voices within your organization. This builds connection with your employees (and with prospective talent) in an authentic way.

Tap into employee advocacy to amplify your series. After all, over half of engaged social users are most likely to share employee updates, according to our research.

Prioritize diversity in social media and in marketing now

If you haven’t started prioritizing diversity in social media, now’s the time to start.

But this work cannot be done within a silo, or by one person. Nor can this work solely be done externally.

Your social media efforts should be backed up by your internal efforts. Work across teams and across your organization to kickstart real change. Next up, check out our social media for global brands article to help you along the way.

The post Why diversity in marketing and social media is non-negotiable appeared first on Sprout Social.

To support this commitment, we’ve partnered with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to establish the Sprout Social Scholarship Fund. Each year, eight Black/African American college seniors will be awarded an $11,000 USD merit-based scholarship. Selected recipients will exemplify strong leadership abilities and demonstrate interest in computer science or software engineering.

This is our second year contributing $100,000 USD to the scholarship fund, which was established in 2021 as a means of increasing access to STEM education and opportunities in the technology industry for the Black/African American community. Scholarship recipients also receive the opportunity to apply and interview for a full-time role as an Associate Software Engineer at Sprout, and earlier this year we welcomed two recipients to our engineering team.

“The Sprout Social Scholarship significantly supported my pursuit of higher education, enabled me to study a field that I longed to attain a degree in and relieved the financial burden that so many students face,” said scholarship recipient Sean Walker, Associate Software Engineer at Sprout Social. “It has always been my desire to use software to provide useful tools to people, and this scholarship’s support of my academic career has helped prepare me for my future as a critical thinker and problem solver, which are skills I now use in my current role as an engineer.”

“I am honored and more than thankful for all the ways the Sprout Social UNCF Scholarship Program has changed and empowered my life,” said scholarship recipient Thomas Reese, Associate Software Engineer at Sprout Social. “The scholarship helped me complete my last year of school and become a first-generation college student. This is so important to me because I have set an example to my peers and family of what is possible for us to achieve through education. I really hope the scholarship fund can continue to help the Black/African American community by making tuition more affordable, allowing someone like me to focus more on education and becoming better leaders in software development.”

Increasing access to education and career opportunities for the Black/African American community is just one part of the work we’re doing to further our DEI recruitment and retention efforts. In addition to the scholarship fund, we are supporting a number of conferences for underrepresented genders in technology, such as Technica, as well as hosting workshops for DEI-focused student organizations to help them prepare for technical interviews at Sprout and other companies.

For those interested in the Sprout Social Scholarship Fund, applications will be open through October 17, 2022.

The post Advancing DEI through the Sprout Social UNCF Scholarship Program appeared first on Sprout Social.

The challenge for brands is creating authentic and impactful, culturally-focused Hispanic marketing campaigns–without pandering, stereotyping or over-generalizing. The most powerful technique social teams have in their corner this month is working directly with Latinx and Hispanic creators.

Getting to know the Latinx and Hispanic consumer

If your brand is looking to enter the Latinx market, here’s what you need to know.

Latinx spending power is expected to top 1.3 trillion dollars in 2023 and 78% of Latinx and Hispanic consumers enjoy online shopping. As far as social marketing goes, they’re extremely immersed in social media. A majority (52%) of Hispanics aged 18 or older spend an hour or more on social media every day, compared to 38% of non-Hispanic whites. They’re also 5 times more likely to share content, which can have an extreme impact on your reach.

This rapidly growing demographic should be a crucial part of your inclusive marketing strategy. Reaching out to the Latinx community in your marketing can have positive effects on your overall social strategy as well. Most (60%) consumers are more likely to buy from a brand with inclusive marketing.

To improve your inclusivity, creators are the key to making an impact with the Latinx community.

Linking up with Latinx creators

The Latinx community is no exception when it comes to the advantages creators bring to social marketing strategy. Some 68% of marketers use creators to generate more engagement, and Latinx creators understand and relate to their audience in ways that make consumers want to learn more.

Their authenticity and connection with their communities are key to creating viral content.

The Sprout Social Index™ found authentic, non-promotional posts are ranked as the top content type consumers say they don’t see enough of from brands on social media. And as 74% of marketers prepare to spend more than a quarter of their budget on creator partnerships, Latinx creators are a great bet.

Cultural competency

The most obvious benefit of bringing on a Latinx creator is their intrinsic cultural expertise. As members of the community, they know first-hand what resonates–and what’s going to fall flat. Leveraging their perspective on campaign ideas and execution can help your team avoid cultural appropriation and build a meaningful sense of cultural appreciation.

Vanessa Sirias has built a following of over 250,000 people across platforms with her comedy sketches surrounding the Latinx experience. When Secret Deodorant approached her for a partnership, she created a sketch poking fun at the stereotypical Latina-oriented commercial. This approach was not only relatable for her viewers, but it established Secret’s position of being in on the joke, instead of the butt of it.

Product perspective

Different communities have different relationships with your product. This sounds obvious, but when you’re constantly creating marketing campaigns aimed at targeting the largest number of people, it can be easy to forget. Luckily, creators have unique insight into how different groups might respond, relate to and use your offerings. Partnering with diverse creators can bring your marketing team new insight into what might appeal to your target audience.

Violeta Venagas is a Selena tribute creator with 1.3 million followers across platforms. For her partnership with Dossier Perfumes, she paired each scent with a Selena song to describe the vibe. Fragrance companies often have difficulty describing their olfactory products on visual platforms, but Violeta was able to market them more concretely by associating the products with something familiar to her audience.

Niche audiences and understanding

One of the major appeals of social media is the opportunity to dive deep into niche audiences. It’s hard to justify a commercial or billboard that will only appeal to select consumers. Latinx creators combine their interests with their experiences, creating powerful content for others who share their hobbies and obsessions. Partnering with these creators gives your social team the opportunity to find their fandoms and create highly-targeted and highly-effective content.

Lis Wonder, a Cuban-American cosplayer with almost 2 million followers across platforms, built her audience around geek culture. Fandoms love dressing up for movie premieres and Lis is no exception. Her partnership with Regal centered around the comfort fans find in going to their favorite movies and the excitement of showing up as their favorite characters.

365 days of inclusive marketing

While Hispanic Heritage Month is an excellent opportunity to celebrate Latinx and Hispanic culture across your brand channels, it shouldn’t be the only opportunity. Consumers are clamoring for more inclusive content and providing them with it will only make your brand stronger. By partnering with creators who represent the communities you’re trying to reach, your strategy will be more inclusive–and more successful.

Looking to learn more about advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on social media? Check out this article with five essential things to keep in mind while building out your strategy.

The post Why partnerships with Latinx creators matter to your inclusive marketing strategy appeared first on Sprout Social.

According to the 2023 Sprout Social Index™ , 25% of customers say the most memorable thing a brand can do is speak out about causes and news that align with their values. But the topics are just that—sensitive. How can brands provide content experiences that audiences want while still staying true to their values? As brands report speaking on serious global issues like racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality or public health, they’re facing new challenges of authenticity.

What is brand activism?

It’s easy to conflate brand activism with social media activism. We see it all the time. But social media activism is broad and often led by individuals or communities. Brand activism goes deeper and specifically impacts your business. Social media activism is a key component of brand activism, but it can’t be the only component. As a business leader, you have the opportunity to create real change around these issues and you shouldn’t squander it. Brand activism is a holistic approach to improving the world through your business practices and your marketing.

Brand activism can have lasting effects across your business.

From a marketing perspective, well-executed brand activism can increase your awareness—and ultimately market share—among key audiences. Supporting the causes that matter to your existing customers can inspire brand loyalty and engagement. And internally, showing your employees that you care can keep them engaged.

For example, Patagonia has integrated their environmental-centric mission into every aspect of their business, and their customers appreciate it, landing the company a top spot in brand reputation rankings.

Change starts from within

Brands shouldn’t talk if they’re not willing to walk. Brand activism is more than a logo change during Pride month, it needs to be embedded in the way you conduct business.

If you’re not willing to build your hiring, sourcing, manufacturing and sales practices to support what your brand is saying publicly, you probably shouldn’t be saying it. There are three areas you should focus on as you launch or define your brand activism.

1. Your business

Before you can change the world, you need to change what you can—your business.

