In 30 seconds:
- Pride posts should be more than just a rainbow background. We’ll take you through the ways your company can show meaningful support for the LGBTQ+ community.
- 1 in 6 Gen Zers describe themselves as transgender, non-binary, non-conforming, or genderfluid. Our free guide explains how your brand can get on board with this generation at Pride.
- There are plenty more LGBTQ+ friendly dates to note down. We’ve listed them below so you can be ready to do pride posts all year round.
Pride month social media posts aren’t simply about throwing rainbows on your feed. They are an opportunity to show your support and understanding of what Pride month means and how your brand works with members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Only once you’ve done your research, ensured your brand is doing the right things and understood the background of this international celebration, can you truly fly your pride flag with, well, pride. So, where do you start?
Answer: Empathy and inclusion.
Brands must show their support and speak out about the importance of inclusivity to tackle possible stigma. More than two-thirds of LGBTQ+ people said they had avoided holding hands with a partner for fear of a negative reaction from others. The LGBTQ+ community also have far higher rates of suicide; stemming from widespread rejection in public arenas, such as hate crimes and discrimination, amongst other concerns.
It’s brands’ job to use their large platforms to represent LGBTQ+ people, educate their audiences and normalise a wider array of identities, genders and orientations, to help form acceptance on a grand scale.
So why social media?
Social media platforms are fast becoming one of the most effective forms of marketing, especially if you’re looking to target Gen Z.
97% of Gen Z cite social media as their year-round main source of shopping inspiration. This is where your marketing campaigns should be to drive sales, especially for pride collections – but what about pride-related messages?
14-18 year olds are more likely to use social media for LGBTQ+ information than other age groups, meaning brands’ advocacy and information on Pride month will be absorbed on social media channels more than anywhere else. It is essential that brands use these to create a safe space for young LGBT people and provide useful information for them, beyond simply celebrating Pride.
Pride month Instagram posts have been popular for years. Facebook posts and tweets are on the rise amongst older demographics, but since the pandemic, huge numbers of Gen Z are turning to TikTok to share LGBTQ+ content. If you want to get involved in what this demographic are talking about – and where the young LGBTQIA+ community is gathering, this is where you should be.
But first thing’s first, what is Pride all about anyway?
What is Pride Month, and what does it mean?
Before you go putting up Pride posts, it’s essential to know why you should in the first place.
Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and what they stand for. It’s held in June as this is the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York, USA.
What were the Stonewall Riots? They stemmed from an unsolicited police raid at the Stonewall Inn (a gay club located in Greenwich Village), where LGBTQ+ members were abused and disregarded by the officials. This sparked riots outside the club and was the primary catalyst of the gay rights movement in the USA.
You can read more about the Stonewall Riots, the Stonewall foundation, and how they’ve fought for change – and seen incredible results – here.
How your brand can show support
Now you’re clued up on the background of Pride, let’s get into the best ways you can show your support through social media posts. Gen Z are some of the biggest supporters of Pride Month on social media. But what are they looking for in brands?
We have a free guide on Gen Z and Pride and how brands can show their support. Trust us, it’s a must-read for anyone looking to get their brand well and truly into the hearts of Gen Z and LGBTQ+ communities.
Click the button below to download.
In the meantime, we’ve listed some of our ideas for supporting Pride through social media. So get stuck in! Here are the top ways your brand can get involved and wave the rainbow flag with meaning.
1. Educate your followers
We’ve highlighted the importance of understanding Pride. Now it’s time to drop that knowledge to your customers. A quarter of the world’s population still believes being LGBTQ+ should be a crime. There is still a pronounced stigma around this community, and your brand should be helping to change it this pride month.
Many people still don’t see past the rainbow flag when thinking about pride, so educate your audience on the reason it exists to show your support and stand with the LGBTQ+ community.
Microsoft does it well here with their pride post discussing the lack of Latinx characters in films. Arthur (a Microsoft employee) speaks out about it in a personal, reflective way. They have also used relevant hashtags plus the #microsoftpride to stay on brand.
2. Donate to a cause
Hashtags like #loveislove are useful, but it’s time to turn your words into actions. Donating to LGBTQ+ charities and nonprofit organisations means so much more. By all means combine the two, but simply designing a Pride product or social media post won’t make as much of a meaningful difference as the infrastructures that are set up to directly help.
