We are halfway through Pride month and, as with every year, we have seen thousands of companies, big and small, trying to ride the colourful rainbow of LGBTQIA.

Although most of the content posted by businesses on social media making reference to June Pride month are harmless and well intentioned, many entrepreneurs and marketing agencies are not posting this type of content to support the movement started with the Stonewall Uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969.

So, how can a business integrate pride month into their strategy while being supportive, instead of sounding shallow and jumping on the bandwagon?

I wanted to hear from businesses owners who will be posting ‘Pride’ content throughout June.

Here, businesses owners and professionals share how they planned their content throughout June to make the best of the pride celebrations in a meaningful way.

Make it an ongoing topic
“I make it a point to have our company participate in Pride month because it ties directly to our mission, which is to provide opportunities to others and a world that works for all through our high-volume applicant tracking system. We talk about diversity and inclusion all year round, which means Pride month then becomes a natural extension of our existing content. One thing we make sure we don’t do is offer any sort of discount associated with Pride.”

Tracy Sestili – VP of Marketing at Fountain

Promote creators and charities instead of yourself

“For Pride Month, it is easy to come across as disingenuous, as making your logo rainbow-colored is simply not enough to show support. Instead, it’s better to promote actual social change around the important issues. Highlight LGBTQIA influencers or influential people in your industry or space, and promote different charities that specialize in LGBTQIA issues.”

Cody Iverson – Co-founder & CEO at Viscap Media

Support your diverse team

“As a branding platform, we’ve decided to highlight LGBTQIA designers and branding agencies through a series of Instagram posts focused around their work and experience. This is meant to bring awareness to their work, their experience, and their creativity.

We’ve also gone ahead and created content around Pride for Linkedin, to honour different LGBTQIA entrepreneurs and businesses. We think highlighting our LGBTQIA members is critical to inclusion, diversity, and showing our support as a business. There is no incentive to grow our business or measure impact with our Pride month content. It is simply to bring awareness and to celebrate diversity and inclusion.

Enina Bicaku – Content Marketing Specialist at Looka

Get serious if you want to cash in on Pride

“Now, more than ever, we need to see businesses and industries take a more assertive position in support of the LGBT+ communities. However, if organisations really want to cash in on Pride, I would recommend they put their money where their mouth is and treat the current diversity, inclusion and equity challenge in the same way they would tackle a profit or sales issue … by getting serious! From making a donation to an LGBT+ charity and highlighting commitments that outline how you are going to achieve better LGBT+ representation across all levels, to reviewing current supply chains to meet expected minimum standards when it comes to LGBT+ representation within organisations. Every act counts.”

Ed Jervis – Founder & Chief Disrupter at  www.inclusioncrowd.com

Highlighting internal stories

“Highlighting how your company’s internal processes and policies match the ideals that Pride month represents is one of the best ways your brand can demonstrate genuine support during Pride month, while integrating it into your content strategy.”

Jennifer Harder – Mortgage Broker

Steven A Wardlaw – Chairman at Emerald Life Insurance company

Enquire about what companies are doing for LGBT+ people

“We have a different take on what to do during Price month. To avoid accusations of jumping on the bandwagon or pinkwashing is easy. Make a real change to how you treat LGBT+ staff, customers or stakeholders, and actually tell your staff what you are doing. We challenge LGBT+ people (and I am one) that if you see a rainbow in a store/company window, go in and ask what that organisation is doing for LGBT+ people. It’s a very effective tool and we should use it more often. A rainbow without any real action is a cynical attempt to take money without making effort.”

Steven A Wardlaw – Chairman at insurance company www.emeraldlife.co.uk

Pay Tribute to LGBTQIA Trailblazers

“Before starting your campaign, we encourage you to consult members of the LGBTQ community and allies. You’ll be able to write more informative material as a result. By stopping you from sharing insensitive materials, it can also help you avoid unpleasant and damaging situations. Remember, only run a Pride Month campaign if you and your company sincerely believe in LGBTQ rights. Don’t use this as a way to make money or sell rainbow-colored items. Also, pay tribute to LGBTQ Trailblazers by reminding your audience of the fortitude it took — and still takes — to overcome prejudice and adversity. For example, share quotations and images from your favourite LGBTQ activists.”

Joel A. Almazar – Administrative Assistant at www.upgrow.io

Build a culture of inclusivity

“I’d definitely encourage businesses to do more. If they can, they should highlight LGBT causes they support, ensure LGBT employees get treated fairly all year round, build a culture of inclusivity, and track and improve on things consistently. And then, if you want to have a bit of fun during Pride month, no one’s going to fault you for it. That’s what I do for my business, and that’s what we recommend all our clients do too.”

Farhad Divecha – MD and Founder at AccuraCast.

Make actionable campaigns

“We will be posting Pride content throughout June to promote our Pride collection and partnership with OutRight Action International. Pride is particularly relevant to our business because we sell clothing to wear at raves and festivals, and those events have always been safe spaces for the LGBTIQ community to express themselves. Acceptance, individuality, and dressing with complete freedom of expression are values that we hold dear.

We only choose to align ourselves with causes that are relevant to our community and also make sure to give back. We will be donating 10% of the revenue from our Pride collection to OutRight Action International, while also giving our customers the ability to easily add a donation to any purchase on our site through July 31.”

Brian Lim – Founder at www.intotheam.com