Now more than ever, politics is becoming deeply intertwined with the world of business. Because more consumers are politically aware and the impact of the business world on politics is more apparent, there is a growing expectation for businesses to take political stances. Even outside of external pressure, your crypto business might want to become politically involved at some point.
But how do you do this without harming your bottom line? Politics can be very murky, and if you don’t approach it with care, you might see more downsides than benefits. In this article, we’ll delve into the topic.
How Politics Can Harm Your Crypto Business
On the one hand, you might ask yourself how politics could possibly harm your crypto business. After all, politics and business are seemingly two different worlds. The reality is that making the wrong move politically can alienate your consumer base and harm your crypto business. Imagine your business publicly backs a political candidate or party.
Your customer base might favor a different candidate or party, and this can put you at odds with them. It is not unheard of for consumers to boycott products and services in support of their political beliefs, and one wrong move on your part can mean alienating them. You could also support a political cause that ends up becoming controversial or a candidate that ends up in hot water.
Needless to say, guessing involved in politics could go left very easily, which is why you should take the following steps:
Choose Neutral Causes
While you can argue that there is no truly politically neutral stance per se, it is in your best interest to stay as close to the middle as possible. Say there is an election going on, and your crypto business wants to get involved in some way. Rather than directly supporting any single candidate, you could offer support to the voters in general via educational materials, transportation to polling centres, and so on.
In that sense, you’re not declaring your support for any side but helping everyone. When it comes to the political causes you choose to throw your weight behind, try to think of things that everyone across the political spectrum can agree on. For example, donating tech products to underfunded schools can hardly cause any controversy. The same goes for things like clean water initiatives, support for orphans, homeless shelters, and so on.
Put Out Appropriate Statements
At various points in time, your business might want to comment on political developments around the world. Say there’s been a natural disaster or there’s a commemoration of an event. Rather than put out a long-winded statement that could potentially suggest support for one side or the other, keep things brief and appropriate.
You can celebrate various countries’ independence days without commenting on specific parts of their history. You can also commemorate during times of natural disaster without getting into complex political talk. Any time you need to speak on a political issue, keep things as brief as possible.
On the flip side, it is important not to stay silent if your peers are speaking up. Say there is an ongoing political movement, and other blockchain businesses are actively speaking on it. You do not want the reputation as the company that didn’t put their foot forward in a time of need, as this can lead to resentment from potential customers. While you don’t have to mirror every other company’s political stance, you should not be seen to be silent.
Mind Your Executives
Always remember that while your crypto business and your executives are technically separate entities, their political stances can very much be conflated. Your crypto business CEO endorsing a political candidate can very easily be seen as your business entity endorsing said candidate. To keep things organized, make it a rule that you’re executives must distance themselves from the company when making political declarations.
They could state plainly that their political beliefs do not reflect those of the company, or even take political stances that mirror that of the official company position. Your crypto business being a vocal supporter of one political party and your CEO or other top executives being close to the opposing party might seem awkward, so try to avoid this.
Embrace Estancs And Make It Part Of Your Branding
While we’ve touched on the benefits of staying as politically neutral as possible, the opposite might be the best for your business. If your crypto business has to do with a political stance or movement or attracts people from those circles, you’re best off leaning into this. Say your crypto project is a hit among liberal leaning people who take their political stances very seriously. In that case, it would be in your best interest to make your political stance as clear as possible.
This will mean supporting specific candidates and causes, sharing political information within reason, and so on. In fact, depending on your audience, not taking a strong political stance might actually do more harm than good, so it’s best to be sure.
To do this, you’ll have to do some research regarding your audience and where they lean politically. Does your crypto business attract right-wing people, left-wing people, or centrists? Outside of their core political stance, you also want to be sure if your business attracts customers who want to see their political stances reflected in the crypto products and services they buy or if they do not care either way.
Conclusion
Politics in itself can be very tricky to navigate, and this is made even trickier when you own a crypto business. As we touched on in this article, you’ll need to be very careful with your strategy. In some cases, you’ll want to steer clear of politics as much as possible, giving neutral statements and not declaring a side. In other situations, you’ll have to go all in and make your political stance very clear to appeal to and retain your customer base.