If you’re an athleisure brand looking to promote body positivity, you should check your size inclusivity before you post that Tweet. If you want to speak out on gender disparities in tech, check your own demographic breakdowns and internal hiring processes before you create an infographic. These changes don’t only support your eventual brand purpose roll-out, they also send a clear message that you’re in it for real.

2. Your people

Your employees experience your brand in a much more intimate way than your consumers do. And the chances are high that they’re also active on social. If they see you expressing beliefs that don’t align with their experience, they’ll probably speak out about it.

Employee engagement is crucial for achieving your business goals and just like consumers, employees don’t want to engage with companies that don’t feel genuine. Checking in with your employees can be an excellent way to gauge whether it’s time to go public with a purpose-driven campaign. Your employees can be a valuable sounding board to help you decide what issues to focus on. Find a cause that affects your employees directly and ask them what would help. Their input could make all the difference.

3. Your leadership

If senior leadership doesn’t buy in, an initiative probably isn’t going to go very far. Your executive team needs to be more than along for the activism ride—they have to steer the ship.

This might seem like common sense, but two-thirds of marketers (66%) report having to convince senior leadership of the importance of taking a stand. Getting leadership approval and their commitment to continued engagement is key to making sure you’re working on a movement and not a moment. Having your executives speak out externally, like Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, can go a long way in showing your commitment is real.

https://twitter.com/WhitWolfeHerd/status/1354444897164664832?s=20&t=9H_lh35TlqlnSsOJAJ0e1Qe1Q

Staking your claim

When it’s time to shine a spotlight on brand activism, it can be hard to know where to start. With a near-constant stream of news stories vying for attention, choosing the ones that fit your brand can feel impossible. There are a few techniques you can use to figure out how to focus your voice.

Capture data behind the dialogue

Social media teams already keep a close watch on which topics your audiences care about. Surfacing those trends and bringing them up to leadership can be an excellent way to start.

If you’re not already, tap into social listening tools to uncover the stories that resonate with your customers—and are relevant to your business. This kind of data will not only tell you what current events matter to your audiences, but their distinct opinions on them as well. The unfiltered feedback from social media can show you the gaps your business might have and maybe even suggest solutions.

Put your personality out there

More and more brands are taking up a lighter tone on social media, which can be difficult when it’s time to address things that aren’t so light. You don’t want to come across as cavalier about something your company has put serious effort into. But abandoning your voice entirely when you take a stand is a mistake as well. Take time crafting your messages so they sound like you while getting the point across.

Mobilize your employees

Brand activism is a team sport. Giving your employees the opportunity to engage with your activism efforts increases their buy-in and embeds the cause further into your internal culture. Implementing an employee advocacy program provides an opportunity to amplify your message to a wider audience, while giving your employees room to express themselves.

Building lasting change

As the world gets more complicated, businesses no longer have the luxury of staying silent. And they shouldn’t want to. With a robust brand activism strategy, you can engage deeper with your audience and create a value system they identify with.

Looking for more insights into what consumers expect from brands on social? Check out the full 2022 Sprout Social Index™ for an in-depth look.

The post Putting the “active” in brand activism: A holistic approach to purpose appeared first on Sprout Social.

For example, when I worked in the cannabis industry, we planned month-long campaigns and programs around April 20. For a non-alcoholic beverage brand, where I led social strategy, we prioritized messaging for Sober October and Dry January. Whether it’s a specific day that you’re honoring or a multi-month initiative that’s being kicked off for the first time, there’s one thing that brands today are having to focus on now more than ever—placing inclusivity at the forefront of the conversation.

Inclusivity is becoming non-negotiable for consumers

The marketing and advertising industry hasn’t always had the best reputation for inclusive campaigns. But in a world where 60% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from a brand with inclusive marketing, brands that aren’t thinking about diversity, equity and inclusion will be left behind.

The reality is that as brands make themselves more accessible to their customers, the more knowledgeable consumers become—about products, services, and how marketing and brand-building work. In 2021, following a year of social unrest and hyper-focus on racial inequality, consumers began calling on brands to put their money where their mouth is and invest in Black talent and programs to uplift Black communities.

With consumer behavior becoming more values-led, brands are feeling the pressure. Naturally, this leads marketers to lean into campaign-building around MLK Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth and/or times of social injustice. While these moments are important both culturally and historically, they do not represent the full range and complexity of the Black experience—and cannot be the only focus for brands. That’s why it should be their priority to ensure that these initiatives go beyond a specific day or month and work towards committing to inclusive planning year-round. Many brands are already leading the way.

