Keep Your Small Business Brand Alive in a Politically Charged Environment
Navigating this murky political time between election and inauguration as a small business can be trying under the best circumstances, and I think it’s safe to say that both sides of the aisle would agree these are not the best circumstances.
No matter who you support, your customers cover a broad spectrum of political ideologies. Having an unfiltered brand voice in these times often means losing the customers who don’t agree, but it IS possible to say the things you want to say while keeping a healthy bottom line.
The trick to this isn’t really even a trick at all. What you have to do is keep your brand positive.
A positive brand doesn’t mean that you’re ignoring issues that are important to you. It doesn’t mean that you have to neuter your personal social media accounts. That doesn’t even mean that your brand can’t stand for anything. What keeping your brand positive means is focusing on what your brand can do to keep people moving forward.
In my adventures with Laugh Staff, I deal with a lot of wedding industry professionals, and I think using their businesses as an example in this regard works perfectly. Every wedding planner, DJ, and photographer are all members of the same political party. Ideologies, genders, orientations, and skin colors cover every combination possible, but there’s one theme that ties them all together; making perfect wedding nights.
Find the thing that ties you together with your business peers. Find the thing that ties you to your customers. Find that one thing that you can do that makes you indispensable. Spend your marketing time and energy promoting those strengths positively.
No matter what’s going on, keeping their brands positive allows them to be problem solvers. Whether a wedding brand is promoting love in the face of political strife, or how to choose dinner napkins based on the color of the groom’s socks, being positive and solving problems keeps you on the right side of the bottom line.
Brand management for a small business can be a fine line, but don’t think for one moment that anyone should ever stop being who they are just because they own a business. BE AN ACTIVIST. Be a powerful voice for your interests and passions. Be involved in politics. Do it all.
When you’re registering voters, working to improve your city’s tax codes, protesting, and otherwise solving the world’s problems, do it with YOUR voice. Let your small business brand solve your client’s problems.
Josh runs the Laugh Staff twitter account, and the Laugh Staffers write hilarious speeches.
