Immigration is causing increased diversity in the U.S. every year. Introducing new cultures and practices to communities has a variety of benefits, but as a marketer, reaching these demographics can be difficult. Having a solid approach to promoting immigration advertising in companies has been shown to have successful results. Here are some ways to market to diverse cultures while keeping a brand consistent.
Understand the Language
So much of culture is rooted in language. By understanding the language of the targeted demographic, marketers will have insight into the culture. While it may be easy to group people from one continent together, say Asia, it is important to know that each Asian country is extremely diverse and their languages and writing are different.
Know What is Important to Each Culture
Every culture has values and understanding these values will help you reach them effectively. For example, Hispanics are shown to value family and home strongly. To appeal to this demographic, marketers may want to include wording and imagery of families and home life. Other cultures may put more emphasis on education, so taking that into consideration could be a differentiator.
Start a Conversation
All people want to be heard. And to understand a culture fully, it is important to interact with it. Reaching out to members of the community being targeted, whether it be in focus groups, online, or otherwise, is shown to help any immigration advertising and overall brand.
Know Where Your Audience Gets Media
What channel does the targeted demographic use the most? Hispanics may watch English-speaking television while they listen to Spanish radio. Maybe your English audience listens to Pandora much more than any other demographic. Knowing how different demographics use media is vital in reaching them effectively, as marketers can message differently to each platform.
Stay Away from Trendy Words
Using buzzwords and acronyms in the messaging is an easy way to exclude other cultures. Especially if English is their second language, trendy words or sayings can be confusing and leave them feeling misunderstood.
Bilingual Content
Depending on who is being reached and the amount of people marketed to, bilingual content may be an effective strategy. If there are a substantial amount of Hispanic consumers, for example, marketers may want to consider printing business cards in Spanish on one side.
Marketing effectively to diverse cultures isn’t something that can be learned overnight. It takes time and research to fully understand a different culture. However, this investment has been shown to have significant rewards in reaching untapped, and often misunderstood, audiences.
