The world is becoming more inclusive and accepting, and everyone-including content marketers- are taking notes. The #MeToo movement had a significant impact on how companies connect with the LGBT communities, both internally and externally.
We’ve seen many more companies coming out to support LGBT movements and raise awareness of these communities’ issues.
If you are interested in being one of these companies and want to understand how to go about content marketing to LGBT communities, here are five tips to get you started.
Content marketing tips for raising attention to LGBT issues
- Make your message clear and concise
A study done by BBC showed that the average attention span of a consumer reduced from 12 seconds to eight seconds. This was between 2000 and 20017.
With this data, it is evident that consumers’ attention span is reducing significantly. In this respect, LGBT marketing is like any other form of marketing. So, grab the attention of your audience by keeping your message short, clear, and straightforward.
Also, when creating content on LGBT issues, it is vital that your message not be lost. Therefore, make sure your message is clear.
Some tips to help you create clear and concise content are;
- Break up text into easily digestible sentences. This will make for a quicker read.
- Remove unnecessary words or phrases from your message.
- Make use of an active voice in your message.
- Instead of using adverbs, make use of strong verbs.
- Avoid using negative words or phrases.
Not every company is excellent at writing clear and concise content for their marketing campaign. This is nothing to be ashamed of. You can always hire professional writers from essay writing service reviews platforms like Pick The Writer or Writing Judge.
- Be visual
Studies show that consumers can retain as much as 65% of any content paired with visuals for a longer period. Other reasons why visual content is better are;
- It helps your audience understand your message better and faster.
- It grabs the attention of your audience instantly.
- Visual content tells a story, which makes content consumption easier.
When LGBT marketing, you don’t want the message you are trying to pass across to get missing. So pair it with a lot of visuals that align with the LGBT community for greater effectiveness.
So, in your content, you could add the LGBT flag, parade, etc. Depending on the issues you are trying to raise awareness on.
That said, make sure the visual content you are using aligns with the LGBT community and is attention-grabbing.
3) Be a little disruptive
The #MeToo movement we spoke on earlier was so highly disruptive of the status quo that it was successful. It wasn’t business as usual; it was serious content. So are LGBT issues. There is a lot of discrimination, sexual offenses, etc. going on against the LGBT community. Your content should shed light on these issues and show the passion behind it.
Note that, when creating disruptive content, it should clearly align with the LGBT community’s values.
4) Use data in your content marketing
No matter the industry or who you are writing content for, there is no better content than data-driven content. Especially when marketing to the LGBT community, you have to have the right strategy in place.
Tailor your strategy to the community, study what has worked for other big companies. If you have done LGBT marketing before, draw up the data and see if what you implemented worked in raising the kind of attention you wanted.
Combining creative ideas with data-driven insights will give you the results you desire in your marketing efforts. So, always study the data and implement it in your LGBT marketing.
5) Be aware of how the message comes across
Lastly, be aware of how your message comes across. Because LGBT issues are very sensitive, and marketing to the LGBT community might be relatively new to you, you could make unintentional mistakes that could make your company look ignorant. If this happens, then the whole point of your message could be lost.
Some instances where the message of the company may come across poorly are;
- Sometimes, companies try to raise awareness about LGBT issues but then share their content on only LGBT specific websites. This is wrong on so many levels, as LGBT issues are not just for the LGBT community. Therefore, this approach is not inclusive. So, you should share your content across all mainstream media.
- Companies could create LGBT content and not include members of the LGBT community in their content.
- Also, not having a member of the LGBT community in your marketing team could affect your communication. In a case where you are marketing to older or newer members of the LGBT community, your marketing words and phrases should reflect that.
An example of how a message could come across poorly is around the letter ‘Q’ in LGBTQ. If your content marketing is targeted towards the older population of the LGBT community, using the ‘Q’ which stands for ‘Queer’ in the acronym may come off as insulting for this demographic. While it could come off as empowering for the younger population of the community.
This is because early on, Queer was considered as derogatory towards the LGBT community. However, younger members of the community have embraced the word and have removed its negative annotation.
So, be very aware of how your message comes across to your intended audience. You can do this by;
- Sending out a questionnaire after the marketing campaign to test consumer response and get feedback on the campaign.
- Carrying out a poll on the message.
- Run a basic A/B test.
That’s a Wrap
Marketing to the LGBT community, or about the LGBT community, while sensitive, is highly possible. There are several ways your company can raise attention to the issues this community faces.
Follow the tips in this article while creating your content for LGBT marketing. It will help you create content that makes a difference.
