Diversity is the spice of life

1. Don’t fear humour
2. Don’t be paranoid
3. Don’t copy the competition
4. Don’t be blue
5. Be more direct
6. Diversity in everything
7. Stand for something

During a recent presentation I made at a company in a very male-dominated sector, I expressed the desire to see their online audience split of 70% (male) v 30% (female) reach something closer to parity over the coming year or two. A modest ambition, by my standards. But one of the team immediately asked me why this was necessary. He even asked, “Why the need to make our content more feminine?”

There are many reasons this stance stuck a cord with me, some of which are:

1. Why assume content must be ‘feminine’ for women to be interested in it?
2. Why would you NOT want your audience to be representative of the general population? What better way to know you are reaching as far as you can.
3. Even if your industry is currently over-represented by one sex (and that could well go either way, depending on the sector), in this day and age it must be obvious that gender-parity is the only possible destination?
4. Do you want to be an organisation that follows the crowd and simply ‘ends up’ in the right place because there was no other option? Wouldn’t it be better to have taken a stand from the outset and said: we want to be over there, and we’ll do whatever it takes to get there!?

Diversity in all things is crucial, but it’s easy to preach diversity and still not practice it. Policies and programmes actually remove the onus from individuals to do anything about it. Founder and activist Cindy Gallop, speaking at the 3% Conference in 2016, said:

"When people feel diversity is taken care of, they won't do anything. The quickest way to make people understand the business benefit of gender equality and diversity is to do it in a way that makes those benefits manifest."

If you’re not about to employ/promote someone, you may wonder what this has to do with you. It’s possible that you don’t have any specific events coming up that give you an opportunity to promote diversity. And I’m not a business consultant, so I'm not even talking about the wider benefits that inclusive practices can bring to a work culture.

Coming at this from a purely marketing point of view, let me assure you that even small actions will eventually make a difference. On the Engage blog, we’ve talked about promoting positive mental health messages in marketing. But you can also think about your website and the other ways you communicate your brand, and what that says about diversity.

Something as simple as making sure you have as many images featuring women as men - or featuring someone who isn't white, someone in a wheelchair, someone older, etc. - is easy enough to achieve these days. The next time you’re online, try to notice what you’re NOT seeing in ‘business’ images… how often do you see tattoos, piercings, even dress sense that’s a bit different?

Let’s take the word diversity in its fullest meaning, and try to be more inclusive when preparing marketing content. Difference is a good thing, and we will all benefit from a world where it is celebrated. So, when choosing contributors for your blog, sending a team to a trade fair, inviting guests onto your podcasts, remember... diversity in everything. 

(The final rule of Engage HQ is Stand for something.)