What Must You Consider When Marketing To Ethnic Groups?

Marketing to ethnic groups can be a tricky task to get it right as cultures can be so different. There are many factors to consider when looking to expand your marketing communications into new territories including languages and nuances. As multicultural marketing specialists, we want to help you to understand which key things to consider when marketing to ethnic groups.

5 Things To Consider When Marketing To Ethnic Groups

To target an ethnic audience, you must first understand their culture. By understanding the cultural etiquettes your brand can create appropriate and engaging content to effectively market an ethnic minority.

Communication

Understanding your customers is key to knowing the best way to reach them. It’s simple. Talk to them, ask them how you can do better, and see what is stopping them from spending their money with your brand. Only 1 in 5 companies reach out to Ethnic minority consumers, but if brands did reach out, they could tap into the £300 billion spending power within ethnic communities. Here at GottaBe! Ethnic we run focus groups to help our clients understand how to focus their marketing material more efficiently to their targeted audience. 

Distributing printed materials is not always the most efficient way to reach ethnic communities who may struggle to read a language that is not their native one. Using videos and visuals removes any limitations that may be stopping your marketing communications from being understood. 

Location                                                         

When thinking about targeting your marketing campaigns to reach an ethnic minority you must consider the location. Ethnic groups typically live in close-knit communities so find areas that are highly populated with an Ethnic group as these will be the best places to promote your products. Getting key figures within the community on board will allow you to utilise word-of-mouth referrals. Out of Home sites are a good way to reach ethnic minorities. Putting your campaigns in the heart of a community helps to engage the “hard to reach”. We recommend including merchandising in your marketing campaigns targeting ethnic stores which have a high footfall. 

Cultural Holidays 

Understanding and being aware of when the ethnic holidays are is only part of the picture, you must also take time to learn what they are about and what they entail. 

Holidays are a time for celebration, so why not use this to your advantage? Sponsor holiday adverts in local newspapers, posters, and billboards.

The second thing to consider when launching your campaigns around ethnic holidays is the possibility that certain cultures also have set rules. Do not run a campaign aimed at the Muslim community for bacon crisps or ask the Orthodox community to join a workout on the Sabbath as it will be ignored and would offend. GottaBe! Ethnic has a downloadable Ethnic marketing calendar available to keep you up to date with the ethnic holidays.

Language Barriers 

We understand that language is the key to communication. But it is not as simple as popping your campaign into Google translate before sending it out. Professional translators must be used to ensure that the translation is correct. After all, 53% of the BAME community are more likely to be persuaded to buy a product if it is communicated to them in their native language. 

Another thing to consider when translating material is that connotations may differ between cultures. What may be acceptable and can be easily understood in England may not have the same power and clarity in another country. Your brand will need to consider rewriting a slogan to fit the language of the community or country you are trying to reach rather than directly translating. 

Cultural Differences

Cultural differences can cause big problems for brands if they do not spend the time to understand the needs of their customers. As we touched on briefly above, the language is not the only translation issue that must be considered. Brands should take time to research and understand the culture they are targeting; messages, symbols, rituals, and even colours can have significantly different meanings and messages across cultures.

Another thing to consider when looking into cultural differences is the differences between the people of the culture themselves. It is important to understand the difference between first-generation and second generation immigrants. The first being those born in their own country and then relocated to the UK (or any other country). Second-generation are children of the first generation born in a different country to their parents. The First generation requires marketing that is suited to their strong rooted culture rather than the country they reside in. Whereas second-generation customers have a higher acceptance of the culture in the country they were born in and grew up in.

We Can Help You Successfully Market To Ethnic Groups

GottaBe! Ethnic is an award-winning multicultural marketing specialist and is here to help your brand get your ethnic marketing right. Get in touch to find out how we can help you create a winning multicultural marketing strategy.