Looking for a successful Multicultural Marketing Strategy?
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Summary of Article:
In this article, out PHU team will provide you with:
- 2020 Trends affecting Multicultural Marketing and what to look for in 2021
- The Best Multicultural Marketing Strategy that worked in 2020
- The ULTIMATE FORMULA for successful marketing communications with the multicultural consumer
SKIP TO BOTTOM TO SEE THE ULTIMATE FORMULA
2020 – wtf happened?
WHAT A CRAZY YEAR?!!!!!
Nonetheless, things are coming along, and we are regaining balance (somewhat?) we are finally able to come forward with an article covering how we managed to stay NIMBLE and LEVERAGE the changing trends of 2020.
As a Multicultural Marketing agency in Rochester NY, we knew this year will be both difficult but also prosperous. Even though it was tough to manage emotionally, we stayed focused and united to represent all the unheard voices in USA.
Stats from 2020 & 2021 Projections
2020 was a pivotal year that represented the crossroads for America as a Nation. No one knows for sure how will it all unfold. But, here are some stats that clarify:
- USA is racially the most diverse nation in the world. Yet, the polarization between left and right has never been so extreme as it is today. [2020 Census]
- The Hispanic population is projected to grow by a whopping 71% in 2021. [2020 Census]
- By the end of 2020, there will be only 50% of young adults who are non-Hispanic White. The future of America is non-White. [2020 Census]
- COVID 19 has hospitalized approx. 5x more African Americans and Hispanics than Caucasians. [CDC, 2020]
- In 2020, Black children were 4x less likely to climb out of poverty and become wealthy compared to White children. [Race and Economic Opportunity in the United States: An Intergenerational Perspective, 2019]
3 Major shaping forces that affected Multicultural Marketing Strategy in 2020
- The economic crises and the decreasing economic power of African Americans, Hispanic and other non-White communities in the USA.
- COVID-19 Pandemic that has been very discriminatory toward communities of colors; hospitalizing 5x times more African Americans than Caucasians.
- Black Lives Matter and the #icantbreath Movement that has turned the George Floyd incident (murder) into a revolution against systemic racism and the government of Donald Trump.
Marketing Stress and Diversity Marketing
As a marketer I have learned a lot about the importance of two-way communication. It was not enough to promote and speak to our audiences, we had to stand with them and understand their pains and hear their demands!
Many companies out there are pouring millions in attempt to leverage these changes into their advantage. However, it has become very difficult to sway people’s opinions and attitudes in such polarizing times.
Differences aside, we all are similar. But neglecting our differences, can prove to be the undoing of your business!
All corporations are shelling out millions of dollars into diversity marketing in an attempt to hit the mark with multicultural consumers.
The truth is: you don’t need millions to score.
What you need is COMPASSION.
The Effective Multicultural Marketing Strategy
Here at PHU Concepts, we are a group of diverse and talented young people. We come from all the continents of the world and together we speak over 8 languages.
For us, diversity marketing is a part of everyday life.
We have the natural tendency to understand the multicultural consumer. We build Personas so quickly and precisely that our clients are always excited to see what we came up with!
So here is our Multicultural Marketing Strategy that got us many new clients in 2020 and allowed us to reinvigorate our Brand and make us a Multicultural Marketing Agency:
I. KNOW THE LANGUAGE OF THE MULTICULTURAL CONSUMER
This may sound dull, but it is very TRUE. Marketing professionals either don’t use the right language or they use google translate …
These ‘Spanglish’ Campaigns are a bad idea altogether. Not only that you appear as a complete stranger to your audience, but also your smugness is very repulsive.
The only way Spanglish Campaigns work is if you’re using humor as your baseline. You need to position yourself as the joker and humorously represent how little you know about your audience.
Needless to say, this is not a great way to pose yourself as a Leader, authority, etc.
HOW CAN PHU HELP YOU?
II. BE RELEVANT BY BEING LOCAL
US is the 2nd largest Spanish speaking country on this planet. Around 18% of US population are native Spanish speakers.
