LGBTQ+ customers represent over $69B in the market; however, they tend to spend less than most households. This is likely because they have a heightened discernment when it comes to buying from brands. A lot of brands consistently use June, or Pride month, as a month to tout their support for the LGBTQ+ community, yet when looking deeply at their lobbying habits, it paints a very different picture of where their support really lies. Large brands, such as CVS, AT&T, and Walmart have consistently used rainbow flags or other stereotypical representations of support during Pride month to market their products. Yet, when conducting a deeper dive at their donation habits, they have given a significant amount to U.S. congressional candidates who have blocked or restricted equal rights based on sexual orientation or gender.
Not to mention, the growing anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment also has gotten increasingly more violent and has appeared in spaces that were once safe and accepting of the community. The Pulse Nightclub in Miami, FL, and Club Q in Colorado Springs, CO, hate crimes have proven that there is a growing need for brands to not just simply utilize trinkets of Pride to show their support for the community; they must publicly stand up against hate.
They can demonstrate that support through investments in LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations. They can also demonstrate that support through lobbying candidates that actually wish to protect the sexual orientation and gender rights of all; and are creating laws to codify the safety, acceptance, and security for all.
Tip #1 Be genuine in your support
Given safety and security are top of mind for the LGBTQ+ community, brands need to ensure they are genuinely supporting not only the interests but the lives of the community. PRIDE month is a great time to represent this support, but it shouldn’t be the only time the LGBTQ+ community receives that support. It’s also extremely performative to wave rainbow flags in solidarity or market your products and services to the LGBTQ+ community during this time; meanwhile, every other month, your brand financially supports the dehumanization and dismantling of protection laws for the LGBTQ+ community.
Think about how your brand can support LGBTQ+ nonprofit and advocacy organizations throughout the year by way of sponsorships, event engagement, and/or creating volunteer opportunities for your employees.
Also, just generally, it is always a good idea to lead with empathy when seeking to understand a community that you wish to connect to as a marketer, or a brand, more broadly. Hire and engage people who are in the community to explore what makes them beautifully unique, learn about their experiences, and how they demonstrate love and compassion within their community, friend groups, and family structures. Your brand must have an environment for belonging and acceptance; which can resonate within your marketing strategy and communications plan more authentically.
Tip #2 Advertise in LGBTQ+ media channels
Whether it’s investing in advertising spreads or including LGBTQ+ outlets on your PR outreach lists, brands that wish to build trust with the LGBTQ+ community must invest in publications that the community trusts. Plus, your brand is supporting these publications and media channels through advertising dollars which keeps them continuing to broadcast to the community.
In addition, your brand may also want to consider doing partnerships with other LGBTQ+-owned businesses and advertise these collaborations on LGBTQ+ mediums. No one tells better stories about the LGBTQ+ experience than those who actually have those lived experiences. By partnering with brands that are LGBTQ+ led, you capture those stories more authentically, and advertisements can resonate more with the community.
These businesses have also already garnered trust within the community due to their proximity to it; and likely already reflect the vast identities of the LGBTQ+ community. Partnering with LGBTQ+-owned businesses will create advertisements that show authenticity in support and representation. It will likely garner even more support, especially since those brands are likely already recognizable and advertised within LGBTQ+ media channels.
Tip #3 Honor the full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ lived experience
Just as no other marginalized group is a monolith, neither are those who identify as LGBTQ+. They represent a cross-section of identities, intersecting gender, sexual orientation, non-binary, multiracial, and multicultural representations of people. In other words, all diverse communities have LGBTQ+ people within them.
First, ensure your brand understands the terminology for these cross-sections of identities and demonstrate that understanding through your marketing and advertising efforts. Secondly, represent a variety of identities through your advertising and marketing campaigns that reflect the array of identities in the community. For example, there is not a lot of advertising that features bisexual or pansexual relationships or couples. Consider featuring this identity along with others who are not heavily represented or featured.
Suppose your brand has operationalized diversity, equity, and inclusion within your workforce. In that case, it will be easier to engage your employees who represent these identities and choose to willingly share their experiences so that you can accurately and adequately reflect the truth of their experiences as a demonstration of allyship within your brand story.
It is also important to think about how your brand does market research. Consider surveying a variety of your LGBTQ+ customers instead of creating surveys that only consider a particular identity, i.e., gay male-centric. Your customer base may look very different than you initially assumed.
Tip #4 Respect the buying power of LGBTQ+ customers
LGBTQ+ small businesses contribute $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy each year, according to a SCORE meta-analysis. In addition, the LGBTQ+ community holds an estimated purchasing power of $1 trillion in the U.S. In addition, LGBTQ+ couple households exceed non-LGBTQ+ couple households by 7%.
Brands need to understand the values of LGBTQ+ customers and their shopping habits to adjust their marketing strategies better to highlight how their goods and services can respect their unique lifestyles. For example, LGBTQ+ customers tend to have more disposable income, so they are more willing to spend for convenience and quality than other demographic groups.
Also, the majority of LGBTQ+ customers are more likely to boycott brands that may be discriminatory, and 71% would tell their friends and family to do the same. In fact, 79% of LGBTQ+ customers are willing to pay a premium for brands that actually demonstrate their support for their community’s issues. Therefore, it is imperative to not just simply create marketing campaigns that show the convenience or quality of your brand; but also to reflect a genuine interest and active support for LGBTQ+ issues.
Tip #5 Stop perpetuating stereotypes
With a full spectrum of identities, brands must be mindful not to focus on historical stereotypes used often in marketing campaigns narrowly. Featured in The HRC Foundation’s professional resources, they detail some of Commercial Closet Association recommendations:
- Use real gay or lesbian individuals instead of “straight” identifying people playing a caricature of what they think a member of the LGBTQ+ community would act like.
- Utilize same-sex pairings in everyday situations.
- Show same-sex pairings giving each other physical affection.
- Utilize verbal, text, or graphic references to sexual orientation.
- Utilize twists. Counter time-worn cliches and add other sources of humor.
- Utilize bisexual or other sexual orientations not commonplace in advertising, i.e. keep relationships between people ambiguous or utilize verbal, text, or graphic references to these other sexual orientations.
Demonstrate respect for the diverse identities within the LGBTQ+ community. This also includes showing different cultures and/or ethnic groups that are a part of the community too. A lot of the time advertising and marketing focus on engaging White cis-gendered male-gay audiences. In fact, a study has shown that most media representations of LGBTQ+ people are White, gay, and cis-gendered male representations. Demonstrating other representations in the LGBTQ+ community empowers these groups to find themselves reflected in your product or service and therefore wish to buy it as it validates and supports their diverse experiences.
