Inclusive Marketing That Matches Reality: How to Avoid Performative Communications
Inclusive marketing is a topic many organisations are eager to explore. We often see campaigns that celebrate diversity or social causes, but the question is whether these campaigns reflect real inclusion within the organisation or are just surface-level gestures.
Consider these examples:
A company posts about gender equality on International Women’s Day, yet its leadership team remains almost entirely male.
A brand showcases people of different races, ages, and abilities in its marketing, but provides little information about accessibility or support for employees and customers.
An organisation publicly supports social justice movements on social media while internally lacking policies to protect marginalised staff.
At first glance, these actions may appear inclusive, and often the intentions are genuinely positive. However, when we examine the reality behind the messaging, gaps often appear between what the company says and what it actually does.
When inclusive marketing becomes performative
Inclusive marketing becomes performative when the messages communicated externally do not match the practices inside the organisation. It is the use of diversity imagery, empowering language, or public statements about social issues without embedding those values in everyday operations, policies, and culture.
For example:
A company celebrating gender diversity might still have opaque promotion processes, limited career development for women, or no support structures for working parents.
A brand featuring accessibility in campaigns may have no actual accommodations for people with disabilities, such as accessible websites, facilities, or customer support.
An organisation promoting support for racial justice may have no clear representation targets, fail to collect data on diversity, and provide insufficient protection for marginalised employees.
The risks of performative marketing
Some may argue that marketing is separate from operations. However, people do not experience departments in isolation. Customers, clients, and employees interact with the organisation as a whole, and marketing sets expectations for that experience.
When marketing promises inclusion that the organisation cannot deliver, the risks include:
For the organisation: Damage to credibility, trust, and reputation. People are increasingly able to spot superficial representation and call out tokenism or performative allyship. This can negatively affect brand loyalty, employee engagement, and stakeholder relationships.
For the audience: Disappointment, frustration, or even harm. People may engage with products or services expecting accessibility, safety, or respect, only to encounter barriers or exclusion. Misalignment can erode trust and deter future engagement.
Practical inclusive marketing starts internally
Inclusive marketing cannot be added on as a finishing touch. It begins behind the scenes with the organisation’s behaviour, policies, and culture. Only after inclusion is embedded internally can marketing communicate authentically and effectively.
Here are key principles for practical inclusive marketing, with explanations and actionable steps:
1. Representation matters
Marketing should accurately reflect the diversity of employees, customers, and stakeholders. Representation is not just about showing a range of people, but about ensuring those people are portrayed respectfully and have a voice in how they are represented.
Actions:
Partner with diverse creators, employees, or community members to shape campaigns. Their input ensures authenticity.
Provide fair credit and compensation for contributors, whether internal or external.
Seek feedback from featured individuals to ensure campaigns do not unintentionally misrepresent or stereotype them.
2. Accessibility and clarity
Inclusive marketing should communicate realistically what is accessible or supportive for all audiences. Vague claims about accessibility or inclusion can mislead and frustrate people.
Actions:
Replace general statements like “inclusive” or “accessible” with specific information about accommodations, processes, or support available.
Develop a standard checklist to review accessibility and inclusion for products, services, and marketing materials.
Regularly audit communications and update descriptions to ensure they reflect reality and meet the needs of diverse audiences.
3. Safety and trust
Marketing often signals that an organisation is welcoming and safe. However, this promise must be backed up by policies, procedures, and staff training. Without concrete support, messaging can create false expectations.
Actions:
Only promote inclusivity or safety features that the organisation can realistically provide.
Make policies, procedures, and guidance easily accessible to employees, clients, and customers.
Communicate any limitations transparently while outlining improvements underway.
4. Ethics and consent in imagery
Using people in marketing requires ethical considerations. Consent, fair representation, and respect for privacy are essential, especially for communities or individuals who may be vulnerable to exploitation or misrepresentation.
Actions:
Obtain written consent from anyone who can be clearly identified in promotional materials.
Avoid using images from sensitive contexts without explicit permission.
Maintain a clear policy for ethical content usage and review materials regularly to ensure compliance.
5. Consider community and stakeholder impact
Practical inclusion requires understanding the broader effects of marketing on communities, customers, and stakeholders. Marketing decisions should consider who benefits and who may be disadvantaged.
Actions:
Consult with relevant communities or stakeholders to anticipate unintended consequences of campaigns.
Highlight initiatives that provide tangible benefits to communities, rather than only promoting the organisation’s interests.
Encourage responsible behaviour through messaging, such as highlighting fair practices, accessibility, or ethical use of services.
Transparency is a powerful tool
If your organisation is still developing its inclusion practices, honesty is better than gloss. A message such as, “This is where we are now, and this is what we are working to improve,” builds trust more effectively than a marketing campaign that promises inclusion but does not deliver it.
Communicate Inclusively can support your journey
Creating inclusive marketing that is both practical and authentic is challenging, but it is achievable. At Communicate Inclusively, we help organisations across industries:
Assess current inclusion practices
Build inclusive communications strategies
Align internal culture and operations with external messaging
Visit our website to learn more about our services and get in touch with us to start turning your inclusive intentions into meaningful action.