With that in mind, if you are targeting a certain area of the city where Hispanic communities reside, it is crucial that you know THEIR SPANISH and THEIR SPECIFIC CULTURE!
Just like British English, Aussie English and American English are all different – so is the case with Spanish. You must use the Spanish of that particular community you are targeting. It is way more complicated to nail the right Spanish nuance than you may think…
Even though I am fluent in Spanish, I struggle understanding the Spanish from different areas of the world. In the video below, these Columbian brothers explain some of the difficulties that we at PHU Concepts deal with daily:
III. CURATE YOUR MESSAGE TO PERFECTION
We don’t just come up with awesome content out of nowhere… We do surveys, focus studies, and we analyze the user behavior online.
It is not enough to be creative… You must listen and test your messages.
Creating the right message for you audience is a CURATIVE PROCESS. There are many strategies you can use to curate your messages.
Without curation, there is no point targeting African American and Hispanic communities. You will simply fail.
In the image below is understanding the multicultural consumer in practice. This is one of our Facebook campaigns targeting African Americans in Rochester New York.
The French bulldog is big hit among African Americans. The dog is clearly tired from wearing the mask, just like everyone by now. The dog is protecting his ‘circle’ of friends or his pack.
Overall, content curation is about trial and error. It is about being patient and persistent. Often, the curative process exudes our team to the limit, but we learn is well worth it!
The Ultimate Formula for Successful Multicultural Marketing Strategy
I will provide you our powerful STEP-BY-STEP FORMULA to create great MULTICULTURAL CONTENT that you can use across a multitude of different campaigns when you’re targeting the multicultural campaigns.
THE ULTIMATE MULTICULTURAL MARKETING STRATEGY:
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1 – Define Target Persona
2 – Sample Your Target Population
3 – Distribute Sentiment Survey
4 – Focus Session 1 (Barrier identification)
5 – Focus Session 2 (Message testing)
6 – 3rd Party Cross-data Check
7 – Social Media Analysis
1. Define Target (Persona of the Multicultural Consumer)
Multicultural consumers are vastly different. You must identify the target and attempt to define characteristics. Brainstorm sessions are great for this. It is also helpful to have diverse people participating in this phase.
2. Create an Audience (Population) Sample
In order for you to test your messages and better understand the Persona in practice, you gotta get yourself a good sample of the population you’re targeting.
3. Sentiment Survey
Distribute a short (15 minute) questionnaire to your sample set. The goal is to understand broadly their attitudes and beliefs regarding the subject you want to create a marketing campaign for.
4. Focus Session 1
First, build rapport with your sample set. These people need to feel comfortable and engage with you in a two-way communication. At this stage, try to identify all the barriers between you and the persona you’re targeting.
We have found that a lot of bad multicultural marketing campaigns fail because there’s an underlying social constraints that was absolutely overlooked.
5. Focus Session 2
This focus session is designed for testing your creatives and messages. Showcase what your team has come up with and get a detailed feedback from all the participants.
6. Cross-data Check (PHU Database)
Having almost 20 years of experience in multicultural marketing granted us a rich database which we use often to check the validity of our results.
At this stage, we build up and finetune our messaging and creatives based on previous campaigns we did.
7. Niche down using Social Media Instruments
Use Social Media Instruments to Niche down, find those look-a-like audiences and analyze that traffic as deep as you can get.
Here at PHU Concepts, we use Social Media Tracking Pixels, Google Kit (Analytics, KW Planner, Adwords), SEM Rush for Content Management, and Click/Heat Maps.
HOW CAN PHU HELP YOU?
There you have it. The secret formula for a successful multicultural marketing strategy. You have all the steps, and the tools you need to get the job done.
Looking to run a low-cost marketing campaign? Check out this blog: Low-Budget Marketing Campaign
Now, we did say we have over 2 decades of experience working primarily with African American and Hispanic Communities. Here at PHU concepts, we know it is all about trial and error. It is about failing and learning. We are presumptuously imposing ourselves. Instead, we are loyal to our audience and our openness is what allows us to experiment and take our campaigns to the next level!
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