Well, somehow, the fever dream that was the 2020 election cycle is about to ramp up yet again. Personally, we’re not ready for endless commercials, cold calls, or endless smear campaigns.
We’d rather teach a dog how to code or attempt to car-dance to NPR.
We’d rather help you navigate the treachery that can be running a business during an election year- because while personally, we are in crisis over the prospect of debate performances and deciding where to put our future “I voted” stickers, as a business, we are more than ready to help.
When it comes to how politically demonstrative you should be, there are really two main (and obvious) answers: do and don’t. And both are going to be decided purely based on the context of who you are as a business, your team, and what you sell.
Shout it Loud and Proud
If you know your product resonates with a certain audience and are confident that your audience appreciates and is drawn to you in part because of your political ideals, then by all means, declare your stance.
In fact, if your research is good, definitively choosing a side could help bolster your sales, especially as we get closer to Election Day. Showcasing deals where certain percentages will be donated to your candidate(s) of choice could be a good promotion, as well as helpful in overtly determining the success of political stance as a sales tactic.
A few things to keep in mind, however: people tend to view most businesses as neutral entities, so even if you’ve got a vocal percentage of buyers, you likely have more “quiet” customers who aren’t super into politics; in fact, they might be turned off by a display of politicism.
This could also create a more divisive workplace if some of your employees are also less obvious about their political affiliations and/or are less passionate about politics.
Overall, just read the room. If you’ve designed a workplace that is explicitly open in terms of both client and employee political affiliation, and you feel it’s important (and potentially beneficial) to declare your company’s stance, then that’s your call to make.
You are Switzerland
In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been very careful throughout this post not to affiliate ourselves with any political agenda.
That’s because we tend to be of the mind that, especially in an overwhelmingly politicized world, your business should offer your clients a neutral space.
Again, it’s going to be your call at the end of the day, but by enabling an attitude of inclusivity, you not only open yourself up to a bigger pool of potential customers, but you actually make working with you more attractive because you’re one less advertisement or poll collector impeding on your client’s day.
By July, your customers are going to be so burned out by all things political that the last thing they’re going to want to do is listen to your spiel of political devotion when they’re just trying to book an appointment or purchase what you’re selling.
In short, is it beneficial for a business to exist within the realm of the political? Probably not.
Again, unless what you’re selling is hyper-specific to one side of the spectrum, or you know for facts that your clientele and team value your political affiliation as part of your business relationship, it’s not really your place to declare either way.
Our clients don’t work with us because we vote one way or the other– they work with us because we’re a talented marketing agency and because the working relationships we cultivate are based on trust and respect, regardless of political affiliation.
In a world that wants you to believe that we are utterly polarized and that to disagree means to hate, we at The Relish Jar prefer to go the other way.
Turns out, mutual respect and neutral unity are good for business.
Who’s gonna tell everyone running for office?