Pride Without Pandering: How to Authentically Market During Pride Month

June is a month filled with lots to look forward to: longer days, the summer solstice, the official start of the summer season, and Pride. While Pride Month has become a fun-filled, glittering celebration of love and acceptance, it also speaks to something deeper – the importance of safe spaces, inclusivity, and kindness. It’s a time to uplift the LGBTQ+ community and show support – but not just during the month of June. 

Audiences are growing tired of brands rainbow-washing their content for a few weeks during the year, followed by silence when it matters most. If you want to make a real difference for the LGBTQ+ community, you should be making a concerted effort to put in the work for a long-term plan. This strategy should include consistent LGBTQ+ voices in campaigns, aligned partners, and a reframing of your brand mission and values that supports the community year round – not just for optics in June. 

Here, we’ll go over the importance of an authentic Pride marketing plan, how to build a thriving brand centered around inclusion, and ways you can continue to support the LGBTQ+ community beyond Pride. Let’s dive in. 

Pride Marketing: Why it Matters

While it’s important for your brand’s campaign not to be overly performative during Pride Month, it’s also key to show your support in some way – as long as you keep it authentic. What do I mean by that? Genuine Pride Month marketing comes from a real place of wanting to make an impact and create materials that educate your audience, raise awareness, and promote support for LGBTQ+ rights. It’s not about just including a rainbow version of your logo on your social media profile. It’s about contributing to the conversation in a meaningful way. 

For example, you could start by researching various statistics and numbers to show your audience why Pride matters to you, whether it’s the number of LGBTQ+ youth managing their mental health, the history of LGBTQ+ rights in our country, or the number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed this year. Numbers can help you tell a story with more meaning and help reframe the narrative in a way that helps move the conversation forward. 

It can be extremely important to members of the LGBTQ+ community to see brands supporting their right to love and standing by them during difficult times when they feel threatened, unwelcome, or targeted. While Pride Month is a great time to show your support, the real meaning comes from building a brand that’s centered around inclusion and belonging. 

Build a Brand Centered on Belonging 

Commemorative months are great opportunities to run specific campaigns and show your brand’s support for marginalized communities, especially during Pride Month. But can you back up your brand’s month-long campaign with longer-term values? Audiences are quick to judge whether brands are posting just to appeal to a certain demographic or if they do continuous work to uplift those communities and create better opportunities for change. 

Do you put effort into hiring people of various backgrounds, or do your employees fit into one demographic? Do you provide opportunities for your teams to learn more about inclusion in the workplace? Do you work hard to find vendors that are minority-owned and operated? It all starts with putting in the effort to build a brand that is focused on long-term inclusion and support for diverse groups. This can make your Pride Month marketing all the more meaningful, powerful, and authentic. 

Beyond Pride: What You Can Do to Support the LGBTQ+ Community

So you’ve run an empowering Pride campaign throughout the month of June – now what? Just because Pride Month ends with June, that doesn’t mean that your materials should stop reflecting support for the LGBTQ+ community. Take the time to create a plan for how you’ll maintain support throughout the entire year, not just for one month. 

Whether through monthly spotlights on people or businesses, intentional storytelling that educates and raises awareness, or a refinement of your brand’s mission and values, all the little things you do can add up to make a powerful impact. 

Conclusion

This Pride Month, don’t just rainbow-wash your logo – work to make a real difference in the community. Authentic marketing is key to driving the conversation and educating your audience on the importance of creating an inclusive, friendly space that welcomes all. Make sure you’re building a brand centered on the idea of inclusion and acceptance that creates year-round campaigns, not just during the month of June. 

Let’s face it. Times are hard and tensions are high – finding support throughout the year can help those in the LGBTQ+ community feel seen, understood, and accepted. Never underestimate the power of an act of kindness, especially in today’s world.