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Some things in our ultra-modern, tech-driven society have gotten worse — like deepfakes, robocalls, and your kids’ phones out at the dinner table (okay, I admit it, sometimes Mom’s and Dad’s too). But some things have improved — like smart appliances that use less energy and water, booking an all-inclusive vacation with just a few clicks, and being able to track your kids on those phones of theirs.
Arguably, the best advancement our culture has seen in modern times is the increased sensitivity we now have to the critical importance of honoring and advocating for all the amazing diversity out there among us — all the freedom people are gaining to be who they are, all the pride people are feeling in living as their authentic selves, and all the acceptance the majority of Americans are working toward as an educated and enlightened culture, dedicated to fairness, justice, and equality.
At my PR firm, endorsing DEI is just a given — it’s not up for debate. I personally see no downside to it, and I believe it only enriches our workspaces. Part of that endorsement is weaving DEI principles into my own and my clients’ PR campaigns, and when it comes to this commitment, there’s both a why and a how.
Related: How to Implement Effective DEI Initiatives — A 4-Step Guide for Chief Diversity Officers
Why make PR campaigns more diverse and inclusive?
The reasons to incorporate the values of diversity and inclusivity into basically all your work practices are plentiful and ever-growing.They include:
- To stay current: My business requires me to be up on marketing trends and aware of the dialogues that are shaping our society and economy. To tap into today’s pulse, you must roll with the changing tides and use them to your advantage to remain relevant and timely.
- To relate to all populations: Most businesses aren’t targeting just plumbers in Duluth. For both longevity and relatability, you’ll want to appeal to people of all ages, from all walks of life, with varying backgrounds and identities. Assimilating the language and ethics of DEI into your public campaigns will help you accomplish that.
- To show your clients who you are: If you have a point of view, you should share it. Businesses and businesspeople are no longer expected to be stoic, aloof entities that just sell us things or provide professional services. Part of DEI means you’re allowed to have a personality in your business dealings. So display that in assets and messaging to create an actual connection with your client base.
- To expand your staff’s skills: Your team members can expand their abilities and knowledge by learning about current best practices that promote inclusivity and community cohesiveness instead of alienation and division. Hold a workshop to teach them workplace and language standards that uphold DEI ethics and enfold as many people into the conversation as possible.
- To modernize content: You can try to stick to your old tried-and-true marketing approaches in today’s milieu … but I wouldn’t advise it. Companies that don’t offer anything fresh, innovative, and exciting to the marketplace eventually become extinct. Inclusivity is hip and cool — it’s less about being “woke” and more about being attuned to what people care about and are craving in businesses with whom they want to engage and support.
- To advance the discourse: It’s not just a matter of being aware of the national discourse; you want to be part of it, contribute to it. In this way, you add a much-needed voice to the platform for universal equality and you play a role in bettering the world we all inhabit together.
How to make PR campaigns more diverse and inclusive
Once you’ve decided to dive into today’s more diverse pool of climates and populations, there are steps you can take to actively communicate and exhibit issues of inclusivity. Some are small, such as shifting to nongendered pronouns; some are large, like reenvisioning your entire mission statement. All will make you part of the solution rather than perpetuating an age-old problem that has served as a barrier to societal unity.
Step #1: Do some preliminary research
You don’t have to go overboard here with a $15K commissioned market analysis report, but it is worth your time to get really clear on who your targeted audience is. Go beyond the usual demographics of age, geography, gender, and socioeconomic class to uncover what really matters to your base: quality materials, environmental preservation, or social consciousness? What do they value, prioritize, and invest in?
I’m not advising you to pander to your clientele once you know the pillars they stand on but, rather, to make a concerted effort to meet their wants and needs. Taking polls and surveys through your social media platforms is a great way to discover what those are.
Step #2: Walk your talk
If you’re touting DEI in your brand image, make sure your own team reflects the diversity you’re purporting. Should you hire people because they’re this color, speak that language, or champion a particular cause? No. But I’ll bet you 50 to 1 that you can find fully qualified candidates who bring new voices, add contemporary insights to your work goals, and enlarge your team’s perspective.
You can boost your efforts here by adopting inclusive hiring practices (like writing neutral job descriptions and using more diverse recruitment channels) and educating your team on unconscious biases and varying cultural norms.
Step #3: Craft inclusive messaging
When designing campaigns, avoid stereotypes, cultural assumptions, and potentially offensive allusions and premises. Embrace cultural sensitivity, accurate portrayals of groups and individuals, and wording choices that avoid gender specificity and covert discrimination.
When telling stories, which is the cornerstone of PR, showcase communities that are not usually front and center in the public eye and hand the microphone to people who have historically been waiting in the wings for their chance to shine. Inclusive messaging lies at the heart of a successful diversity-infused PR campaign; when you become adept at it, your content will resonate with all segments of your followership.
Step #4: Use imagery to further your purpose
In PR, words are always accompanied by pictures — so make them count to intensify your diversity impact. Choose images that picture your product in unexpected places and shoot videos in real-world scenarios. Make captions easily readable by people of all ability levels and aim for a universally appealing color palette.
You should feature as expansive a range of people as you can in your imagery. When people can see themselves in your campaigns — not models with beachy waves and the privileged few who live in professionally decorated mansions — you touch them where they actually live.
Related: Stop Letting Others Define You — Here’s How to Take Control with a Bold Personal Brand
Step #5: Adapt and adjust as needed
Don’t expect too much of yourself too soon. As with anything else, progress is made by trial and error as you continue to explore what hit your mark and what veered off-course in your tone and content. Give yourself time and space to evaluate the effectiveness of your more diverse and inclusive PR ventures, gather feedback you can apply in the future, and, of course, analyze the data that resulted. Honestly assess the response to your new messaging and tweak it as appropriate.
Conclusion
The very definition of PR campaigns — their very essence — is crafting public relations messaging specifically for your audience. And your audience surely isn’t going to be everyone, everywhere. Still, it’s crucial to understand the very real distinction between including others more and excluding others at all. Creating diverse and inclusive PR campaigns gives you a strategic advantage; I’d go so far as to say it’s a moral imperative. By reflecting the rich diversity of your audience and ensuring that many viewpoints are represented in your assets and actions, you can build stronger connections, foster loyalty, and enhance your brand’s reputation.
Marc Benioff. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