4 brands making inclusive campaigns happen

1. Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s is known for its classic ice cream flavors like Half Baked and Cherry Garcia, but they have also been incredibly transparent about their passion for advocacy and have set the tone for how to make inclusivity an essential part of your business.

In 2016, they were among the first brands to publicly announce their support of the Black Lives Matter movement, stating “We’ve come to understand that to be silent about the violence and threats to the lives and well-being of Black people is to be complicit in that violence and those threats.”

In a release on their website, they called on their community to take action and acknowledge the impact of systemic racism. However, the ice cream brand didn’t stop there.

In 2020, they partnered with civil rights activist, Colin Kaepernick, for the release of their Change The Whirled flavor. Proceeds from the collaboration go to the Know Your Rights Camp, Kaepernick’s organization whose mission is to advance and support Black and Brown communities.

More recently, they released a new flavor, Change Is Brewing, in support of the People’s Response Act— introduced by U.S. Representative Cori Bush—which focuses on transforming the nation’s approach to public safety and policing by making it more health focused. With Ben & Jerry’s vocal support of the legislation, this product launch helped bring light to how the legal system disproportionately criminalizes Black and Brown people.

2. Foot Locker

In June 2020, global footwear brand Foot Locker announced that they were committing $200 million over the next five years to enhance the lives of their team members and customers in the Black community by focusing on economic development and education.

In a letter penned by CEO, Richard Johnson, he addressed the initiatives they would be focusing on which included investing in Black-owned businesses, increasing marketing spending with Black creators, and funding training for Black Creatives at Pensole Footwear Design Academy.

Months later, they announced their new platform, Homegrown, with the purpose of highlighting local and upcoming designers across the U.S. This platform put the spotlight on Black designers in cities like Atlanta, New York and Chicago, helping bring visibility to the talented creatives trying to make a name for themselves in the fashion industry.

Finally, The Foot Locker Foundation—Foot Locker’s charitable arm—in partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), is granting funding to support mentorship, career development and civic engagement programs for BIPOC communities.

3. Pinterest

In August 2020, Pinterest announced they would be changing the future of the beauty industry by making their product capabilities more inclusive.

Recognizing that their consumers use their platform for inspiration, they made updates to their search feature so users could discover content featuring the beauty products that match their skin tone, style and preferences. Pinners are now able to search on the platform by skin tone range, which allows them to see examples of lipstick and other products on people that look like them. This focus on representation not only allows users to feel seen, but encourages more Black beauty influencers and creators to upload their content to the platform.

The brand has also shared that through their Elevates program, they would be dedicating their resources to support and uplift women-owned businesses—all of which are owned by women who come from communities of color, with disabilities or are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

4. Proctor & Gamble (P&G)

Global consumer goods company P&G is no stranger to building inclusive campaigns. In fact, they have been creating a legacy since the early 2000s.

In partnership with Essence Communications, they conducted research and discovered that 77% of Black women felt concerned with how they were portrayed in the media. With this knowledge, they launched their My Black Is Beautiful campaign in 2006 to celebrate and empower Black women to feel comfortable in the skin they’re in. This campaign has now turned into a larger platform with over 2.5 million members.

In 2019, they launched a hair care line with the same name, catering to Black women. Continuing to tackle conversations on how Black people are portrayed in the media, P&G has since released two films, The Talk and The Look, which both confront racial bias and the prejudices that Black people face in the U.S.

Inclusive content is evergreen content

Building inclusive content and programs for your brand is not difficult and it certainly should not be an afterthought—whether you’re starting a new platform for community members, amplifying the voices of creators on your channels, or dedicating funds to invest in Black-owned businesses. You can gain a lot of insight from your community just by allowing them the space to share their experiences.

With this knowledge, go out into the world and see if your market shares the same or different sentiments. Depending on what you learn, you’ll be able to take this information to make informed, community and consumer-first decisions in your marketing and advertising campaigns. All it takes is a commitment to championing inclusivity year-round. Now go on and make it happen.

For a regular dose of expert insights like Jayde’s, subscribe to our newsletter today.

The post How brands can build inclusive campaigns year-round appeared first on Sprout Social.