How to find and include more underrepresented voices in your content

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If women make up such a large portion of your audience, why does your content marketing focus on quotes from Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, or Richard Branson?

Effective content marketing connects the wants and needs of your audience with the information and insights your company wants to share. This connection is more powerful when your content also reflects the demographics of your target audience.

It's time to take a close look at your marketing content to assess how well it includes women and other underrepresented communities.

White men are not the only good sources

Conference keynote speakers and webinar presenters like to add inspirational quotes. Last week I watched a webinar that used sayings from Albert Einstein about invention and Bill Gates about innovation in back-to-back slides.

A few years ago, I saw Steve Jobs quoted four times in four days in trainings, webinars, and virtual events. Why had all these content creators chosen Steve Jobs quotes? Did all of these people in different organizations really worship Steve Jobs? Was there a one-page-a-day calendar that featured Steve Jobs this week? Was it the top search result when they searched Google for a quote for their slide topic?

That's when I decided to teach content marketers the three steps to include more women's voices in content. You can follow these steps to target all underrepresented voices in content marketing.

Take a look at your brand’s past

I hear you protesting and thinking that you definitely, well, probably quoted women and other underrepresented voices in your content. But everyone can benefit from a quick check. Look at the last 10 to 20 pieces of text-based content published by your brand – long-form web content, eBooks, infographics, customer case studies, industry reports, etc. Who is quoted in this content?

Next, look at your current audio and video content – ​​podcasts, webinars, recorded virtual events, conference recordings, and customer videos. Do they contain different voices?

In most B2B organizations, women and other less heard voices do not appear. It's even harder to be happy with these voices in industries like technology, finance or manufacturing.

Now that you know where your brand stands, you can move on to planning a more balanced representation.

Find underused sources

So you recognize the opportunity to add different voices, but how do you find the people to quote? You have options, but these may require a little work and creative thinking:

• Customer references: Look at your customer marketing database, community or user group. Is there a great beta user who can talk about the benefits of your product or services? Is there a strong advocate in your customer community who could be cited?

To launch a new product, I asked a customer to speak at a conference. Her schedule did not allow her to travel to the event, but she agreed to be quoted in the text-based content.

• Industry analysts: Look closely at research from top companies like Gartner, Forrester, IDC, or Constellation to find underrepresented voices addressing your topic.

In a previous role, I often quoted a brilliant European researcher whose global data was overlooked in the United States. She became a highly cited source in our content, and when she came to a client conference, people recognized her and wanted to learn more about her research.

• Industry influencers: Many of the strongest voices from underrepresented communities write and speak about your industry. Follow them on social media, build relationships with them, and invite them to your events, content, and projects.

During a customer conference at the event, our team once again shared useful social media feedback from a tech influencer who was early in his career. This visibility not only helped confirm a new product's position in the market, but also helped strengthen the influencer's reputation. She is now a keynote speaker at major technology conferences.

• Management: How diverse is your leadership team? Which leaders can you quote in the content? Don’t forget emerging leaders like product managers, product marketers, and technical engineers.

Build relationships within your company to bring fresh and relevant voices to your content. Think carefully about who you can quote today and who may need further development. I have led media training and presentation coaching to develop more women as speakers in male-dominated industries.

• Famous people: If you want to quote famous people, think outside the box. I began keeping a list of powerful, successful women who could be quoted in the content, many of whom also belong to other underrepresented groups.

I'm constantly expanding this list and collecting more examples. Here are some ideas from women that you can quote in your content.

Sometimes viewers are unfamiliar with the people on this suggestion list – and that's fantastic. The human brain tends to focus on what is different, and humans learn from the less likely sources. What surprises your audience more – a quote from a 22-year-old basketball sensation making the morning news headlines or another quote from Steve Jobs?

Presenting a different voice takes your content from expected and boring to interesting and memorable.

Continue to learn more about amazing people who deserve to be heard more

You should continue to expand your knowledge of underrepresented, innovative and citable sources and ensure they are seen and heard. To achieve that:

• Read lesser-known authors. If you have a goal of reading a business book, consider one written by a woman or another underrepresented community.
• Attend events and listen to podcasts. Many different voices share important insights at virtual and live events. Attend one of their sessions on a topic that interests you to see what new perspectives you can gain. When hiring speakers, be mindful of diverse viewpoints. Do the same for podcasts, whether you're listening or scheduling guests.
• Start the conversation. Ask your colleagues who they recommend for expert advice. Who in your network should you know who is a keynote speaker, author, or other expert? Share your best recommendations with others.
• Engage customers. Your customer base includes underrepresented communities. Work with your customer reference team to find them so they can be featured in upcoming content.

Don't stop there

Finally, consider these two things.

If you see a webinar, event, or meeting with only white men in attendance, say something. Whether it's a private conversation with the hosts or a polite question in the meeting, you have the opportunity to get people thinking about including other voices.

Second, recognize that people have unconscious biases and could still become allies in this conversation. Maybe they never realized that every leadership quote comes from Tom Peters and every innovation quote comes from Bill Gates. A gentle nudge may be enough to add a varied voice.

Register for Content Marketing World in San Diego. Use code BLOG100 to save $100. Can't attend in person this year? Check out the digital pass for access to on-demand session recordings of the live event through the end of the year.

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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps