t’s generally been the norm for businesses to avoid taking a stance on social issues, keeping personal or corporate opinions separate from the products and services they offer. Today, however, it’s almost impossible for a company to ignore the social issues making headlines, whether that’s police brutality, gun violence, the #MeToo movement, or Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.

While previously it may have been considered smart to avoid taking sides on such issues, consumers today are more likely to reward companies that speak up with repeat business.

According to The Business Imperative for Social Justice Today, a survey by global communications consultancy Porter Novelli, 71 percent of US consumers believe companies have more responsibility than ever before to address social justice issues, and 56 percent say companies that do not talk about social justice issues in their marketing or communications are out of touch. Approximately 83 percent believe that a company doesn’t have to be perfect when talking about social justice issues but should be open and honest.

Not only must companies take a stand, but they are also expected to take measurable actions to address these issues. While some companies are wading right in, others are looking for professional help to make sure that they share the right message to avoid making costly mistakes.

“While some major corporations may be able to do this themselves, other companies usually rely on an outside level of expertise,” says Debbie Reinwand, president and CEO of Brilliant Media Strategies. “A company can make a misstep very readily, which is where strategic counsel from advertising and public relations firms comes into the equation.”

The number of companies that have decided to take a stand on social issues has increased over the last decade and the issues that have been placed in the spotlight have turned into rapidly growing movements that span all sectors of society.

“The #MeToo movement was huge and spread into all areas of the workplace, which is similar to what we’re seeing now with the Black Lives Matter movement,” says Reinwand. “Following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the conversation became more about corporate social justice not just because the public was demanding it but because employees were as well.”

Even though many companies already promote social responsibility—such as making philanthropic donations and encouraging employees to volunteer—social justice touches the broader community, and efforts to address social justice must be well thought out and carefully integrated into how a brand manages itself and purports its mission to the public.

“What society is going through now cannot just be covered by putting a ‘black’ post on Instagram,” says Reinwand. “It starts with defining goals and objectives so that a company knows what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, what they hope to accomplish, and how their response is working.

“Companies need to revisit what their brand focus is and take a look at their mission statement,” she adds. “If necessary, they need to redefine that statement so that it is crystal clear to the public, aka the consumer who they are trying to influence, what they stand for.”

Before creating public-facing messages, businesses first need to make changes within their own organizations.

“What companies need to realize is that this is a process and treat it as such; it’s not a one-off project,” says Thomas McIntyre, senior culture and content strategist for Thompson & Co. Public Relations, which recently established a new division to help clients understand and effectively respond to social justice issues. “It starts from within and usually begins with listening, looking in the mirror, facing hard truths, and developing a plan to change the truth within the organization. It requires listening to the people who have been marginalized.”

Companies should reach out to employees and customers, as well as the groups fighting for justice, to understand not only the issues but the actions that can be taken for improvement. One way to do this is by establishing advisory councils or partnering with organizations that support social equity.

“Inviting these people into the room to have a voice and to share what their communities want to see promotes inclusivity from the start,” says McIntyre, adding that companies stagnate when they only listen to voices from their own boardrooms.

“It’s better to move smart than fast,” he adds of putting in the time it takes to really hear different points of view. “A lot of stances are being taken on systemic issues, but these issues didn’t become that way overnight. The ultimate goal is to make systemic change happen, which is why taking the long view is so important.”

Recover Alaska is one example of an organization that has reached out to be inclusive of other voices. In the past year, it has restructured its internal operations to add diversity and created guidelines for its grantmaking process to make it more inclusive.

“We are getting better at being mindful of whether the people involved in Recover Alaska look and sound and come from the people we serve,” says Executive Director Tiffany Hall. “Realizing that many grant programs are inequitable in structure, we added questions focusing on whether the organizations applying have people with ‘lived’ experience and/or BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, People of Color] in decision-making positions.

“If we really want to make an impact on the issues we’re working on, including substance use disorders and all the ills associated with alcohol misuse, we need to focus on the people who are impacted the most,” she adds. “That means addressing race-based disparities, as Black people, POC, and Indigenous people are overrepresented in every single health disparity.”

Recover Alaska most recently reached out to equity proponents to determine where to direct revenue from a new alcohol tax. In April, Anchorage voters passed a 5 percent alcohol tax, which will result in approximately $11 million to $14 million being distributed to different groups.

