5 marketing experts on how to pull off a heritage-month campaign that’s authentic and builds trust with the community

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Curtis Sparrer, principal of Bospar Public Relations and Marketing.Courtesy of Curtis Sparrer

Five marketing experts discuss how inclusive marketing campaigns demand authenticity.

Celebrating heritage months should come with a genuine goal to uplift an underserved community.

They encourage seeking outside help from nonprofits or universities to ensure campaigns are tasteful and constructive.

This article is part of “Marketing for Small Business,” a series exploring the basics of marketing strategy for SBOs to earn new customers and grow their business.

Growing up as a gay man in Texas, Curtis Sparrer said it was “tremendously validating and important” to him when he saw companies embracing gay visibility messages in their marketing.

Now, as principal of Bospar Public Relations and Marketing in San Francisco, Sparrer helps businesses of all sizes ensure that their marketing campaigns are inclusive and that messaging focusing on underserved groups is sensitive and authentic.

“I want all businesses to make people of all stripes feel warm and welcome,” he told Insider. “It’s important to do it with authenticity.”

A common way many businesses strive to promote diversity and inclusivity is by celebrating heritage months or recognition days, like Black History Month, International Women’s Day, or LGBTQ+ Pride Month, with social media posts and other marketing messages. While this can help raise awareness, Sparrer said small businesses should focus on diversity and inclusion all the time and reflect these values in their business practices.

According to a 2021 Meta study which surveyed 1,200 people and examined over 1,000 Facebook ads, more than 70% of consumers said they expect brands to promote diversity and inclusion in their online advertising, but 54% said they don’t feel fully represented in the ads. Nearly 60% of the study group said they are more loyal to (and prefer to shop with) brands that support diversity and inclusion in their ads.

Sparrer emphasized authenticity…

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