Meaningful social conversations require legwork. It’s impossible to know how people will feel and react to any social or political position, but brands can only insert themselves into appropriate situations to avoid unnecessary backlash. can.
There is more than one definition of “correct” here. Rather, strategically consider when social media provides an opportunity to engage relevant audiences around issues your brand cares about, is invested in, or is particularly impacting your business at the moment. It’s up to the brand to specify. To better understand when and how brands should behave, let’s take a closer look at what drives consumer receptivity.
The key to acceptance of relevance
Relevance is nothing new in the world of customer engagement. However, brands typically think in terms of making their outreach and communications more relevant based on consumers’ unique preferences, purchase history, demographics, and more. To increase credibility when sharing their stance, brands need to take a long-term view and consider how they relate to the world around them.
The good news is that two-thirds (67%) of respondents already feel that brands can be trusted when speaking out about social and political issues on social media. To increase this number, brands need to think critically about the following questions people will ask: Why is this brand commenting on this issue? Is it sincere or just jumping on the bandwagon?
As brands comment on these issues, the most important questions for consumers are: Why should we care?
After all, people want a direct connection between a brand and the issues it stands for.
Without this link, some may find it hard to believe that your brand’s goals are altruistic and may question your motives. This uncertainty and mistrust can overshadow what brands are trying to accomplish through social outreach in the first place. Only one in five consumers believe that brands don’t need a special reason to take a stand on social and political issues, so brands are focusing on relevance and Focus on the issues that matter most to your business and customer community.
What’s important to trust? This data shows that people find a brand’s voice most trustworthy when an issue directly impacts customers, employees, or business operations.
For a closer look at the factors that drive relevance on social media, consider this breakdown of how consumer desires change by social and political issue. Brands will want to revisit these trends when considering whether it’s worth the risk to join the conversation.
#BrandsGetReal: Gap
Civil rights companies are a prime example of brands taking a stance on issues that matter to their employees and customers.
In the midst of the LGBTQ conversation, brands like Gap are emerging as examples of how retailers can successfully address these issues. This year, Gap partnered with leading advocacy organization GLAAD to raise awareness about LGBTQ bullying. In solidarity with GLAAD’s #SpiritDay, Gap joins hundreds of other national organizations, companies, and celebrities who are bringing anti-bullying efforts to the global stage by announcing a ” We encouraged them to turn purple.
To further close the “gap,” the retailer has signed on to the United Nations Human Rights Office’s new global standards aimed at combating LGBTQ discrimination in the workplace. Other companies committed to the UN’s five standards include Coca-Cola, IKEA, Microsoft, Spotify and Accenture, with representation in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Gap also donated his 30% of the sales of his branded Pride T-shirts to the United Nations Foundation’s Freedom and Equality Campaign, the kind of economic initiative people want.
Brands face more reward than risk
Given how emotional and political social media has become, it’s natural for brands to be nervous about venturing into controversial territory. Fortunately, the data shows that when brands share their positions, the rewards outweigh the risks.
Instinctively, people react more strongly when their values ​​align with what your brand stands for than when they don’t. Consumers are more likely to show brand loyalty when they agree with a company than to boycott a company when they disagree. The same pattern holds true when publicly praising and criticizing companies.
These findings are supported by the fact that people are more likely to have a positive emotional response than a negative emotional response after a brand shares its stance on social media. In fact, three out of the top five emotional responses people are likely to have when a brand takes a stance are positive. Emotion is the biggest driver of building long-term loyalty, and what a brand says online also determines whether or not its community engages. Once again, brands have a reason to speak out. Because you’re more likely to encourage someone to buy than to push them away.
Especially on social media, when brands speak their mind, they face more reward than risk. Even if brands risk losing sales, they are more likely to earn higher profits. 17% of respondents have participated in a product boycott and 24% have purchased a product from the brand as a result of what the brand has said on social. Overall, consumers’ most common reaction to brands speaking out about social or political issues on social media is to do more research (36%).
People are also more likely to engage with social media if they agree with what your brand says on social media. 26% of consumers share a post they agree with and 21 people leave a positive comment on the post. Conversely, 34% will unfollow a brand and 14% will leave a negative comment after seeing a post they disagree with.
Notably, people are more likely to post something themselves when they agree with what a brand says on social media than when they disagree with a brand’s stance. Simply put, people are more likely to reward brands that take a stand than punish them.
Brands can’t change minds, but they can influence change
Most people already have firm beliefs about today’s most controversial social and political issues. So, despite a brand’s best efforts, speaking up is unlikely to change someone’s mind. In fact, 66% of respondents said their opinions are little or not influenced at all by what brands post about social and political issues.
What brands can do is use their funds to impact causes that their communities care about. When asked about the most effective way for brands to take a stand on social and political issues on social media, consumers found that brands can do what they can’t do alone: ​​support social and political issues through large donations. You want to influence political change or use your company’s rich platform to encourage others. to do the same.
But even if a brand supports causes they care about, many people reach a saturation point. 63% of respondents want a brand’s social posts to be relevant to social and political issues, with less than 10% wanting their brand’s social posts to be relevant to social and political issues, with the most respondents wanting their brand’s social posts to be relevant to social and political issues, with the most respondents wanting their brand’s social posts to be relevant to social and political issues. is specified.
Regardless of industry or topic, brands can point to this threshold as an easy way to avoid unnecessary risks when interacting on social media. Similarly, brands can make the most of this limited real estate by creating posts that highlight their financial activities first.
Consumers are also wary of brands engaging with politicians on social media. Half of respondents (49%) think brands should not engage directly with politicians on social media, and a third (32%) think brands should respond to politicians’ social media posts. However, the answer is that it should be done. Again, a more effective approach for brands is to put resources into relevant causes.
#BrandsGetReal: Patagonia
Patagonia is a great example of a brand using its resources to drive change. The company’s mission statement clearly articulates its stance on environmentalism. “Build the best products, do no unnecessary harm, and use business to lead and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
To directly support this, Patagonia donates at least 1% of its annual sales to environmental organizations. The brand is donating 100% of its Black Friday sales to grassroots environmental causes. Patagonia continues to find success on social media with campaigns such as: #wearencouraging shoppers to repair and buy recycled clothing in the name of conservatism.
Patagonia is committed to protecting the environment and has replaced all traditional sales copy on its homepage with information about protecting endangered public lands. This decision wasn’t just an attention-seeking stunt. Patagonia has created an entire catalog of resources covering our conservation efforts, public lands education, and next steps for website visitors looking to take action. The retailer encourages consumers to take action on these issues by both publishing and curating its content on social media that encourages its audience to take action, using hashtags such as I continue to do so. #StandWithBearsEars and #SaveGrandStaircase.