“We decided to gather input from subject matter experts on where alcohol tax revenue should go and reached out to a lot of different people in the field, hoping to address race-based disparities,” says Hall. “We cast the net far and wide and it quickly grew to a list of over 200 individuals who have come to the table. We’re co-leading this work with great partners, including the Alaska Black Caucus, Alaska Children’s Trust, Homelessness Leadership Council, and Agnew::Beck, with the support of more than thirty other organizations.

“It’s so important to listen to other voices and to continue to learn from them,” she adds. “By asking what we are missing, we can make sure we serve these communities in ways that they—instead of we—think are useful.”

One of the reasons organizations hesitate to address social issues publicly is the fear of alienating consumers who disagree with their stance.

“There’s always going to be the other side of it; obviously, a lot of people have the outlook of ‘All Lives Matter’ or they view the BLM movement as marginalizing white people. Some feel as though it’s potentially reverse racism,” says McIntyre. “That’s a fear for a number of businesses who maintain a certain look, or branding, or who are mainly targeting certain audiences.

“If their audience isn’t affected by these social issues, they don’t want them to feel neglected,” he continues. “There’s also a chance that a certain audience could turn on you while you’re gaining part of a new audience and revenue might go down from that. But ultimately, in the long run, it’s the right play for the bottom line.”

Studies compiled over the last couple of years not only show that the public, shareholders, and consumers expect this behavior from major companies but that it does indeed help company profits.

According to a 2017 Cone Communications study, 87 percent of consumers said they would be willing to buy a product or service based on a company’s advocacy concerning a social matter, and 76 percent of those surveyed said they would decline to do business with a company if it held views and supported issues that conflicted with their beliefs.

“People may choose one company over another because of its stance on issues,” says Reinwand. “But the moral of the story is that companies should still be doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”

Which is an important distinction because if a company is only looking to profit by tying itself to an issue, chances are very good that the public will pick up on that inauthenticity, producing a less than desired effect.

“If your reasoning is that you’ll support an issue because it could make you a 6 percent increase in sales, it’s probably not going to work out when all is said and done,” says McIntyre. “People need to trust your intentions.”

When Hall sent out a newsletter focused on specific social issues, including the BLM movement, the pandemic, and Pride month, she was surprised at its reception.

“I got some very positive responses that thanked me for not being silent,” she says. “I also got responses saying that we should just focus on recovery and if we got political, we would start losing people.

“But I think those requests were missing the point,” she adds. “Our services need to be available and open to everyone, and by not addressing these issues, the organization is still built for the dominant culture. That means that it’s not a safe space for everyone.

“By not talking about issues of race, people who are not white feel unheard, unseen, and left out, which has been happening for a very long time,” she continues. “That’s one of the reasons that we’re not seeing big, positive changes in certain areas.”

Once a business conducts an internal review—and has enlisted employees and outside groups to provide input on talking about social justice issues—it needs to determine how to best move forward. In some cases, this can be as simple as explicitly stating that a company is behind a cause; in others, it means investing money in the organizations or communities most impacted by these issues.

“An initial step in supporting Black Lives Matter, for example, can mean putting a public statement on a company’s website and social media, running an ad, and making donations to a cause that the business collectively feels is important,” says Reinwand.

Some companies go even further—Reinwand gives an example of a business in Chicago that set a goal of closing the wealth gap between households of color and white households in the city.

“They put together a strategic plan that involved employees, managers, and owners and actualized what they were doing,” she says. “They went beyond just posting on Facebook or on social media; they found a place in the economic world where they could make a difference and could have an impact on systemic racism.”

As for how to approach the subject, Reinwand says the message needs to stay true to the brand and the cause.

“It needs to be just the right tone; you don’t want to try to be ‘too large and in charge’ of the issue,” she says. “If you go too far off-brand it will sound phony; it needs to be genuine and show the backing of the brand behind it.”

Some companies are also trying to be more inclusive in advertising and other media.

“It’s slowly becoming more normalized to see people of color as well as people of different sexualities in advertising, which is a good step toward providing fuller representation,” says McIntyre. “Acknowledging black people and their culture, or indigenous people and their culture—instead of erasing them—is important. There’s a right way to do things.”

“When everyone on Instagram was using a black square to support Black Lives Matter, it wasn’t that creative—anyone could do that,” adds Reinwand. “But using your forum to turn the conversation over to those who are impacted by a movement is powerful. It’s far more important to give them the space to share their message.”