June is Pride Month! 🌈 Beyond the festive activities that raise awareness and pride for the LGBTQI+ community, it primarily means one thing: rainbows everywhere (including in this blog).
Source: reddit.com
Over the years, an increasing number of companies and brands have replaced their logos with a rainbow version during June.
However, simply coloring a logo is, of course, not enough for a brand or company to authentically advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community during Pride Month. There are a few simple yet impactful ways you and your brand can create a successful campaign:
1 🏳️🌈 Collaborate with Authentic Individuals
3 🏳️🌈 Follow Words with Actions
1 🏳️🌈 Collaborate with Authentic Individuals
To effectively show your support for the LGBTQI+ community in your campaign or advertisement, it's best to collaborate with individuals from this community, for instance, by hiring them as photographers and models for your campaign visuals.
Beyond showcasing inclusivity, this approach offers the benefit of receiving direct feedback on your campaign from community members. This helps you avoid unnecessary missteps and potential negative reactions.
Your campaign will be more impactful if its message is authentically delivered by real individuals from the LGBTQI+ community.
By the way, you can also involve your company's LGBTQI+ employees here. This also strengthens internal trust.
2 🏳️🌈 Inform and Educate
The notion that companies should generally refrain from expressing political views is long outdated. This year, the motto “Raise your Voice” is even among the most significant Social Media Trends. A wide range of brands, regardless of their size, are increasingly using their voice and reach to inform the public about social, environmental, and political topics.
This means that Pride Month offers the perfect opportunity to educate people about LGBTQI+ topics, culture, and the numerous misunderstandings and prejudices that exist.
It is crucial for your company and brand to be deeply informed about the origins and significance of Pride, as this is the only way to respond to critical feedback factually and convincingly.
3 🏳️🌈 Follow Words with Actions
Do you want to actively champion the LGBTQI+ community's well-being? Fantastic! Then consider donating the proceeds from your Pride Month campaign or special collection, or launch your own fundraising initiative to support non-profit organizations dedicated to advocating for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community.
There are plenty of options, for example: PinkCross, Regenbogenfamilien, Lesbenorganisation Schweiz, TGNS, InterAction, Milchjugend, Queeramnesty and Du-bist-Du.
Furthermore, it is crucial that your company and brand consistently champion inclusivity throughout the year, rather than simply using Pride Month as a marketing stunt to repair a tarnished image.
👉 Find out more here about how onlineKarma itself contributes - through donations and other initiatives.
Authenticity is equally important here to avoid significant negative backlash in any future Pride-related campaigns.
4 🏳️🌈 Generate Reach
Social Media channels provide numerous opportunities during Pride to quickly and widely disseminate your inclusive message.
a) Use Livestreams
To connect with your followers, livestreams on Facebook and Instagram are among the best ways to directly, transparently, and authentically celebrate Pride – especially since your audience can submit comments and questions in real-time!
Instagram Live & Stories also provide the option to donate directly or launch your own fundraising campaign.
Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
b) Utilize Pride Templates
If you want your Pride campaign content to stand out from the crowd and the rest of your feed, then use special Pride Stories templates.
You can use simple design applications like Canva to create your own templates, and your Stories will immediately become more noticeable!
From strategy to planning and implementation, we support brands and provide comprehensive assistance with all aspects of Instagram Marketing.
c) Pride Hashtags
Hashtags are an excellent and straightforward way to gain more attention and expand the reach of your posts.
Therefore, use Pride-related hashtags to spread your message – for example, #lgbtq, #loveislove, #equalitymatters, #accelerateacceptance, or #pridemonth.
d) Collaborate with Influencers
Collaborating with influencers is a great opportunity to reach a new audience and spread awareness for your Pride campaign.
If influencers are part of the LGBTQI+ community, you are collaborating with someone who is a true voice for your mission.
This not only creates a greater opportunity to spread awareness, but you can also reach more people to collect donations for your chosen LGBTQI+ organization.
Together, we will find the right influencers for you and manage the entire influencer marketing process.
5 🏳️🌈 Avoid “Rainbow-Washing”
This point is very important and aligns with point 3: it's about a company and brand fully supporting the message of Pride Month and actively advocating for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community — throughout the entire year.
What is meant by Rainbow washing is that a company attempts, through an action or campaign for Pride Month, to conceal its own shortcomings in this area and sweep them under the rug.
This would result in the entire campaign no longer appearing authentic and thus losing all its impact.
Therefore: Be authentic, stand by your words, and follow through with actions.
Bonus 🏳️🌈 Choice of Words & Civic Courage
This should be a given and a basic prerequisite for you and your company to engage with the LGBTQI+ community: Avoid sexist remarks, homophobic jokes, or similar.
Additionally, show civic courage and intervene when you encounter offensive or hurtful statements and actions — both online and in real life.
In this spirit: Happy Pride! 🌈