Contributing as a brand is an effective way of building trust with your LGBTQ+ fans. Donate to these as your brand, and you also put yourself in a better position to ask your own followers to contribute, too. This doesn’t just help financially: research shows that people who post online about giving are more likely to support these charities in the longer term.
How do I get my followers to donate?
On TikTok it’s easy to add a donation sticker. Open the stickers tab on your TikTok video and tap the “Support Non Profit” option. This will give you a list of charities you can feature, so do your research and pick one that will support the community whilst being in line with your brand values.
On Instagram, you can add a donation sticker to your stories. Select “stickers” when uploading an image or video relevant to the cause. Then tap the “donation” sticker and choose the organisation you wish to promote.
Pretty Little Thing used TikTok to show how they were helping the LGBTQ+ community through their new collection. They made it clear that 100% of the proceeds are donated to AKT Charity (tackling LGBTQ+ youth homelessness).
3. Use LGBTQ+ influencers
Encouraging members of the LGBTQ+ community to speak up and have creative control is one of the best ways to support them. 89% of businesses say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels, so combining this with the need for a rise in LGBTQ+ stories will both support Pride and promote your brand.
Fanbytes believe in sharing LGBTQ+ stories. That’s why our influencer house, Bytehouse was the first TikTok house to host an openly gay couple as part of their mix of creators. Sebastian Wood (@sebbbyjon) and Monty Keates (@montykeates) created content based around equality and even took part in the Rise Above campaign, aimed at LGBTQ+ 11- to 16-year-olds struggling with lockdown.
Find LGBTQ+ influencers that align with your brand and open up a conversation with them on a potential collaboration.
4. Support the LGBTQ+ community year round
It’s easy for brands to jump on board with their support in Pride month, but realistically companies should be supporting these communities all year. There are plenty of dates to be put in the diary that celebrate LGBTQ+ people and support their rights. Below are some your brand should jot down:
- March | Bisexual Health Awareness Month
- March 31 | International Transgender Day of Visibility
- April 26 | Lesbian Visibility Day
- May 17 | International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
- May 24 | Pansexual and Panromantic Visibility Day
- July 14 | International Non-Binary People’s Day
- September 23 | Celebrate Bisexuality Day
- October | LGBTQA+ History Month
Pop these in your diary and show your support for these communities throughout 2022 with a social media post that shows you know what you’re talking about.
Fiverr got on board during LGBT history month and shared important facts through the @oldgays account. This is an educational post during a critical time for LGBTQ+ people, so would have made an impact.
5. Promote user-generated content
One of the reasons Pride month is so influential is because it spreads joy and acceptance. The month is based around accepting your true self. So what better way to do that than allowing people to generate their own content based on your brand?
Fanbytes had the opportunity to spread joy and excitement with Diana Ross’ music. She is famously loved by the Queer community and we helped create the music video for her newest track “If the world just danced”. We offered her fans the opportunity to dance to this tune and send in their videos for a music video like no other. The authenticity oozes out of this awesome vid and we were so proud of how it turned out.
Social campaigns that incorporate UGC see a 50% lift in engagement, so encourage your fans to promote your brand through their own creativity with a branded hashtag or a dance trend. It will create natural growth and spread the joy of Pride.
6. Share creativity
TikTok is the number one social media platform for creators. People can feel like their true selves on the channel and use it to share creative talents across the globe. The top three positive feelings consistently associated with TikTok are happiness, joy, and creativity. We also happen to be experts at knowing what works on it.
Boohoo reposted this TikTok creator’s video on a Pride make-up look to show their support and share the imagination of LGBTQ+ members. It’s a smart way to use their huge social platform to support small creators and LGBTQ+ businesses.
We’ve worked with Boohoo in the past to get them into the hearts and minds of Gen Z. Our work resulted in 23 million + views and an engagement rate of 21.3%. Read more on this project here.
Pride month social media posts: stay active
Using social platforms like TikTok and Instagram are the number one way of promoting your brand during Pride. But remember that keeping the conversation open and active is essential to progression.
If you use accepting language and truly do your research you’ll be well on your way to supporting LGBTQ+ communities with creativity, sensitivity and understanding.
Want more help approaching the subject? We have the know-how on Pride campaigns so can take you through how to make a brilliant strategy and execute it with flying Pride parade colours. Get in touch to find out how.
Check out the links below for some more fantastic insights on Pride celebrations and what exactly we at Fanbytes do:
