Should Your Business get Involved in Political Debate?

In today’s political climate, where everyone is jumping in with an opinion about everything, it’s tempting — as a business owner — to jump on trending topics. Jumping on a trending topic can mean exposure for your business that it might not have gotten otherwise. However, taking a stand might alienate specific customers. So, should your business get involved in the political debate?

People run businesses, and these past few years have divided people on many topics. There are many instances, such as the death of George Floyd or the Capitol riots, where the people who run businesses had solid opinions and wanted the world to hear them. For example, after the election of Donald Trump as president, people wanted to hear from Starbucks and Lyft. The CEO of Starbucks made a statement about hiring refugees, and he received much good press for this. The CEO of Lyft donated to the ACLU. People were pleased with this response, and many people started using Lyft more.

Interestingly enough, some of these statements can have an impact on a company. When the CEO responds, and it’s in line with the current acceptable narrative, it could be good for business. On the other hand, if the statement is out of touch with what most people think, it could hurt the company.

Some business owners wanted to keep their opinions to themselves, feeling it’s best to not discuss politics. However, there have been many instances in the past few years where the public demanded to hear from the CEO of companies and pressured them to make statements about critical current events. An example of this was the CEO of GrubHub sending an email to all employees criticizing Trump’s executive order on immigration. As a result, The New York Times reported that the stock price dropped 4%. The CEO of GrubHub regretted sending the email and apologized for it.

The pressure is on, as more and more consumers want to hear where a company stands on specific issues. Millennials, especially, like to know the values of a company they buy from are in line with their own. The fact that the world is getting smaller with social media makes staying silent no longer an option. The safe thing to do would be to keep out of it; however, if you feel that you must make a statement due to pressures, here are some guidelines for making public statements.

First, gather all the facts about a topic before making a statement. We all have natural biases as humans, and the internet algorithms show us what it thinks we want to hear and see. Seeing what we already believe to be true can confirm our biases — which may be incorrect. Due to the need lately to get out so much content, fact-checking is not always high on priority lists. It can take hours and sometimes days or weeks before all the facts about a particular issue come to light. Even prominent newspapers have had to print retractions. Make sure you’re well aware of all the facts before making a public statement. Staying informed on current events and checking both sides of an argument will help you craft a good message that will not only keep you out of hot water but might actually help your business.

Then, take the political temperature. If the last few years have taught us anything, the United States seems to be divided in half on many issues. It’s important to consider whom you’re talking to and what their views are. If your audience leans hard on a side you disagree with, consider keeping your statement short, concise and neutral. Though this may be difficult as many find neutrality to feel like they’re siding with the opposition, it’s essential to keep your business out of hot water and your audience happy. Studies have shown that swiftness in making a statement can be more important than the actual statement itself. Personalizing it can help; for example, when speaking about immigration, CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg made a post with the statement that “we are a nation of immigrants…” Well, OK, thanks Mark; who can argue with that?

Finally, make sure your statement is in line with your company’s values. Eighty-five percent of millennials say a company’s reputation and values are important to them when choosing to work at or do business with a company. Making public statements — especially when your company is not politically affiliated — can solidify your stance on specific issues. However, old and deleted tweets can be found in many instances that could come back to bite you. Therefore, it’s essential to make sure your values align with what you’re saying before actually staying it. Having social media strategy guidelines that align with company culture can help the company remain consistent and focus on what is important, which is business and not politics.

Jennifer Charles, Ph.D., is the inventor of the Boosting Healthy Habits app and owner of Building Block Resolutions. Her company uses applied Behavior Analysis to provide therapy for children with autism, parent coaching for families, and crisis management training for employees.